Bulldogs Fall 3-1 at Clarkson

Sophomore Josh Dunne (21) sealed the deal for Clarkson with
an short-handed empty-net goal as time expired in the
Golden Knights’ 3-1 win over the Bulldogs.

POTSDAM, NY—The Yale men’s hockey team ran into a perfect storm—a red-hot team with a red-hot penalty kill, plus a red-hot goalie on the opponents’ home ice, and ended up dropping a 3-1 decision to Clarkson at Cheel Arena last night. The game was much closer than the final score would indicate as Clarkson’s final tally game via the open-net route as time expired.

The Golden Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with both markers coming on the power play. Junior Jack Jacome started the scoring midway through first, connecting on a pass from the left point by senior defenseman Greg Moro.  Jacome fired a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle at 10:23 for his sixth goal of the season. Sophomore defenseman Brian Hurley also assisted.

At 3:07, sophomore Adam Tisdale knocked in a rebound of a shot by freshman Mathieu Gosselin for his sixth goal of the season and fourth since Jan. 1. Hurley picked up his second helper on the play.

With the Bulldogs up a man again late in the opening period, Yale forced a turnover at the Clarkson blue line and Tyler Welsh found the back of the net at 17:48.

Clarkson, which owns the No. 1-ranked penalty kill in the nation, was put to the test in the middle frame when Yale went on the power play twice. But the Knights killed off both, allowing the Bulldogs just two shots combined on the two man-advantage shifts.

Bidding to tie the game in third, Yale, with two more power plays, out-shot the Knights 11-7 over the final 20 minutes, but Clarkson netminder Frank Marotte was on top of his game. The Lonqueuil, Que., native continually frustrated the Elis, particularly on the power play.

With 3.2 seconds remaining in regulation and Elis skating with what amounted to a two-man advantage (they were on the power play and had pulled goaltender Corbin Kaczperski), Knights' junior center Zach Txekos won a faceoff and fed the puck to sophomore Josh Dunne in the neutral zone. Dunne, who hails from O'Fallon, MO, quickly fired at the empty net and scored short-handed just before the final horn sounded, handing the Knights their fifth straight win over the Bulldogs.

For the game, Marotte turned aside 24 Yale shots, while allowing just one. Bulldog goalie Corbin Kaczperski turned in an outstanding effort of his own, stopping 25 shots between the Yale pipes.

The Elis fall to 9-11 overall, 6-7 in ECAC Hockey play. The Knights, ranked No. 6 in the nation, improve to 18-6-2, 11-3-0.

The Skinny

Yale is back in action on tonight when they travel to St. Lawrence for a 7 p.m. start that airs live on ESPN+.

—Staff Reports

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