Jan. 1, 2005

It was already a difficult task to play at such a high level 16 hours after skating with No. 4 ranked Wisconsin to a draw on its home ice. Competing against an inspired ECAC Hockey League rival that was firing on all cylinders did not help as Kyle McNulty made 30 saves and three players scored two goals each in Clarkson's 8-1 win over Yale in the consolation game of the Badger Hockey Showdown at the Kohl Center.

Jeff Hristovski (4th goal), who fired a shot over McNulty's left shoulder at 11:52 of the third period, tallied the lone Yale goal as his squad was outshot 48-31.

Five first-period goals were all the Knights (5-12-2) needed to capture third place, and they got the early production by outshooting the Blue 21-5 in the opening frame.

Clarkson jumped out to an early lead at 1:06 and never looked back. Clarkson winger Mike Arciero, who found the puck inside the goal line between the net and the boards, sent it to the crease where center Steve Zalewski (6th) was waiting to backhand it past Josh Gartner. The pass may have caught the Yale defense by surprise, but the Bulldogs still had one person on Zalewski, who managed to make the play.

The lead became 2-0 when David Cayer (2nd) banged home a rebound to the right of Gartner. The Knights' freshman winger beat a Yale blueliner to the crease after the save and had plenty of room to shoot.

Michael Grenzy (2nd) increased the margin to 3-0 at 6:57 when another rebound sat in point-blank range and Gartner was taken out of the crease by a Clarkson skater. Grenzy had the entire net to hit after the Jeff Genovy shot from the point.

Mike Sullivan (4th and 5th) added a pair of power-play goals at 11:07 and 17:51 to make it 5-0. On the last goal, Gartner lost his stick almost a minute earlier and was unable to retrieve it. The Knights fired a shot that bounced off his fallen stick that was tapped home by Sullivan.

The Elis, coming off a 1-1 tie with the host Badgers that eventually resulted in a 3-2 shootout loss, gave up their fourth rebound goal of the night to Cayer (3rd) at 7:16 of the second period that made it 6-0.

Gartner (20 saves, 6 goals allowed) was injured shortly after that goal and was replaced by Peter Cohen (20 saves), who gave up the game's seventh goal about two minutes later to Zalewski (7th). Brodie Rutherglen (5th) added another in a disastrous second period that saw the Bulldogs lose two (defenseman Chris Brooks and Gartner) players to injury.

Clarkson, which tied and defeated then No. 8 ranked Ohio State on Dec. 10-11 at Potsdam, N.Y., converted three of six power-play chances in winning for the second time in three games.

The Bulldogs (1-12-1), who held a fourth-ranked Wisconsin squad averaging 31 shots a game to 27 and just one goal on Friday night, will see the Golden Knights again in one week at Ingalls Rink.

report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director