by Ryan Fay
Alex Sakellaropoulos had a tough act to follow.
With Colin Stevens getting a breather following Friday's 49-save shutout at Yale, Sakellaropoulos got his first start in goal since Dec. 13.
The freshman responded with his first collegiate shutout, finishing with 26 saves to lift third-ranked Union to a 3-0 win over Brown in the ECAC Hockey regular season finale for both teams Saturday at Meehan Auditorium."Tonight he showed a lot of poise, which really kept us calm," said Union head coach Rick Bennett. "I thought he played an excellent game."
Coupled with Stevens' shutout, the Dutchmen recorded shutouts in back-to-back games for the first time since Trevor Koenig accomplished the feat at Colgate and Cornell on Feb. 26-27, 1998.
With the win, Union extended its unbeaten streak to a country-best nine games (8-0-1) and set program records in conference wins (18) and points (37). The previous conference marks were set in 2010-2011, when the Dutchmen finished with 17 wins and 36 points.
After two scoreless periods, Union (24-6-4 overall, 18-3-1 ECACH) broke through at 7:09 of the third. Daniel Ciampini received a pass from Kevin Sullivan at the front of the net and deposited the puck past Brown goalie Marco DeFilippo for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.
Union extended its lead to 2-0 at 16:17, when Daniel Carr tied Ciampini for the team-lead in goals after he took a feed from Matt Wilkins and fired home a shot from inside the right circle.
Sullivan's seventh goal of the season, an empty-netter, closed the scoring at 19:52.
“I think, as a team, we played a strong game," said Carr, who has five goals in his last six contests. "The guys came to battle today and that’s all we can ask for. There’s no letting up with this team. It felt like playoff hockey out there this afternoon.”
“I think, as a team, we played a strong game," said Carr, who has five goals in his last six contests. "The guys came to battle today and that’s all we can ask for. There’s no letting up with this team. It felt like playoff hockey out there this afternoon.”
Union has a bye next weekend before it hosts a best-of-three ECACH Quarterfinal series at Messa Rink starting March 14.
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