Following two ties to Western Michigan the previous weekend, the Dutchmen traveled to play two Atlantic Conference foes. The slate of games seemed like the perfect remedy for Union as they have compiled a career record of 40-5-6 against the Atlantic Conference going into the weekend.
On the first night freshman goaltender Colin Stevens made his first career start for Union against Niagra. Despite beating them 6-1 at home the previous season, the Dutchmen only managed to tie the Purple Eagles 3-3.
Overall Stevens had a pretty good performance. He saved 27 of the 30 shots that came his way. It will be interesting to see if he gets a start again this upcoming weekend.
On the second night, Union dominated RIT. Two years removed from a Frozen Four appearance, the Tigers couldn't even manage to tally a goal against Union's starter, Troy Grosenick.
Union jumped to an early lead, managing to score less than a minute into the contest. They kept up the pressure, going a perfect 3-for-3 on the power play, making it 4-0 before the first intermission. They managed to score one more goal in the game to make it a 5-0 victory for the Dutchmen. The shutout was Troy's first of his career, and led to an ECAC Goaltender of the week honor.
Three Dutchmen netted two goals this weekend. They were Josh Jooris, Kelly Zajac, and Jeremy Welsh. The multi-goal effort was Welsh's second in as many weeks, and puts him as the team-leader in goals with 5 on the season.
Here are some recaps for anyone interested:
USCHO Union at Niagra
Union Athletics Union at Niagra
USCHO Union at RIT
Union Athletics Union at RIT
On Monday, Union moved back up to number 11 in the USCHO rankings. They remained at number 11 in the USA Today rankings.
For those of you interested, last week's opponent, Western Michigan, moved up to seventh in the USCHO rankings.
Overall, the weekend was a successful one for the Dutchmen. While you would have liked to pick up two W's, the results are not discouraging. Union suffered a similar fate last season, tying Army 3-3 the fourth weekend of the season.
This season they stomped Army 8-1, and got locked up against Niagra. Nothing to overreact about. I think the 8-1 victory against Army earlier this season, and the 5-0 victory over RIT this past weekend are more indicative of what this team will be this season than the 3-3 tie to Niagra.
Next week the Dutchmen travel to play UNH on Friday, before coming home on Saturday to face AIC.
We'll have more about each team later in the week. For now know that, while UNH finished second in the tough Hockey East last season, they have started this season out 0-4-1, losing their games by a combined score of 21-6. As for AIC, they are 0-5 and in the Atlantic Conference that Union has compiled that impressive 41-5-7 record against. Union has a chance of coming out of this weekend with two more W's.
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