Hatch re-joins ECHL's Reading Royals

by Ryan Fay

Former Union forward Matt Hatch was signed to a Standard Players Contract by the ECHL's Reading Royals on Wednesday.

Hatch in a game with the Royals last season.

Hatch had been a free agent since last week, when he was released by the Orlando Solar Bears less than two months after signing with the team.

Hatch is no stranger to Reading, having spent most of last season there. He had nine goals and six assists in 39 games with the team a year ago, with the nine goals tying for the club lead among rookies. His plus-8 rating topped team rookies.

In addition to his time with the Royals, Hatch also skated in a pair of games last season with the American Hockey League's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The 25-year-old could make his season debut with the Royals as early as Friday, when they travel to take on an Elmira team that includes Mark Bennett, one of Hatch's former Union teammates.

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Sullivan peaking late for Dutchmen

By Ryan Fay

When Union brought winger Kevin Sullivan into the program three years ago, they were hoping to get a go-to guy.

Sullivan's prep hockey statistics certainly hinted at that kind of potential. In his senior season at the Berkshire School, he was the leading scorer in the New England Prep League with 66 points (21 g, 45 a). He was a first-team All-New England and was named Berkshire's Most Valuable Player.

Sullivan in action last season

For the most part, though, the first few years of Sullivan's collegiate career didn't match the hype. Through his first 85 games with Union, the Darien, Connecticut native registered just 30 points (9 g, 21 a)

But Sullivan has become what Union was hoping for in the latter stages of his Dutchmen career.

The 22-year-old was a big force behind Union's postseason run last season, scoring nine points (5 g, 4 a) in eight March contests.

The momentum has carried over into his senior season, as he leads the team with eight points (all assists) through four games. He didn't record his eighth point until his 29th game last season and the eight assists are currently tops in all of Division I.

Sullivan credited finding the right lines as a difference maker. As his numbers spiked this past March, the one constant was being on the same line in every game as winger Matt Hatch and center Max Novak.

"That line had pretty good chemistry," remembered Sullivan.

He's still skating with Hatch, but with Novak sidelined with a lower-body injury, highly-regarded freshmen Alex Gonye and Michael Vecchione have taken turns centering Sullivan's line. The mix has gelled as the line has produced three goals and three assists through four contests.

"It has been clicking pretty well," said Sullivan, who also has five assists on the power play. "We've been grinding teams down, and keeping it simple.”

Union head coach Rick Bennett said Sullivan's play this season can also be attributed to a strong offseason.

“I thought he paid the price over the summer,” Bennett said. “He went to [NHL skills coach] Paul Vincent's development camp, and it's really helping him a ton. He put the effort in, and he's building off last year's playoffs.”

Sullivan's late development may be traced to making the big leap from prep hockey to college hockey. Some players do a year or more of junior hockey in between to get ready for the collegiate game.

"He was young," Bennett said of Sullivan, who debuted at Union when he was 19-years-old. "He came right from prep school. Could he have done another year [before coming here]? I guess that's open for debate. But he has matured through school and through hockey. He's just a more confident guy."

Considering Union lost four 25-plus point producers after last season (forwards Josh Jooris, Wayne Simpson, and Kyle Bodie plus defenseman Greg Coburn), Sullivan's senior season breakout couldn't have come at a better time.

"It's huge for us," said linemate Hatch. "Some of our younger guys can take their time and get into it a little bit easier. Being a veteran and coming in and stepping up like this makes it easier for everyone."

Sullivan said he wants to end his Union career on a high note.

"We've come up short each year of one of our main goals, which is to win a national championship," he said. "We have a couple ECAC championship banners hanging from the rink here, but it would be really nice to leave a national championship."

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Union sweeps away Dartmouth, 5-2 (with 3 videos)

BOX SCORE

by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- Union completed an ECAC Quarterfinals sweep of Dartmouth with a 5-2 win in front of 1,835 fans Saturday night at Messa Rink.

The win advances the defending Whitelaw Cup winners from Schenectady to the league semifinals on Friday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Union's opponent will be determined following the completion of the quarterfinal round on Sunday.

“It was nice,” Union head coach Rick Bennett said of advancing. “I was thinking about it today, the fact that we wanted just to tell those seniors that they were the first team [here] to get to our league [final] four in back-to-back seasons. That’s something they should be proud of.

“There’s been some ups and downs. But I tell you what, it seems like every article that comes out always starts out that Union is having an up-and-down season. But we still have 19 wins. To me, that’s a heck of a season.”

