Dutchmen wear down Wildcats, 3-1 (w/ 4 videos)

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

Fifth-ranked Union used a pair of shorthanded tallies to push past 19th-ranked New Hampshire 3-1 in a non-conference matchup Saturday at Messa Rink.

Already leading 1-0, the Wildcats had a chance to take control of the game when Union freshman defenseman JC Brassard was whistled for interference at 12:20 of the second period. But it was the Dutchmen who capitalized in the ensuing two minutes.

Senior forward Sam Coatta and junior defenseman Sebastien Gingras scored shorthanded goals 58 seconds apart to turn that 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.

The goals came after the Wildcats successfully killed four penalties earlier in the period, including one against Maxim Gaudreault that ended just before Brassard's infraction. The Dutchmen wore down the Wildcats after spending nearly all of those two minutes in their zone.

“We just came off four power plays where we generated a lot of momentum,” Dutchmen senior forward Mark Bennett said. “We didn’t get any goals, but we were in their zone for almost all two minutes of the [fourth] power play. We really drained their guys.”

After Bennett stole the puck from Matias Cleland at the Union blue line, he began a two-on-one rush up the right wing. When he arrived at the right circle, he made a cross ice pass to Coatta, who sent the puck past Wildcats goalie Adam Clark at 12:30 to even the score at 1-1.

Just under a minute later, senior forward Daniel Ciampini drove the net, but was stopped by Clark. Gingras was trailing the play, and he put the rebound into the back of the cage to put Union ahead 2-1.

“It gave us what we needed,” Dutchmen head coach Rick Bennett said. “It was the pushback that we were kind of desperately looking for here.”

The shorthanded strikes were game-changers for the Wildcats (0-1).

“They turned the game around with us on the power play,” Wildcats coach Dick Umile said. “We didn’t make very good plays. We lost momentum. I thought we were playing well up to that point. On the power play, you would expect better play on our part. I’ll give them credit for being aggressive, but we didn’t manage the puck very well on the power play.”

The Dutchmen (2-0) weren't done. Exactly two minutes after Gingras' tally, sophomore forward Mike Vecchione extended Union's lead to 3-1. After freshman forward Spencer Foo stripped the puck from Wildcats defenseman Harry Quast in the Union end, he fed it to Vecchione, who raced up the ice and beat Clark through the legs with a wrister from the right circle.

"Foo had a great one-on-one battle and beat the guy. I was swinging low and he chipped it and I beat the 'D," Vecchione said. "Their goalie is a big guy, so he had to go down and drop pretty low. I just slid it five hole and beat him."

Vecchione's goal came against the team he originally committed to play for. But after being asked to play a second year of junior hockey, Vecchione de-committed and ended up with Union. He missed Union's two 3-1 wins at New Hampshire last season due to a bout with mononucleosis. 

"I don't really hold a grudge against them," said Vecchione, who shared an embrace with Umile during the postgame handshake. "They are a great program. I have the utmost respect for [coach Umile]. It just didn't work out and we went our separate ways.

“In the end, it felt good to finally get to play against them and get a goal and an assist.”

VIDEO

Union's three goals



Mike Vecchione, Mark Bennett, Sam Coatta postgame



Union head coach Rick Bennett postgame 



UNH head coach Dick Umile postgame



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