Garnet Hockey Report: Dutchmen earn share of Cleary Cup (with 2 videos)

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

Union can see Cleary now.

Union senior captain Mat Bodie hoists the Cleary Cup
after the Dutchmen earned at least a share of it
with a 5-0 win over Clarkson Friday at Messa Rink
Photo: Robert Dungan/bigleaguepics.com

Behind three-point effort from Daniel Ciampini and a 20-save shutout from Niskayuna native Colin Stevens, third-ranked Union topped Clarkson, 5-0, in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,194 Friday at Messa Rink.

Coupled with Quinnipiac's 2-1 loss to Cornell, Union earned at least a share of the Cleary Cup. Union (15-3-1 ECAC Hockey, 21-6-4 overall) needs one point to clinch the top seed in next month's ECACH tournament.

"To celebrate it on your home ice, it's a great feeling," said Union coach Rick Bennett. "I just wanted it for the players, so bad. To see them hoist the trophy, that is what it's all about."

Union previously won the cup in 2011 and 2012, but didn't clinch it until the final night of the regular season in both years. There won't be any such drama this go-around.

“I think it’s big,” said Ciampini, who had two goals and an assist. "We’ve still got a lot of work left. It’s good for our class. We got to celebrate it at home. It’s something we didn’t get to do [in 2012].”

Ciampini, who has a goal in six straight games, opened the scoring with a shorthanded marker at 13:45 of the first period. After Clarkson's Sam Lebrecque slipped in front of the net, Ciampini was left all alone in the slot and his shot eluded Clarkson netminder Steve Perry, who was inadvertently taken out by a diving Kevin Tansey.

The goal was reviewed because the net came off its moorings, but it was allowed after the officials deemed that Tansey caused the net to come dislodged.

Union blew the game open with three second period tallies. Ciampini struck again at 8:17 of the second after his attempted pass to Nick Cruice deflected off Perry and went in. Clifton Park native Jeff Taylor followed at 12:04, and Shayne Gostisbehere potted a power play goal just over three minutes later.

"We've lost some leads here of late when we had some two-goal leads and it's important to stick the dagger in them as early as we could," Gostisbehere said. "We stuck to it and had a big second period."

Vecchione closed the scoring with a nifty goal at 15:41 of the third.

"They just kind of fumbled the puck and I ended up getting it at the hashmarks," Vecchione said. "Just a little fake shot, backhand, forehand. The goalie was out of the net, so I had the whole thing."

"He practiced it all week," Ciampini added.

Stevens lowered his goals against average to 2.11 after he recorded his fourth shutout of the season. He faced only nine shots through the first two periods.

"The boys made it really easy for me tonight, blocked a ton of shots, our D-zone coverage I thought was great throughout the whole game," Stevens said. "I just tried to stay mentally sharp back there."

Even though Union clinched a share of the cup, Gostisbehere knows the team has to stay sharp going forward.

"It's a good test for us," he said. "We have three games left. We just want to play strong, stick to Union hockey and keep this train going."

POSTGAME VIDEO