Junior forward Matt Hatch made a heck of a pass to Kevin Sullivan, who one-timed it past Dartmouth goaltender Charles Grant to give Union a 1-0 lead at the 1:32 mark of the first period.

“The first goal was all Hatch,” Sullivan said. “It was a great forecheck by him. I got a good a piece of it on the one-timer. It was a great feed by him.”

Kyle Bodie's ninth goal of the season pushed the lead to 2-0 when his blocked shot rebounded back to him and he sent it past Grant at 2:37 of the middle period.

“Quite honestly, I don’t even know how the puck ended up in the slot there,” Bodie said. “Yeah, that first one got blocked. It landed flat. I just got it on net. There was probably two or three of our guys alone in front of the net. It kind of had eyes, and found its way through.”

19th-ranked Union quickly increased its lead to 3-0 just over two minutes later when defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere launched a rocket into the back of the net.

“The goal that 14 [Gostisbehere] scored, I don’t think any goalie has that puck, not at the college level,” said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet.  “It’s a great play. When they wheel around, they are a very good team.”

Gostisbehere's goal chased Grant from the game, and Gaudet turned to Cab Morris the rest of the way. Grant stopped 12-of-15 shots before being relieved.

"[Grant] did a real good job for us," Gaudet said. "It was one of those nights where they shot it where he wasn't."

Dartmouth (15-14-5) got on the board, 3-1, at 9:20 of the second period when Eric Neiley scored a shorthanded goal following a hooking penalty to Rick Pinkston. Neiley pickpocted Josh Jooris, capitalized on a two-on-one, and beat Troy Grosenick low.

Jooris redeemed himself when he upped Union's lead to 4-1 after he beat Morris high at the 11:15 mark of the third period.

A Gostisbehere turnover led to Dustin Walsh giving Dartmouth a little hope when he lit the lamp at 15:02 to make it a 4-2 game. But Sullivan's second goal of the night with a minute to play iced the series for the Dutchmen, who didn't trail at any point over the weekend.

“[Daniel] Carr took a one-timer, and I think his stick broke,” Sull­ivan said of his second goal. “He whiffed on it, which is pretty rare. I just got a lucky tip.”

PAIRWISE UPDATE
When the smoke cleared Saturday, Union (19-12-5) remained 15th in the Pairwise.

MR. CLUTCH
Sullivan, who scored two goals in Saturday's quarterfinal clinching game, also scored two goals in last year's quarterfinal clinching win over RPI.

ON THE ROAD
Union is offering ticket and transportation packages to Atlantic City. For more information, click here.

THREE STARS

1. Sullivan, Union - Scored two goals and added an assist.

2. Grosenick, Union - Backstopped Dutchmen to Atlantic City with 28 saves.

3. Hatch, Union - Great feed lead to Union's first goal.

POSTGAME VIDEOS

Union 5, St. Lawrence 1 - postgame (with 2 videos)

by Ryan Fay

BOX SCORE

IN A NUTSHELL: Union jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 4:05 of the first period and never trailed en route to a commanding 5-1 win over St. Lawrence Friday night at Messa Rink.

Some thoughts:

PLAYOFF POSITIONING
At the worst, the win clinched home ice in the first round of the ECAC playoffs.

But a top four finish and a first round bye are still possible. Yale is in third place with 23 points while Union, Dartmouth, and St. Lawrence are in a three way tie for fourth with 22 points.

To get a first round bye, Union has to win tomorrow night against Clarkson and then get some help.

According to Jason Klump, if Union wins, they need one of following two things: a Yale loss/tie or a Dartmouth loss/tie.

If Union ties, Klump says, they need two of the following three things to happen: a Yale loss, a Dartmouth loss, or a St. Lawrence loss or tie.

Klump added, "I haven't gone through every iteration yet, but I'm pretty confident Union wins a two way tiebreak over St. Lawrence."

Yale, which squeaked out a 4-3 overtime win against Colgate on Friday, hosts Cornell tomorrow. Dartmouth hosts Quinnipiac after tying Princeton 2-2 on Friday. St. Lawrence travels to RPI.

EARLY DEPARTURES
Defenseman Charlie Vasaturo left the game in the first period and never returned while netminder Troy Grosenick was relieved by Colin Stevens in the third. When asked for details, head coach Rick Bennett said both Vasaturo and Grosenick are "hurt" and are "very questionable" for tomorrow's season finale against Clarkson.

