Dutchmen rally to top Golden Knights

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

It wasn't looking good for Union.

It appeared that Union's two-game losing streak would grow to three after James Howden put Clarkson up 3-2 just over a minute into the third period.

But the fourth-ranked Dutchmen didn't give up.

Clarkson's Jordan Boucher and Union's Colin Stevens
battle Saturday at Cheel Arena
photo: Mike Tansey

Max Novak scored his second of the night at 9:05 to tie the game and Matt Wilkins provided the difference at 12:34 to propel the Dutchmen to a pivotal 4-3 win over the 15th-ranked Golden Knights at Cheel Arena.

The win moved the Dutchmen (11-3-0 ECAC Hockey, 17-6-3 overall) back into first place in ECACH by one point over idle Quinnipiac.

"It was an unbelievably gutsy effort from our guys," said Union acting head coach Joe Dumais, who is manning the bench while head coach Rick Bennett serves a four-game suspension resulting from the Mayor's Cup fracas. "Daniel Carr led a group of guys that really stepped up for us. They (Clarkson) scored early, but our guys never quit."

Clarkson (8-5-0, 16-10-2) jumped out early when Paul Geiger took a feed from Jeff DiNallo and found the back of the net on a shot from the left circle at 2:16 of the opening period.

A bad bounce led to Clarkson extending its lead to 2-0 at 7:16 of the second. After Alex Boak's slapshot from the point bounced off Union goaltender Colin Stevens, the puck found DiNallo in the slot and he fired it past Stevens.

Daniel Ciampini, back after serving a one-game suspension stemming from the Mayor's Cup melee, sliced Clarkson's lead in half at 11:03. Carr and Shayne Gostisbehere connected on passes that resulted in Ciampini skating in alone down the slot, and he unleashed a wrister that eluded Golden Knights goalie Steve Perry.

Novak struck 35 seconds later to even the score at 2-2 after Kevin Sullivan stole the puck in Clarkson's end and found Novak in front for the score.

"That was a great response by everyone in the locker room," Novak told the Watertown Daily Times. "We've been down before, so we never give up. To get those goals pretty soon after they got that second one was real big for us."

After Howden made it 3-2 via a screened shot from the right circle, Novak scored a power play goal for his second game-tying goal of the night. He stole the puck behind the Clarkson cage, went to the front of the net, and got the puck past Perry.

It was a rare recent strike for Union's power play, which had been held off the board in the previous four games.

"Our power play hasn't been what we expect it to be," Novak told the Watertown Daily Times. "To get that power play goal there was a good confidence booster."

Wilkins collected his second game-winning goal of the season when he put in a rebound off a Charlie Vasaturo shot from the point.

"It was one of those games where it was hard fought," Clarkson head coach Casey Jones told the Watertown Daily Times. "It was difficult to gain ice. Both teams were skating a hard and physical game. Kudos to [Union] - I thought they played well. They got better as the game wore on and ended up making one more play than we did."

Union returns to action on Friday with a matchup against Brown at Messa Rink.

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