by Ryan Fay
Friday home games haven't been Union's strong point this season.
The Dutchmen entered play winless in eight Friday home contests with an 0-4-4 record.
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| Union's Nick DeSimone scored the game-winner in Friday's 2-1 ECAC Hockey win over Princeton (photo: Union College athletics) |
With the victory, the Dutchmen (12-11-8, 5-9-5 ECACH) moved to within four points of Cornell and Clarkson for the final home ice spot in the ECACH tournament with three games left in the regular season.
"I thought it was a team effort," Union head coach Rick Bennett said. "It was nice that in the third period you are not holding on and you are trying to be relentless. I thought we did an excellent job of that, something that has been brought up an awful lot."
The win was a painful one for Union. Brett Supinski, the team's third-leading scorer, left early in the first period after sliding awkwardly into the boards behind Princeton's net. He didn't return and his status for tonight's game against top-ranked Quinnipiac is uncertain.
Sebastien Gingras had a tougher night. He had to be helped off the ice late in the second after appearing to hurt his left knee in a collision with a Princeton player. Gingras returned in the third, but his night ended with 2:14 left in regulation after he blocked a Ryan Siiro shot with his head.
"At the end, it's a big-time play. He's a senior leaving it all on the line so that is what we need," Bennett said, adding he expects Gingras to play tonight.
Lichtenwald gave Union a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 14:44 of the first after redirecting a shot from the point by J.C. Brassard. Lichtenwald was inserted on the power play unit after Supinski left the game.
"Supinski went down there and Rick [Bennett] just said go to the front of the net on the power play," Lichtenwald said. "J.C. made a great read and saw he had a lane there and shot one through and I got a stick on it."
Princeton (5-19-2, 3-14-2) evened the game on a tally from Siiro at 2:34 of the second. But Union took the lead for good just over a minute later. Mike Vecchione won a faceoff and sent the puck back to DeSimone, who fired a wrist shot through traffic that eluded Tigers goalie Colton Phinney.
"[Vecchione] won a good draw and tried to get it back to the point to get shots on the net," DeSimone said. "I was just lucky enough that it didn't get blocked and [Matt Wilkins] had a good screen going and [Phinney] didn't see it."
Union clamped down the rest of the way, holding Princeton to five shots in the third after allowing 22 over the first two periods.
Sakellaropoulos turned in a 26-save performance, including a highlight reel stop on a one-timer from Max Véronneau early in the first to keep the game scoreless.
"It’s late in the season," Sakellaropoulos said. "We know what we have to do to win hockey games. Going into the playoffs, we want to have momentum. We want to play a full 60 minutes and get a big ‘W’ because it will help us in the standings right now."
POSTGAME REACTION
Rick Bennett
Alex Sakellaropoulos and Eli Lichtenwald
Princeton (5-19-2, 3-14-2) evened the game on a tally from Siiro at 2:34 of the second. But Union took the lead for good just over a minute later. Mike Vecchione won a faceoff and sent the puck back to DeSimone, who fired a wrist shot through traffic that eluded Tigers goalie Colton Phinney.
"[Vecchione] won a good draw and tried to get it back to the point to get shots on the net," DeSimone said. "I was just lucky enough that it didn't get blocked and [Matt Wilkins] had a good screen going and [Phinney] didn't see it."
Union clamped down the rest of the way, holding Princeton to five shots in the third after allowing 22 over the first two periods.
Sakellaropoulos turned in a 26-save performance, including a highlight reel stop on a one-timer from Max Véronneau early in the first to keep the game scoreless.
"It’s late in the season," Sakellaropoulos said. "We know what we have to do to win hockey games. Going into the playoffs, we want to have momentum. We want to play a full 60 minutes and get a big ‘W’ because it will help us in the standings right now."
POSTGAME REACTION
Rick Bennett
Alex Sakellaropoulos and Eli Lichtenwald
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