Potsdam, NY – Joe Zappala continued his game-winning heroics on Saturday night as he scored his nation-high eighth game-winning goal of the season with three seconds left in overtime to lift Yale University to a 4-3 victory against Clarkson University before 3,018 fans at Cheel Arena. Zappala gathered in a loose puck at the side of the net and tucked in a shot that just trickled over the goal line to give the Bulldogs (11-10-0, 9-5-0) their fourth straight win over the Golden Knights. Clarkson (11-10-5, 6-6-2) dominated on the shot chart, out shooting Yale 44-17, but Josh Gartner was stellar in the Bulldogs’ net with a 41-save effort, including 35 stops over the final 44:57 of play.
In a penalty-filled first period, Yale took advantage of a man-down situation to grab the early lead. Vin Hellemeyer chipped in a pass from Christian Jensen on a 2-on-1 break for his fifth goal of the season, a shorthanded marker with four minutes left in the opening frame.
At 2:12 of the second period, Clarkson tied it when freshman defenseman Matt Nickerson (Old Lyme, CT) snapped in a wrist shot from the left circle for his first goal in his past 16 games and his fourth of the year after receiving a behind-the-net pass from sophomore John Sullivan (New Bedford, NH). The Bulldogs regained the lead on another shorthanded goal at 7:53 as Jeff Hristovski scored his eighth of the year off a 2-on-1 break with Ryan Steeves assisting.
Yale added to its lead at 1:40 of the third period as Jeff Dwyer took a long headman pass from Jensen and ripped a slapshot in from the top of the right circle just under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the season, giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage. Clarkson battled back to pull within one on a power-play goal by junior Jay Latulippe (Saratoga Springs, NY) at 13:15. Latulippe picked up a rebound off the end boards and slipped his eight goal of the season off a shot into the crease that found its way through Gartner’s pads. Latulippe forced overtime with his second goal of the contest as he tipped in a shot from the point by Nickerson with just 40 seconds remaining in the third after Clarkson had pulled freshman goaltender Kyle McNulty (Wakefield, RI) for the extra attacker.
