by Ryan Fay
Make it ten in a row.
Union defeated #10 Rensselaer, 4-1, at the Houston Field House on Saturday to sweep the weekend series and collect their tenth consecutive victory over their Capital District rivals.
"It doesn't get old," Union forward Daniel Carr said of the Dutchmen's recent domination of the Engineers. "Obviously this rivalry is huge. It's one of those things. It's the reason you come play college hockey: rivalries like these."
Physical finish
The bigger story was arguably the mess in the last five minutes of the third period. In a nutshell, all hell broke loose.
Union (6-3-2, 5-1-0 ECAC) and Rensselaer (6-4-2, 2-3-2) combined for a whopping 159 penalty minutes in the final period, with the overwhelming majority of that coming in the final five minutes. There were a dozen 10 minute misconducts handed out in the final minutes of play.
"That's hockey," said Union head coach Rick Bennett. "If you've played hockey before and haven't been in one of those altercations then you haven't lived."
Added Carr, "if that was junior [hockey], we would have had four or five line brawls."
Overall, the two teams finished with a combined 177 penalty minutes (83 for Union, 94 for RPI). Engineers forward Jake Wood racked up 33 penalty minutes, while Union defenseman Charlie Vasaturo piled up 22.
The best there is
Union defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists in Union's 4-3 win over Rensselaer on Friday.
On Saturday, he scored twice in a 75 second span in the third period to help the Dutchmen pull away from the Engineers. Gostisbehere's tallies increased Union's lead from 2-1 to 4-1.
He left a big impression on Rensselaer head coach Seth Appert.
"Gostisbehere is the best player in the country," Appert said of the 2012 third round Philadelphia Flyers draft pick. "We've played a pretty good schedule, and we played [against] Johnny Gaudreau [of Boston College]. It's no sleight to him. He's a heck of a hockey player for BC. But Gostisbehere is the best player we've seen this year."
Asked what he liked about Gostisbehere, Appert said "everything" before adding "he's fast, tenacious, tough. He's fantastic. He was just outstanding. He was special this weekend."
Gostisbehere has 12 points (4 g, 8 a) in 11 games this season.
Powerful power play
After going 2-for-26 on the power play in the past five games, the Dutchmen righted the ship on Saturday, finishing 3-for-9 on the man advantage.
Forwards Eli Lichtenwald and Carr scored on the power play in under a three minute span in the second period to put Union up 2-0. Gostisbehere added a power play marker in the third.
"Our power play really stepped up tonight," said Carr. "We did a better job of getting the puck down low and getting it low to high. That was one adjustment made and it worked out well. The guys did a great job of getting traffic in front of the net which allowed the point shots to go in."
Sullivan returns
After missing three games with an upper-body injury sustained in a 4-2 win at Harvard on Nov. 2, senior forward Kevin Sullivan rejoined the lineup.
He picked up right where he left off, collecting a pair of assists to bring his season total up to 13. He is tied with Boston College's Bill Arnold and St. Lawrence's Greg Carey for the most assists in the country.
"We call him the dish master right now," Gostisbehere said of Sullivan. "He's getting apples (assists) like its nothing."
With Sullivan returning to action, freshman forward Michael Pontarelli sat out his first game this season.
Stevens shines
Union junior goaltender Colin Stevens was nearly perfect on Saturday, turning aside 17-of-18 Engineers shots. The exception was a Brock Higgs tally on sustained Rensselaer pressure at 14:49 of the second period that cut Union's lead to 2-1.
"That was our fault," Gostisbehere said. "We battled there for almost two and a half minutes. But he stepped up big for us through the shadows of [ex-Union goaltender] Troy Grosenick."
One more to go
Union and Rensselaer have one more game scheduled this season, the second annual non-league Mayor's Cup at the Times Union Center on Jan. 25.
"That's going to be fun," Carr said.
The Dutchmen will be seeking their 11th straight win over the Engineers and will be looking to keep the cup they captured last season.
That's a wrap
Saturday's contest was referee Alex Dell's last game.
A ceremony was held on the ice before the game. The Niskayuna resident enjoyed a 25-year officiating career, including several NCAA Tournament assignments.
Up next
The Dutchmen are off next weekend due to final exams. The team resumes play on Nov. 30-Dec.1 with a non-conference series at Penn State.
Three stars
1) Gostisbehere - 2 goals
2) Union defenseman Mat Bodie - 2 assists
3) Sullivan - 2 assists
Three stars
1) Gostisbehere - 2 goals
2) Union defenseman Mat Bodie - 2 assists
3) Sullivan - 2 assists
Postgame videos
Rensselaer head coach Seth Appert
Union head coach Rick Bennett
Union forward Daniel Carr
Union defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere
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