Garnet Hockey Report: Stevens rebounds with shutout, 3-0 (with videos)

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

Niskayuna native Colin Stevens had a game to forget in last Sunday's 5-4 come-from-behind win at Penn State.

Stevens (Union)

Stevens allowed four goals on eight shots before being yanked for freshman Alex Sakellaropoulos.

But Union went back to Stevens on Friday, and the junior rewarded the #11/14 Dutchmen with a 20-save shutout in a 3-0 win over Princeton at Messa Rink. It was Stevens' second shutout of the season; he also blanked Cornell by the same score on November 9.

"It was great to see Stevens rebound and comeback," said Union head coach Rick Bennett. "That's what good goaltenders are going to do and he did a great job of that."

Stevens' best save of the night came at 13:36 of the second period. After junior defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere lost control of the puck, Princeton's Jonathan Liau sped down to the other end of the ice on a breakaway and had a one-on-one chance against Stevens.

But Liau was denied as Stevens made a tremendous glove save with Princeton on the penalty kill to maintain Union's 2-0 lead.

"I just started to get out of my net, challenge as much as possible, and then match his speed coming back in," Stevens said. "I was able to make the save, which was nice."

VIDEO: See Stevens' save on Liau

"I thought one of the turning points was that save," added senior defenseman Mat Bodie. "It was a 2-0 game at that point and we just had a couple chances. A couple weird bounces and they had a breakaway. That save was huge."

Bodie sealed the win with a marker at 18:54 of the third period. The goal, his first of the season, was his 100th career point, making him the 11th player in Union's Division I history to reach the milestone. He is the only defenseman to do so. The 23-year-old has 21 goals and 79 assists in 128 career contests.

"It's pretty cool," Bodie said. "There's a lot of people you have to thank for reaching that. We had some very good goal scorers where you just put it on their stick and they do the rest. It’s a cool achievement, but later in life, I’ll be able to look back on it."

Senior forward Kevin Sullivan put Union on the board at 7:49 of the first period with a power play tally. After Princeton goaltender Spencer Phinney stopped a Bodie shot, Sullivan cashed in on the rebound and tapped it in for his second goal of the season.

"Our team has done a good job getting one goal leads early on in the first period," Sullivan said. "I have to give a lot of credit to Carr and Bodie because they made a couple great plays and all I had to do was tap it in. But it gave our team momentum and after that our team got going."

Unlike several previous games this season, the Dutchmen kept it going. Junior forward Daniel Ciampini recorded his team-best eighth goal of the season at 12:08 of the second period to extend Union's lead to 2-0. After junior forward Max Novak poked the puck in front of the net, Ciampini banged it home.

The lead could have been even larger as Union hit the post four times over the final forty minutes. In the same span, the Dutchmen held Princeton (3-11, 2-7 ECAC) to just nine shots. Union (9-3-2, 6-1-0 ECAC) finished the game with a 34-20 shots advantage.

"That's something we learned from last weekend at Penn State," Sullivan said of keeping the pressure on. "In the first game, we were up 3-0, and we kind of gave up that lead. We're learning a little bit to put teams away, stick to our game, and get shots on net."

Friday's win was Union's sixth consecutive victory. The Dutchmen can make it seven in a row Saturday night at 7 p.m. against first-place and fifth-ranked Quinnipiac, which tied RPI, 3-3, on Friday. With a win, second-place Union can climb into a tie for first-place.

"We're trying to take it one game at a time," Sullivan said. "Every team is good in this league. It was a huge win for our team [tonight]. Hats off to Princeton, they're a great team. They played great and their goaltender played spectacular. But now our focus is on Quinnipiac."

End notes: After a two-game absence due to a middle-body injury, senior forward Daniel Carr returned and assisted on Sullivan's first period power play goal.

Carr replaced senior forward Cole Ikkala in the lineup. Bennett said Ikkala, one of the team's three assistant captains, is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Ikkala had played in every other game this season.

POSTGAME VIDEO