Dutchmen skate past Golden Knights, 4-1

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

POTSDAM, N.Y. – Union continued its recent run of success against Clarkson with a 4-1 ECAC Hockey win at Cheel Arena on Friday night.

The Dutchmen moved to 13-1 in their last 14 games against the Golden Knights (10-13-4 overall, 7-6-2 ECACH) dating back to the 2008-09 season.

Matt Wilkins, Mike Vecchione and Nick DeSimone each chipped in a goal and an assist for Union (14-11-2, 6-8-1).

Union took a 2-0 lead in the first period behind goals from Daniel Ciampini and Vecchione. Ciampini finished a 2-on-1 break with Wilkins and gave the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead at 9:08. The tally was his nation-leading 23rd of the season as well as the 60th of his career.

Vecchione's shorthanded goal made it 2-0 at 18:25 after he stole the puck at center ice and raced in and beat Clarkson goalie Greg Lewis on a breakaway. It was Union's seventh shorthanded goal of the season, matching the team record set in 2002-03.

"A shorthanded goal, especially one that makes it 2-zip, kind of deflates the other team a bit and gives your bench life," Union head coach Rick Bennett said. "That was a huge goal for us."

DeSimone's power-play marker extended Union's lead to 3-0 at 1:37 of the second after he rung a shot off the post and in. Wilkins pushed the advantage to 4-0 with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third. The Golden Knights came into play having killed 19 consecutive opponent power-play opportunities.

Clarkson's Kelly Summers spoiled Colin Stevens' shutout bid when he notched a power-play goal of his own with 2:44 left in the game.

Stevens finished with 29 saves on 30 shots.

"I thought Stevens played unreal tonight," Vecchione said. "He made a couple big saves for us that changed the game around. If a couple of those would have went in, it would have been a different story. But he obviously saved a lot of them, and he was the difference-maker tonight."

Union survived a scare at 10:57 of the third after Ciampini was elbowed in the head by Clarkson defenseman Kevin Tansey. Ciampini stayed down on the ice for several minutes, but later made a brief return to the game. Tansey received a five-minute major and a game disqualification, meaning he'll miss tonight's game against RPI.

Union, which has battled inconsistency this season, will look for a four-point weekend when it plays tonight at St. Lawrence.

"Sometimes we do good, then take the next night off," Vecchione said. "So we just have to keep building and make a run for it."

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