by Ryan Fay
Niskayuna native Colin Stevens made 33 saves to pick up his third shutout of the season and Union blanked Princeton 3-0 Saturday in front of a standing room only crowd at Hobey Baker Rink.
The win didn't come without a cost. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was shaken up after he took a hit along the wall from Princeton forward Ryan Siiro in the first period. The 2012 Philadelphia Flyers draftee returned to skate a brief shift, but did not appear after the first.
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Stevens, who also blanked Princeton by the same score in December, kept Union in the game early. He turned aside 17 shots in the opening period, including a pad save on a breakaway from Andrew Ammon and a pair of doorstep chances by Siiro.
Fourth-ranked Union opened the scoring in the second when Michael Pontarelli tipped in Charlie Vasaturo's shot from the point for his eighth goal of the season.
The Dutchmen outshot the Tigers 23-5 in the middle period thanks in part to 14 shots on the power play. Nine of those shots came during a five minute major on Jeremy Goodwin that included 1:35 of 5-on-3 action from an earlier penalty on Tyler Maugeri.
Princeton (4-15, 3-9 ECAC) netminder Colton Phinney withstood the pressure and brushed all nine aside en route to a career-high 45 saves.
Phinney came up big again late in the period, denying a breakaway bid from Daniel Ciampini to keep the Tigers close.
But the Dutchmen pulled away in the third. Max Novak increased Union's lead to 2-0 at 7:48 when he tipped in a Sebastien Gingras shot from the point. The goal was his fourth of the season.
Daniel Carr, who fired a team-high 11 shots on goal, added an empty-netter with 29 seconds left to secure the win.
The goal, his 10th of the season, moved him within two points of becoming Union's Division I era career points leader. Adam Presizniuk, who skated with Union from 2007-2011, holds the record with 131.
Union, which lost 48 of 68 faceoffs in Friday's 2-1 setback at seventh-ranked Quinnipiac, went 39-36 on draws. Eli Lichtenwald led the way, finishing 16-6.
Union head coach Rick Bennett was pleased with the bounce back effort.
"I thought our effort was great tonight. The guys responded well after last night's effort," he said. "Colin (Stevens) kept us in the game early on and gave us a chance to win."
Union (13-4-3, 9-2) is back on the road next weekend with a two-game non-conference series at New Hampshire.
Phinney came up big again late in the period, denying a breakaway bid from Daniel Ciampini to keep the Tigers close.
But the Dutchmen pulled away in the third. Max Novak increased Union's lead to 2-0 at 7:48 when he tipped in a Sebastien Gingras shot from the point. The goal was his fourth of the season.
Daniel Carr, who fired a team-high 11 shots on goal, added an empty-netter with 29 seconds left to secure the win.
The goal, his 10th of the season, moved him within two points of becoming Union's Division I era career points leader. Adam Presizniuk, who skated with Union from 2007-2011, holds the record with 131.
Union, which lost 48 of 68 faceoffs in Friday's 2-1 setback at seventh-ranked Quinnipiac, went 39-36 on draws. Eli Lichtenwald led the way, finishing 16-6.
Union head coach Rick Bennett was pleased with the bounce back effort.
"I thought our effort was great tonight. The guys responded well after last night's effort," he said. "Colin (Stevens) kept us in the game early on and gave us a chance to win."
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