Simpson nears milestone but focused on team

by Ryan Fay

With 98 career points, senior forward Wayne Simpson is on the cusp of becoming only the ninth player in Union's Division I era to score 100 or more career points.

Simpson, second on the team with 19 points (9 g, 10 a, 19 gm), admits the milestone would be "exciting," but he is more focused on the team than on a personal achievement.

"We want to get back on the winning train. That's the focus going into two tough games [at Princeton and at Quinnipiac]. Those games are always good battles, especially when we have to go there. It's going to be a good challenge for us at an important time," he said.

The 16th ranked Dutchmen (9-6-4 overall, 3-2-3 ECAC) have one win over their past eight games (1-4-3), the worst skid the program has seen in over five years.

Simpson (unionathletics.com)

The slump began against the two teams on the docket this weekend. Fifth ranked Quinnipiac (16-3-2, 10-0) marched into Messa Rink on November 30th and blanked Union, 4-0. The next day, the Dutchmen tied Princeton, 4-4.

Simpson described what went wrong in the first meeting with ECAC-leading Quinnipiac.

"We hung with them at first and had some chances, but we didn't capitalize on them. And then we let a couple breakdowns the other way."

The product of Boxborough, Massachusetts stressed the importance of taking advantage of chances this time around.

"We need to score some goals," Simpson said. "They have a good defensive core and a good goalie. It's going to be a challenge, but if we can get a few goals, it will take the pressure off a little bit."

Princeton, playing better than expected at 4-3-3 in ECAC play, gave Union all they could handle in the tie earlier this season. Princeton entered the third period of that game with a 4-2 lead.

"It's never easy with them," Simpson said of the second place Tigers. "It's always close and we had a good battle earlier this year. We just need to stick to our game and find a way to prevail."

Tonight's game at Princeton starts at 7:30 P.M on the NBC Sports Network. Tomorrow's game at Quinnipiac begins at 7 P.M.

NOTES: Before yesterday's practice, head coach Rick Bennett was non-committal about defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (5 g, 8 a, 15 gm) being in the lineup tonight. Gostisbehere recently returned from Russia, where he won a gold medal with Team USA in the World Junior Championships. The defenseman, who has missed the past four Union games, spent 23 hours travelling back from Russia and there were concerns about the adjustment back to local time. He was slated to return to practice yesterday.