Engineers throttle Dutchmen, 6-1

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

There are some nights when a team just doesn't have it.

For No. 2/3 Union, Friday was one of those nights.

The Dutchmen didn't have anything from the get-go and were throttled, 6-1, at the Houston Field House by area rival RPI in the ECAC Hockey opener for both teams.

It was Union's most lopsided defeat in Rick Bennett's three-plus years as head coach. The last time the Dutchmen lost that bad was a 5-0 loss to Yale in Dec. 2010 when Nate Leaman manned the bench.

"We were [crap]," said Union defenseman and team captain Charlie Vasaturo. "[RPI] played hard. They outworked us. We let everyone down who supports the crest in front of our jersey. We let our school down. That was embarrassing. We have to figure it out."

Union center Mike Vecchione, who scored the Dutchmen's lone goal, had similar thoughts.

“We just didn't come out firing,” he added. “They really dominated the first half. We just didn’t put the work in. They were beating us to pucks. They were winning the one-on-one battles. They wanted it more. It just didn’t look like we were ready.”

With six goals, the Engineers matched their total from their first six games of the season.

"Tonight's offensive production was from really simple plays, advancing the puck when in trouble and not trying to play a high-risk game," said Engineers head coach Seth Appert. "When you play a simple game and advance pucks, you can play faster because your teammates know where the puck is going and they can trust and anticipate. We did a better job of that and limited the number of turnovers."

RPI, which came into play with a five-game losing streak, held Union without a shot on goal until midway through the opening period. By the time the Dutchmen registered a shot, they were down 1-0 as Riley Bourbonnais scored the first of his three goals at 7:43. Jared Wilson followed just over eight minutes later after his shot deflected off Colin Stevens' glove and bounced into the net.

The Engineers scored a pair of second period goals to push their edge to 4-0. Bourbonnais struck again at 5:10 after his wrister from the slot eluded Stevens. The Niskayuna native was relieved by Alex Sakellaropoulos after Viktor Liljergren's power-play tally at 17:03.

Vecchione put Union on the board with a power-play strike at 4:24 of the third, but the Engineers responded as Bourbonnais clinched his hat trick with a tally seven seconds later.

The three goals were the sophomore's first three at the collegiate level.

"It was awesome," he said. "My parents were here, so it was a good time and especially against Union."

Lou Nanne scored RPI's sixth goal at 7:36.

RPI's dominating effort left an impression on Bennett.

“I thought they played a phenomenal game, to be quite honest with you," he said. "In my time, it’s the best I've seen them play, and that was really impressive. To Seth and the staff and the players, great job.”

Union (5-2 overall, 0-1 ECACH) has little time to regroup. The Dutchmen host the Engineers (2-5, 1-0) tonight at 7 at Messa Rink.

"[We have to] look at film and show the guys the areas we need to improve on," Bennett said. "But you can only show so much from a work-ethic standpoint. We have to realize deep down that everyone is going to be gunning for [us]. If [we] have efforts like that, there's going to be a lot of 6-1 hockey games this year."

End notes... Union forward Daniel Ciampini received a 10-minute misconduct in the second and did not return... Bennett said Ciampini's knee was bothering him.... Stevens allowed four goals on 18 shots, while Sakellaropoulos gave up two goals on six shots... Bourbonnais' hat trick was the first vs Union since Quinnipiac's Matthew Peca on 3/30/13.... Union won the faceoff battle, 34-27.

POSTGAME VIDEO

Union's Charlie Vasaturo


Union head coach Rick Bennett


Union's Mike Vecchione


RPI head coach Seth Appert


RPI's Riley Bourbonnais


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