Yale rallies, tops Union 2-1 in OT

BOX SCORE

by Ryan Fay

As the late, great Yogi Berra might say, "it was deja vu all over again."

For the second straight night, Union had a lead in the third period. And for the second consecutive evening, the Dutchmen lost the lead -- and then lost the game in overtime.

Andrew Gaus fired the game-winner with a minute left in overtime, lifting 10th-ranked Yale to a 2-1 ECAC Hockey victory over Union Saturday at Messa Rink.

On Friday, Brown rallied from a 2-0 hole and won 3-2 after Max Willman scored with 27.7 seconds remaining in overtime.

Union (1-5 ECACH, 3-6-3 overall) has played five extra session games through its first 12 games. The Dutchmen are 0-2-3 in those contests, and they had a third period lead in all five.

It's a theme that has left Dutchmen head coach Rick Bennett looking for answers.

“If I had the answer to that, we’d have five overtime wins,” he said.

Union defenseman Sebastien Gingras said the trend of losing leads is disappointing.

“As a team, we have to be able to play with the lead," said Gingras. "We’ve got to be better at making the game simple once we have that one or two goal advantage.”

Union went ahead 1-0 at 14:53 of the second when Brett Supinski scored from the left circle in the waning seconds of a power play. The tally was his first at the collegiate level.

"We had good possession on the power play. We were just trying to get shots to the net," Supinski said. "(Greg) Campbell took the shot, and it was a nice block by them. It bounced on my stick, and I just tried to throw it at the net."

The Dutchmen tried to protect the lead minus two players. Less than a minute after Supinski's goal, Cole Maier was ejected for a contact to the head penalty. Jeff Taylor was absent for most of the third and all of the  overtime with an undisclosed day-to-day injury.

Yale (2-1-1, 4-1-1) notched the equalizer at 3:18 of the third when Ted Hart ripped a shot past Union goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos following a faceoff win.

Union didn't have many chances to regain the lead. They mustered just four shots on goal in the third, and only one in overtime.

The Bulldogs struck with the dagger when Frankie DiChara found Gaus in the slot.

“The puck was below the net,” Gaus said. “Frankie got possession of it, and I tried to find a soft area in the slot. He made a nice pass, and I was able to one time it."

Union will have plenty of time to think about the loss. The team is entering the final exam period for the first trimester, and won't play again until Nov. 28 at Merrimack.

“The most important thing in their life right now is to take care of your academics, because they go hand-in-hand,” Union head coach Rick Bennett said. “When you’re taking care of your academics, it’s going to help your hockey. If you’re taking shortcuts, you’re going to know deep down, the coaching staff is going to know through your marks and it’s a no-win situation if you’re taking shortcuts in class because they will lead to the ice.”

POSTGAME REACTION

Union's Sebastien Gingras and Brett Supinski




Union head coach Rick Bennett



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