BOX SCORE
IN A NUTSHELL: Union jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:05 of the first period and never trailed en route to a commanding 5-1 win over St. Lawrence Friday night at Messa Rink.
Some thoughts:
PLAYOFF POSITIONING
At the worst, the win clinched home ice in the first round of the ECAC playoffs.
But a top four finish and a first round bye are still possible. Yale is in third place with 23 points while Union, Dartmouth, and St. Lawrence are in a three way tie for fourth with 22 points.
To get a first round bye, Union has to win tomorrow night against Clarkson and then get some help.
According to Jason Klump, if Union wins, they need one of following two things: a Yale loss/tie or a Dartmouth loss/tie.
If Union ties, Klump says, they need two of the following three things to happen: a Yale loss, a Dartmouth loss, or a St. Lawrence loss or tie.
Klump added, "I haven't gone through every iteration yet, but I'm pretty confident Union wins a two way tiebreak over St. Lawrence."
Yale, which squeaked out a 4-3 overtime win against Colgate on Friday, hosts Cornell tomorrow. Dartmouth hosts Quinnipiac after tying Princeton 2-2 on Friday. St. Lawrence travels to RPI.
EARLY DEPARTURES
Defenseman Charlie Vasaturo left the game in the first period and never returned while netminder Troy Grosenick was relieved by Colin Stevens in the third. When asked for details, head coach Rick Bennett said both Vasaturo and Grosenick are "hurt" and are "very questionable" for tomorrow's season finale against Clarkson.
QUICK START
After falling behind 3-0 in the first 10 minutes at Cornell last Saturday, it was imperative for the Dutchmen to get off to a better start Friday. And they did - Vasaturo's second goal of the season opened the scoring only 45 seconds into the game. Just over three minutes later, Matt Hatch pushed Union's lead to 2-0 and the tone was set.
"Something we worked on in practice was coming out hard. When we played them, they came out hard against us," Hatch said, referencing St. Lawrence scoring three first period goals in a 4-2 loss on Feb. 9. "We knew we needed to match or better their tempo starting [off]. Getting those two quick goals was pretty key."
The first period was night and day compared to the effort last Saturday at Cornell. The Big Red held Union to six shots and no goals in the opening frame last Saturday, but the Dutchmen fired 17 shots on Saints goaltender Matt Weninger and put two of them by him.
STRONG FINISH
The third period has been a problem for Union at several points throughout the season, but not Friday. The Dutchmen scored two third period goals and outshot St. Lawrence, 15-8, in the final 20 minutes.
BENNETT PLEASED
Bennett was mostly pleased with the effort he saw Friday.
"I'm not going to say it's the best we're going to get because hopefully there's a lot more in the tank and I believe there is," he said. "But it was a nice effort tonight and a great team effort. A lot of guys showed a lot of heart tonight."
EVEN STRENGTH
All five Union goals came on even strength, marking the most even strength goals Union has racked up in a single game since beating Harvard, 6-2, on Nov. 9.
POWER(LESS) PLAY
If there was one area of concern on Friday, it was the power play. Union's usually strong power play unit went 0-for-6 on the night.
Mat Bodie thought the unit was "maybe" a bit discombobulated.
"There were a couple turnovers in the offensive zone where we fanned on a pass or something like that," he said. "That's something we'll clear up moving forward. [The power play] is usually one of the strengths of our team, so we'll work on that in practice some more."
THREE STARS
1. Shayne Gostisbehere - The sophomore picked up three assists and finished with a +4 rating. With a goal and five assists in his last four games, Gostisbehere is playing his best hockey from a statistical standpoint since returning from the World Junior Championships in early January.
2. Mat Bodie - The junior defenseman "sealed the deal" when his fifth goal of the year put Union up 4-1 at 13:01 of the third. The goal came just under four minutes after Chris Martin put the Saints on the board to make a 3-1 game.
"I thought it was a big goal," Bodie said of his tally. "There were around six or seven minutes left in the game and that's when you're going to get a late push by a team, especially when they're down by two. Shayne made a great play and I just saw [St. Lawrence goaltender Wenninger] was leaving that side a little bit open and luckily it went in."
3. Wayne Simpson - The senior responded to his one game benching and scored the game's final goal at 18:13 of the third period.
“He played better than he has recently,” Bennett said of Simpson. “That’s what we’re looking for.”