QUICK START
After falling behind 3-0 in the first 10 minutes at Cornell last Saturday, it was imperative for the Dutchmen to get off to a better start Friday. And they did - Vasaturo's second goal of the season opened the scoring only 45 seconds into the game. Just over three minutes later, Matt Hatch pushed Union's lead to 2-0 and the tone was set.

"Something we worked on in practice was coming out hard. When we played them, they came out hard against us," Hatch said, referencing St. Lawrence scoring three first period goals in a 4-2 loss on Feb. 9. "We knew we needed to match or better their tempo starting [off]. Getting those two quick goals was pretty key."

The first period was night and day compared to the effort last Saturday at Cornell. The Big Red held Union to six shots and no goals in the opening frame last Saturday, but the Dutchmen fired 17 shots on Saints goaltender Matt Weninger and put two of them by him.

STRONG FINISH
The third period has been a problem for Union at several points throughout the season, but not Friday. The Dutchmen scored two third period goals and outshot St. Lawrence, 15-8, in the final 20 minutes.

BENNETT PLEASED
Bennett was mostly pleased with the effort he saw Friday.

"I'm not going to say it's the best we're going to get because hopefully there's a lot more in the tank and I believe there is," he said. "But it was a nice effort tonight and a great team effort. A lot of guys showed a lot of heart tonight."

EVEN STRENGTH
All five Union goals came on even strength, marking the most even strength goals Union has racked up in a single game since beating Harvard, 6-2, on Nov. 9.

POWER(LESS) PLAY
If there was one area of concern on Friday, it was the power play. Union's usually strong power play unit went 0-for-6 on the night.

Mat Bodie thought the unit was "maybe" a bit discombobulated.

"There were a couple turnovers in the offensive zone where we fanned on a pass or something like that," he said. "That's something we'll clear up moving forward. [The power play] is usually one of the strengths of our team, so we'll work on that in practice some more."

THREE STARS
1. Shayne Gostisbehere - The sophomore picked up three assists and finished with a +4 rating. With a goal and five assists in his last four games, Gostisbehere is playing his best hockey from a statistical standpoint since returning from the World Junior Championships in early January.

2. Mat Bodie - The junior defenseman "sealed the deal" when his fifth goal of the year put Union up 4-1 at 13:01 of the third. The goal came just under four minutes after Chris Martin put the Saints on the board to make a 3-1 game.

"I thought it was a big goal," Bodie said of his tally. "There were around six or seven minutes left in the game and that's when you're going to get a late push by a team, especially when they're down by two. Shayne made a great play and I just saw [St. Lawrence goaltender Wenninger] was leaving that side a little bit open and luckily it went in."

3. Wayne Simpson - The senior responded to his one game benching and scored the game's final goal at 18:13 of the third period.

“He played better than he has recently,” Bennett said of Simpson. “That’s what we’re looking for.”

UP NEXT
Union closes out the regular season Saturday night at 7 pm against Clarkson, which lost 5-0, at RPI on Friday night. According to the RPI blog Without A Peer, the last time RPI blanked Clarkson was 1954.

The Golden Knights previously beat Union, 2-1, in Potsdam on Feb. 8.

Senior night ceremonies will be held after the game for Kyle Bodie, Ryan Forgaard, Wayne Simpson, Shawn Stuart, and Greg Coburn.

Time Warner Cable Sports will carry the game live.

POSTGAME VIDEOS

Union players (Gostisbehere, Hatch, M.Bodie)



Union head coach Bennett

Dutchmen skate by #9/10 Yale, 4-2 (with 3 videos)

Postgame videos below - Union head coach Rick Bennett, Union players Max Novak, Matt Hatch, and Mat Bodie, plus Yale head coach Keith Allain.

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by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- Union snapped a three game winless streak after skating past #9/10 Yale, 4-2, Friday night at Messa Rink.

Yale (13-8-3, 9-7-1) struck first when Tommy Fallen scored an unassisted power play goal at 17:36 of the opening frame. Fallen picked off a clearing attempt by Matt Hatch and beat Troy Grosenick.

“I was calling for the puck there because Coburn had a lot of pressure,” Hatch said. “He gave me a soft chip. I just flubbed it. I had one guy pressuring me, but I didn’t see the other guy. I gave it right to [Fallen]. I couldn’t get out to block it. Just a little misfire in the corner there.”

The Dutchmen (14-10-5, 7-6-4) came to life after and never trailed again.

With Shayne Gostisbehere in the box for indirect contact to the head-elbowing, sophomore Max Novak evened the game with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 8:25 of the second period. Novak's backhander bounced off the right pad of Yale goaltender Nick Maricic and scooted through the five hole.

