Union wins national championship (with video, audio)

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- There's no time like the first time.

Led by defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, the Union men's hockey team captured the program's first national championship with a 7-4 win over Minnesota in the national championship game Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.

Union celebrates winning the national championship
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Gostisbehere finished the game with a goal, two assists and a plus-7 rating. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.

"It was really awesome," he said. "It feels like we're dreaming right now, but sometimes dreams come true."

Union (32-6-4) finished the season on a 17-game unbeaten streak and was the only team in the country to reach the 30-win plateau.

"It's unbelievable the growth this program has taken over the past probably eight years," said Union senior defenseman Mat Bodie. "I've only been here for four of them, but this championship is for anyone that's ever had a hand in Union hockey because we wouldn't be here without all those players before us. We learned a lot from them, and they broke us into college hockey, and we're forever grateful for that."

Union head coach Rick Bennett, who has been with the program since being hired as an assistant in 2005, had similar thoughts.

"I'm just extremely excited for our program, our school, for the community," he said. "For every player that has worn that jersey, for every coach that's coached here before us, I think it's a tremendous accomplishment. I want to thank them. Obviously I can't name them all, but it's just a surreal moment right now."

Minnesota (28-7-6) and Union entered the game among the top ten defenses in the country, but that was hardly evident in the first period when the two teams combined for six goals and 35 shots.

The Gophers, who have won five national championships, grabbed a 1-0 lead when Justin Kloos cashed in on a rebound off a shot from Nate Condon at 2:37. 

Shayne Gostisbehere tied the game at 1-1 with a wrister from the slot at 9:26, but Minnesota reclaimed the lead 27 seconds later when Sam Warning beat Stevens from the bottom of the left circle.

Union's offense responded with three goals in a span of 1:54 to take a 4-2 lead. Mike Vecchione started the burst when he put in a loose puck to even the score at 2-2 at 15:09.

"We talked about pack of wolves goals," said Union forward Daniel Carr. "Just being around the net, and guys buying in and going to those hard areas. That was kind of it. Ciampini did a great job with the puck there, and all three of us went to the net. Vecchione put it right upstairs."

Just under a minute later, Eli Lichtenwald capitalized on a rebound after Gostisbehere had a shot blocked. Daniel Ciampini finished the flurry when he knocked in a rebound off a shot from Max Novak at 17:03.

Taylor Camaratta sliced Union's lead to 4-3 at 1:13 of the second, but Novak gave the Dutchmen a two goal cushion when he redirected Kevin Sullivan's shot past Gophers goalie Adam Wilcox at 5:31 of the third.

Hudson Fasching's power play tally at 16:20 kept Minnesota in the game, but Union scored two late goals to secure the title. After Gostisbehere blocked a Minnesota shot, Sullivan raced to the other end and beat Wilcox five-hole to put Union ahead 6-4 at 18:38. Bodie tacked on an empty-netter in the final minute.

"We believed we belonged with the big boys, and hopefully some people start to realize that Union hockey is here for good now," said Bodie.

A subject for another day

It's widely expected that Gostisbehere, a junior, will surrender his senior season and sign with the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2012 NHL draft.

But for the time being, Gostisbehere isn't worried about turning pro.

"I'm not really thinking about that right now," he said. "I'm just thinking about all the hard work we put in this year to get that right there, and just having fun with my teammates right now and how we send off the seniors perfectly as champions. Just thinking about that right now with my team."

Stats

Novak's goal proved to be the game-winner. It was eighth such goal of the season, which set a new single-season program record. Wayne Simpson had the old mark of seven, set in 2012-2013.

Carr, a senior, finishes his Union career with 78 goals and 79 assists. With 157 points, he leaves as the highest scorer in the program's 23-year Division I history and ranks third in school history behind Terry Campbell's 170 and Tod Fobare's 167.

With 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists) in 39 games this season, Carr averaged 1.28 points per game. That matches the single-season program record, set by Craig Ferrero in 1991-1992, the program's first Division I season.

Union's senior class -- Bodie, Carr, Cole Ikkala, Matt Hatch and Kevin Sullivan -- led the Dutchmen to a 104-37-20 record over the past four seasons. No other senior class in program history won as many games.

Postgame press conferences

Union

Minnesota

 

Audio highlights 

Union forward Kevin Sullivan "seals the deal" with a goal scored with 1:22 left in the third period. Union play by play man Matt DuBrey and analyst Brian Unger have the call.



Mat Bodie's last-minute empty-netter. DuBrey and Brian Unger have the call.



DuBrey, Unger and Adam Ullman call the closing seconds of the national championship game

Video highlights

Follow @UnionHockeyBlog