UP NEXT
Union closes out the regular season Saturday night at 7 pm against Clarkson, which lost 5-0, at RPI on Friday night. According to the RPI blog Without A Peer, the last time RPI blanked Clarkson was 1954.
The Golden Knights previously beat Union, 2-1, in Potsdam on Feb. 8.
Senior night ceremonies will be held after the game for Kyle Bodie, Ryan Forgaard, Wayne Simpson, Shawn Stuart, and Greg Coburn.
Time Warner Cable Sports will carry the game live.
Defenseman Charlie Vasaturo left the game in the first period and never returned while netminder Troy Grosenick was relieved by Colin Stevens in the third. When asked for details, head coach Rick Bennett said both Vasaturo and Grosenick are "hurt" and are "very questionable" for tomorrow's season finale against Clarkson.
QUICK START
After falling behind 3-0 in the first 10 minutes at Cornell last Saturday, it was imperative for the Dutchmen to get off to a better start Friday. And they did - Vasaturo's second goal of the season opened the scoring only 45 seconds into the game. Just over three minutes later, Matt Hatch pushed Union's lead to 2-0 and the tone was set.
"Something we worked on in practice was coming out hard. When we played them, they came out hard against us," Hatch said, referencing St. Lawrence scoring three first period goals in a 4-2 loss on Feb. 9. "We knew we needed to match or better their tempo starting [off]. Getting those two quick goals was pretty key."
The first period was night and day compared to the effort last Saturday at Cornell. The Big Red held Union to six shots and no goals in the opening frame last Saturday, but the Dutchmen fired 17 shots on Saints goaltender Matt Weninger and put two of them by him.
STRONG FINISH
The third period has been a problem for Union at several points throughout the season, but not Friday. The Dutchmen scored two third period goals and outshot St. Lawrence, 15-8, in the final 20 minutes.
BENNETT PLEASED
Bennett was mostly pleased with the effort he saw Friday.
"I'm not going to say it's the best we're going to get because hopefully there's a lot more in the tank and I believe there is," he said. "But it was a nice effort tonight and a great team effort. A lot of guys showed a lot of heart tonight."
EVEN STRENGTH
All five Union goals came on even strength, marking the most even strength goals Union has racked up in a single game since beating Harvard, 6-2, on Nov. 9.
POWER(LESS) PLAY
If there was one area of concern on Friday, it was the power play. Union's usually strong power play unit went 0-for-6 on the night.
Mat Bodie thought the unit was "maybe" a bit discombobulated.
"There were a couple turnovers in the offensive zone where we fanned on a pass or something like that," he said. "That's something we'll clear up moving forward. [The power play] is usually one of the strengths of our team, so we'll work on that in practice some more."
THREE STARS
1. Shayne Gostisbehere - The sophomore picked up three assists and finished with a +4 rating. With a goal and five assists in his last four games, Gostisbehere is playing his best hockey from a statistical standpoint since returning from the World Junior Championships in early January.
2. Mat Bodie - The junior defenseman "sealed the deal" when his fifth goal of the year put Union up 4-1 at 13:01 of the third. The goal came just under four minutes after Chris Martin put the Saints on the board to make a 3-1 game.
"I thought it was a big goal," Bodie said of his tally. "There were around six or seven minutes left in the game and that's when you're going to get a late push by a team, especially when they're down by two. Shayne made a great play and I just saw [St. Lawrence goaltender Wenninger] was leaving that side a little bit open and luckily it went in."
3. Wayne Simpson - The senior responded to his one game benching and scored the game's final goal at 18:13 of the third period.
“He played better than he has recently,” Bennett said of Simpson. “That’s what we’re looking for.”
UP NEXT
Union closes out the regular season Saturday night at 7 pm against Clarkson, which lost 5-0, at RPI on Friday night. According to the RPI blog Without A Peer, the last time RPI blanked Clarkson was 1954.
The Golden Knights previously beat Union, 2-1, in Potsdam on Feb. 8.
Senior night ceremonies will be held after the game for Kyle Bodie, Ryan Forgaard, Wayne Simpson, Shawn Stuart, and Greg Coburn.
Time Warner Cable Sports will carry the game live.
POSTGAME VIDEOS
Union players (Gostisbehere, Hatch, M.Bodie)
Union head coach Bennett
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