Two goals in 80 seconds lead No. 15 Penn State over No. 13 Yale

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 15 Penn State scored two goals in 80 seconds to complete the comeback and defeat No. 13 Yale at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.

With just over five minutes left in the third period and the Nittany Lions trailing by one, the blue and white went to work.

Mya Vaslet picked Vita Poniatovskaia's pocket behind the Bulldogs' net before sending a quick pass out front to Alysaa Machado, who buried it to tie the game at two.

Moments later, Yale tried to retake the lead, but in an attempt to crash toward the net, Bulldogs captain Ella Hartje collided with goaltender Josie Bothun. Hartje got called for goaltender interference, and Penn State went on the power play.

Tessa Janecke won the faceoff, and after the Nittany Lions played catch with the puck along the blue line, Katelyn Roberts sent a shot goaltender Anna Phillips saved, but Julie Gough managed to tuck in the rebound to give the Nittany Lions the lead.

“My other four teammates out on the ice, they did all the work,” Gough said. “ I was just there cleaning up the garbage.”

The Bulldogs pushed for an equalizer and several opportunities on what turned into a six-on-four advantage following a Karley Garcia penalty for elbowing and Phillips vacating her crease.

However, the combination of timely blocked shots and Bothun stymied Yale’s attempt as the Nittany Lions held on to win their sixth straight game.

“It was good to play against high-quality competition and then come back and win,” head coach Jeff Kampersal said.

Yale came out aggressive early and was rewarded less than six minutes into the opening period.

Following a battle behind the Yale net, Emma DeCorby swung a pass along the left boards that skipped over Alyssa Machado's stick before landing on the blade of Jordan Ray.

The Florida native skated into the attacking zone before sending a pass into the slot toward Naomi Boucher, who sent a one-timer that snuck through the five-hole of Bothun after Janecke lost an edge and collided with the senior goaltender.

The Bulldogs continued to try to extend their lead, and with 9:41 left in the second period, they did just that. Ray curled to the slot before misfiring a shot that deflected off Sylvia Bojarski's skate and onto the tape of Anna Bargman at the far post, who slotted it home to make it 2-0 Yale.

After allowing those two goals, Bothun made 15 straight saves en route to her 69th career win.

“Every time it got dicey, Josie [ Bothun] came up big,” Kampersal said.

Lyndie Lobdell brought the Nittany Lions within one with 3:12 remaining in the second period while Penn State was on the powerplay as she fired a shot from inside the right face-off circle that sailed through a hoard of bodies and into the back of the net.

“Lyndie [Lobdell] getting that goal was a huge momentum shift,” Gough said. “There was no doubt in our mind that we were going to win that game.”

Next up for the Nittany Lions is the second game of their two-game series with the Bulldogs, with puck drop scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Ben Palillo is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email bgp5079@psu.edu.