Dutchmen earn sole possession of Cleary Cup, top seed (with 2 videos)

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

The Dutchmen like to share.

Just not when it comes to the Cleary Cup.

And now they don't have to worry about doing that.

One night after clinching at least a share of the Cleary Cup, third-ranked Union won it outright and earned the top seed in the ECAC Hockey tournament with a 6-2 win over St. Lawrence.

“It feels great,” said Union head coach Rick Bennett. “I guess it’s a little more fitting that it’s on Senior Night, and it’s great for those seniors. We like to share. We’re all about sharing, and we talked about that as a staff. It’s not Christmas. It’s ours. I’m just happy for the guys."

Union (22-6-4 overall, 16-3-1 ECACH) also earned the top seed in the ECACH tournament in 2011 and 2012, but didn't wrap it up until the final night of the regular season in both years. This year, the Dutchmen did with two regular season games remaining.

“It says that you’re consistent, Bennett said. "One of the things we talked about at the beginning of the year is being consistent. It’s one of our staples, and they really followed up on that. It’s quite impressive. We’ve just got to keep this going.”

Union came out firing, outshooting St. Lawrence 18-3 in the opening period to take an early 2-0 lead.

Sebastien Gingras put the Dutchmen on the board at 16:03 when he took a feed from Kevin Sullivan at the top of the right circle and beat St. Lawrence goaltender Matt Weninger to the glove side.

Nick Cruice kept the momentum going just 22 seconds later, taking a centering pass from Daniel Ciampini for an easy tap-in.

“I thought the first period was indicative of how bad we wanted it,” said defenseman Mat Bodie. “Guys came ready to play. It would have been easy for the guys to let up a little bit, knowing that we clinched a share. The guys really wanted it. I’m proud of the effort the guys put forward tonight.”

Union buried St. Lawrence in the second, scoring a trio of goals to increase its lead to 5-0. Mike Vecchione scored on a delayed tripping penalty against St. Lawrence's Brian Ward at 12:55 to start the surge.

“I got tripped up, and ‘Wilkie’ got it,” Vecchione said. “He drove the net, and everyone kind of collapsed on the net. I found a seam to the back door, and it bounced out to me, and I got it and put it home. I think that just got us going in the second.”

Carr scored on the ensuing power play, taking a pass from Shayne Gostisbehere and shot a one-timer from the right circle past Weninger at 14:25. Carr scored again just over two minutes later, chasing Weninger from the game after taking a long feed from Bodie and breaking in alone for the tally.

“The first one was a great play by Mat and Shayne to open it up,” said Carr. “I got a lucky bounce in front of the net. The second one, it was just a great pass by Mat. He has unbelievable vision. He’s such an easy guy to play with. That goal is all him.”

Niskayuna native Colin Stevens saw his shutout streak end at 141:04 when Alex Hagen scored on a rebound at 5:49 of the third to make it a 5-1 game. Eli Lichtenwald responded at 8:52 before Gunnar Hughes closed the scoring at 10:53.

Union will look to run its seven game (6-0-1) unbeaten streak to eight with a matchup at Yale on Friday.

POSTGAME VIDEO

Union head coach Rick Bennett

Union's Daniel Carr, Mike Vecchione and Mat Bodie


Follow @UnionHockeyBlog