Box Score
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The men's hockey team never trailed Fridays's game until the worst possible time – overtime. Yale's Stu Wilson scored his second goal of the game 2 minutes, 28 seconds into the extra frame to lift the Bulldogs to a 3-2 victory on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Lynah Rink.
 
Sophomore forward Brian Ferlin scored his fourth goal of the season early in the first period, and senior forward John Esposito notched his team-leading ninth tally of the campaign on the power play in the second period for 18th-ranked Cornell (8-8-2, 4-5-2 ECAC Hockey). Sophomore forward Dustin Mowrey assisted on both tallies.
 
The Big Red didn't waste any time establishing momentum in front of a ferocious crowd, which hadn't seen the squad in action at home in nearly two months. Ferlin scored his fourth goal of the campaign just 1:49 into the game on a busted odd-man opportunity.
 
Sophomore defenseman Jacob MacDonald got the play started by bulling through a defender on an entry on the right wing. As another defender came to help out, MacDonald chipped a puck down the wall to Ferlin, who was able to come in from the bottom of the circle on an abbreviated two-on-one. His pass to the slot kicked around in the skates of Mowrey, but Ferlin was able to regain control on the other side of slot. He turned and fired a shot under the glove of Yale goalie Jeff Malcolm to spot the hosts an early lead.
 
The sold-out crowd was then created to a little physical excitement about 90 seconds later, when junior forward Rodger Craig checked Yale's Matt Killian into the Big Red bench. Junior goaltender Andy Iles got into the action by stopping all 11 shots he faced in the opening frame, including a snapping glove save on Tommy Fallen's drive at the 12:11 mark. Both teams came up empty on two power plays.
 
No. 7/8 Yale (12-4-3, 8-3-1 ECAC Hockey) was much stronger in the second period, eventually pulling even on a terrific individual effort from Wilson. He gathered the puck in an innocuous position below the goal line in the right corner and started to wheel up the wall. Realizing the defense had retreated, he darted toward the middle through the circle and found space in the high slot. With traffic convening in front, Iles attempted to cut down the angle, but Wilson converted with a shot below the goalie's blocker to leave the scored tied at the halfway mark.
 
But the Big Red caught a break when it drew the frame's only power play – an opportunity it didn't waste. All five players on the ice got consecutive touches leading up to the go-ahead goal, scored by Esposito. Defensemen Reece Willcox and MacDonald worked the puck from right to left across the point to sophomore forward John McCarron. He dished the puck down low to Mowrey, who quickly directed a pass to Esposito on the doorstep. His first contact wasn't clean, but he was still able to muscle the puck over the line for his team-leading ninth goal with 3:42 left in the period.
 
The Bulldogs would once again pull even. Kenny Agostino came into the left circle and fanned on his original shot before coming up with a better effort on his second opportunity. The puck sailed through traffic in front and deflected off Iles' stick, ramping over the goaltender's shoulder to tie the game at 2 just 1:14 into the third period.
 
Wilson's winner was a scrambly goal in which Ryan Obuchowski's shot from the point after a scrum in the slot was knocked down by traffic, with the freshman center crashing from the weak side to lift the winner into the short side of the net.
 
Cornell is right back in action Saturday night, when it hosts Brown at Lynah Rink.