This weekend the Dutchmen traveled to face the University of New Hampshire (UNH) before returning home to square off against American International (AIC).
Against UNH Union could only tally one goal. The scorer was Mat Bodie, whose unassisted goal tied the game for Union in the third period.
Unfortunately, Union lost the game in overtime. Less than a minute into the extra frame, the Wildcats formed a rush off a Dutchmen rebound and rocketed one past Troy Grosenick. It was Union's first loss of the season, and UNH's first win.
The next night Grosenick got the start again, but had to leave early in the first as he wasn't feeling well. Freshman Colin Stevens went in his stead, and, after a shaky start, had a pretty solid performance as the Dutchmen went on to win 5-2.
Kelly Zajac had a big game in this one, posting three assists, to bring him within three of 100 career points.
Kyle Bodie, Wayne Simpson, Daniel Carr, Daniel Ciampini, and Max Novak scored the goals for Union.
Bodie, Ciampini, and Carr's goals were their first of the season. In fact, it was Ciampini's first career goal with the Dutchmen, and came at a crucial point, as AIC had made the score a close 3-2.
For full recaps of the games check out these links:
Union Athletics Union at UNH
USCHO AIC at Union
Union Athletics AIC at Union
The game against UNH was a bit disappointing. While Union has had a great stretch these past two seasons, they haven't had a ton of games against some of the power house conferences. It would have been nice to get a win against a Hockey East team, especially since they have been struggling.
To be fair, one of the big reasons for UNH's surprisingly poor play, has been the less-than-stellar performance by their senior goalie, Matt Di Girolamo. Last season he was an All-Star finalist in the Hockey East, and this season he came into the game giving up 5.2 goals on average with a .825 save pct.
It was unrealistic to believe he would play that poorly all season, and he just stood on his head against Union. The Dutchmen did their job by peppering him with 38 shots, but he just had too good of a game.
On the flip side, they kept a struggling offense down, only giving up one goal during regulation on 22 shots, and killed all five power play opportunities for the Wildcats.
The banner ceremony the next night was great. It is very nice seeing a few garnet and white banners in the rink celebrating the Clearly Cup and the NCAA tournament berth. Loved looking at them throughout the game. We will try to get a few photos up, but for now Union Athletics has a nice shot in their recap of the game.
As for the game, it was nice getting to see Stevens play in person. For the most part he looked pretty solid. He let up a goal early, but it was on a power play he faced shortly after coming into the game. The second goal he gave up was during a third period that AIC out shot Union 17-13.
Offensively it was nice to see the power play convert on its first three opportunities, and for Carr to get his first goal of the season. He led the team with 20 goals last season, and maybe that goal is the start of a big stretch for the sophomore.
Ciampini's goal was also great. First, it is always nice to see the freshmen get involved. Second, it was a nice play. The Yellow Jackets turned the puck over in their own zone and Ciampini flew in and brought the puck in front of the net before firing the shot in.
Finally, while it wasn't the game winner, it secured the win for the Dutchmen. For most of the game, the outcome was never really in question, as The Dutchmen outshot AIC 45-11 through the first two periods (58-28 for the game). The only time there was any panic, was in the third when AIC cut the lead to one, and seemed to grab the momentum from Union. Ciampini's goal put an end to that.
This quote from coach Bennett says it best: “That was a monumental goal for us; that was a veteran goal, right there.”
Union has dropped from 11th to 13th in the USCHO poll, from 5th to 7th in Inside College Hockey's (INCH) power ranking, and have stayed at 11th in the USA Today poll.
Next week they will start league play traveling to face Clarkson and St. Lawrence. We will preview those games later this week.
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