Cruice, Grosenick lead Union to 2-1 win over Colgate

For postgame press conference videos, scroll down or click here. There's two from tonight - Union head coach Rick Bennett and Union players Nick Cruice and Troy Grosenick. The latter is a bit blurry for the first 25 seconds, but is fine after. Colgate didn't send anyone down after the game.

==========

by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- For a change, Rick Bennett didn't have to answer questions about the Dutchmen not hanging on to a third period lead.

#17 Union had blown third period leads in two consecutive games, but the Dutchmen entered the final period on Saturday night with a 2-1 lead over #20 Colgate and kept it.

Freshman Nick Cruice, who sat out the previous three games, scored the eventual game winning goal at 13:07 of the second period. The forward sent a wrister off the far post that went in for his second goal of the season and first since October 26th.

"It happened pretty fast," Cruice said of his goal. "I have to give a lot of credit to [freshman forward] David Roy. He's the one that told me to shoot. It was at the end of the shift, so [we were] just trying to get pucks on net."

Bennett liked what Cruice brought to the lineup.

"He's a bigger body and he's a physical guy. When he gets in the lineup, he uses that body," Bennett said.

Cruice did take an elbowing penalty leading to Colgate's only goal as Jeremy Price's power play tally tied it at 1-1 midway through the middle period.

Bennett was ready to look past that.

"As a staff, what we're most proud of is he took a penalty, came back, and responded in a positive way," Bennett said, referring to Cruice's later goal.

Union outshot Colgate 34-26, but junior goaltender Troy Grosenick made a few spectacular saves among the 25 he collected. He robbed Joe Wilson on a one-timer at 15:04 of the second period and later made a key save on a shorthanded break led by John Lidgett with 89 seconds remaining in regulation.

"I thought this was the first weekend [this season] that this was Grosenick and how he was playing last year," Bennett said of his netminder who piled up 58 saves in two games this weekend. "He's one of the hardest working players I've ever had a chance to work with. When you have that work ethic and you're coachable, you're going to get better."

Bennett wasn't as pleased after seeing his team take a too many men on the ice penalty for the second straight game.

"Those players involved will be doing some skating," Bennett said. "It starts with me, [but] we're not the Edmonton Oilers of the eighties where we can spot people power plays. We really need to bear down in that department."

After picking up the win, Cruice said the team has a bright future.

"We're going to start rolling," he predicted. "There's a lot of chemistry building on our team right now. It's all a good feeling and we're going to come back Tuesday and do well. It's a good win going forward."

Union hosts their third home game in five days when Harvard comes to Messa Rink for a 7 pm faceoff on Tuesday.

NOTES: Wayne Simspon opened the scoring with a breakaway goal at 16:26 of the first period. It was his team-best 11^th of the season and it extended his point steak to four games.... On the women's side, the Dutchwomen nearly pulled off a signature win at #2/3 Harvard, but lost, 1-0. Harvard also beat them, 9-0, earlier this month.

###

Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
#20 Colgate vs #17 Union (Jan 19, 2013 at Schenectady, NY)

Colgate (11-9-2 (3-6-1 ECACH)) vs. Union (11-8-4 (5-4-2 ECACH)) Date: Jan 19, 2013 Location: Schenectady, NY Arena: Messa Rink Attendance:2217 Start time:7:07 pm End time:9:14 pm Total time:2:07  Goals by Period 1st 2nd 3rd Total Colgate 0 1 0 1 Union 1 1 0 2 Scoring Summary # Prd Time Team Type Scored by Assists Visitor on ice Home on ice 1. 1st 16:26 UNION EVEN Simpson, Wayne/11 - 27,25,23,17 21,12,14,20 2. 2nd 10:14 COLGATEM PP Price, Jeremy/5 Bourdon, Robbie/13 20,17,25,27,15 12,3,20,21 Murphy, Darcy/3 3. 2nd 13:07 UNION EVEN Cruice, Nick/2 Gostisbehere, Shayne/10 14,17,16,27,4 8,14,23,26,20

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCES

Available in 720p HD.