Dutchmen blank Big Green, 3-0

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

For Union head coach Rick Bennett, Saturday's ECAC Hockey game against Dartmouth was a "must-win" for his Dutchmen.

They entered play with just one league win all season long, and it was their last conference game until Jan. 7 at Quinnipiac. It was a chance to get a much-needed victory in league action with four non-conference games coming up.

Union goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos recorded a
34-save shutout vs. Dartmouth Saturday at
Messa Rink.
(photo credit: Union athletics)

Thanks to a pair of early goals and a 34-save shutout from goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos, Union took their "must-win" game over the Big Green, 3-0, at Messa Rink.

"Obviously, we didn't tell the players, but as a staff, we felt this was kind of one of those must-win games," Bennett said. "Just basically, what is going across our league, we can't get too far behind. Again, we were more worried about coming out with a sense of urgency tonight and the guys did exactly that."

Union (2-5-1 ECACH, 5-6-4 overall) raced out to a 1-0 lead, picking up the only goal it would need at 3:48 of the first. Brett Supinski received a pass from Nick DeSimone and used a Big Green defender as a screen as he blasted it past goalie Devin Buffalo.

“I just tried to get a puck to the net,” Supinski said. “Coach has been saying it all year, ‘Shoot pucks, shoot pucks and crash.’ I just tried to get it by the defenseman. Luckily, it went in.”

Just under four minutes later, Spencer Foo was in front of Dartmouth's crease when he received a centering pass from Mike Vecchione and deposited it into the net to double Union's advantage.

It was Foo's fifth point of the weekend, having also picked up a goal and three assists in Friday's 4-4 tie with eighth-ranked Harvard.

“It’s really nice,” Foo said. “It’s always nice to get points, but the big thing was we didn’t lose a game this weekend. We came away with three points, so that's huge.”

Sakellaropoulos made Union's lead stand as he recorded his second shutout in his last three games and the third of his career. He was especially good in the third when he made 15 saves, including several late in the period after Dartmouth (3-5, 3-6-1) pulled Buffalo for an extra attacker.

"We've been struggling in our own conference lately and we just tried to get back and win some games," Sakellaropoulos said. "I was talking to the D-men, talking with the forwards, we kind of sorted things out. They let me see the pucks at the blue line so it was quite easy to find the puck and track the puck."

Union made Sakellaropoulos' job easier by blocking 14 shots.

"The guys enjoy playing hard for him," Bennett said. "Our blocked shots were up tremendously these past two games. I don't think it's any coincidence that [we] had three points on the weekend. The guys are bearing down and fighting for each other."

Mike Vecchione sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 39 seconds left in the third.

The Dutchmen resume action next Friday at UMass.

POSTGAME AUDIO

Union coach Rick Bennett

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Union's Foo, Supinski and Sakellaropolos

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