"I thought Novak's goal was one of the biggest of the year," Union head coach Rick Bennett said. "It got us going, but it's what we've been preaching. Drive wide, put pucks on the net, and good things are going to happen."

Added Novak, "I had a little bit of room on the penalty kill. I skated up and heard guys yelling drive wide, so I took it hard to the net. Luckily, it went in."

With assists from Kevin Sullivan and Josh Jooris, Hatch's improbable angle shot made it a 2-1 Union lead at 16:00 of the middle period. The junior fired from below the goal line and his shot bounced off Maricic and into the net.

“Our line had a good forecheck going,” Hatch said. “Sullivan passed the puck to Jooris. I was putting it on net, just trying to hit [Maricic’s] stick and get some guys crashing the net. He put it in himself. It was a pretty lucky goal. I was pretty shocked, but it was a good-time goal and our line deserved the goal.”

After allowing two soft goals, Yale head coach Keith Allain yanked Maricic and inserted Connor Wilson.

Changing goaltenders didn't help the Bulldogs. Wayne Simpson's power play goal, his team-best 13th goal of the season, pushed Union's lead to 3-1 just 31 seconds into the third period. Kyle Bodie fired a shot that Wilson stopped, but Simpson cashed in on the rebound.

"We just happened to be at the right place at the right time, which was nice for once," Bennett said.

Junior defenseman Mat Bodie picked up an assist on Simpson's goal. The point was the 80th of his Union career, breaking Lane Caffaro's record for points by a defenseman in the program's Division I era.

"I haven't thought too much about it," Bodie said of the record. "It's an achievement, but maybe something I'll appreciate more in the future. It's a testament to the guys I've played with. I've had some real good goal scorers that I give the puck to and they can do a lot with it."

Jooris picked up his second assist of the night on Daniel Carr's goal at 9:00 of the third. Carr's one-timer beat Wilson and increased Union's lead to 4-1.

After Simpson went off for interference at 9:40, Yale cut the lead to 4-2 when Andrew Miller scored on the man advantage at 11:09. The Bulldogs, who were outshot 42-39, never made it closer.

Grosenick, who was pulled in both losses last weekend, rebounded with a 37 save effort.

"I thought he played like he practiced and he practiced extremely well," Bennett said. "He came prepared all week and worked really hard. He was rewarded for that."

The Dutchmen played with fire by taking eight penalties, including four in the first period alone. The penalty kill stopped Yale on six of the eight chances, but Bennett wasn't displeased with the repeated trips to the box.

"I don't have a problem with hitting too hard," Bennett said. "I don't know what those calls were, but we're going to keep using our shoulder pads. I'm not complaining about the officiating, but we're not stopping."

The coach was just as pleased to see the team follow through on pregame benchmarks.

"They were given a couple staples to follow through for each period. Outside of the first period with shots, they met them all tonight," Bennett said. "It was great to see guys blocking shots and sacrificing themselves. That's what you need -- that ice bag mentality."

With the win, the Dutchmen moved into a tie for fourth place with St. Lawrence. The Saints handed Quinnipiac its first league loss of the season Friday night, 2-1. With Union's victory over Yale, the Bobcats managed to clinch the Cleary Cup despite the loss.

The Dutchmen return to Messa Rink tonight to host Brown (9-10-5, 5-7-5) at 7 pm. The Bears were routed by RPI, 5-1, Friday evening in Troy.

ETC... Defenseman Shawn Stuart, who suffered a lower-body injury in last Friday's loss at Clarkson, is considered "doubtful" for tonight's game, according to Bennett.... The Dutchwomen fell, 2-1, at Brown on Friday. Their playoff chances are out the door.

POSTGAME VIDEOS








Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
#9 Yale Bulldogs vs Union Dutchmen (Feb 15, 2013 at Schenectady, N.Y.)

Yale Bulldogs (13-8-3, 9-7-1 ECAC) vs. Union Dutchmen (14-10-5, 7-6-4 ECAC) Date: Feb 15, 2013 Location: Schenectady, N.Y. Arena: Messa Rink Attendance:2085 Start time:7:07 pm End time:9:29 pm Total time:2:22  Goals by Period 1st 2nd 3rd Total Yale Bulldogs 1 0 1 2 Union Dutchmen 0 2 2 4 Scoring Summary # Prd Time Team Type Scored by Assists Visitor on ice Home on ice 1. 1st 17:36 YALE PP Fallen, Tommy/9 - 22,18,11,7,20 20,15,14,12 2. 2nd 08:25 UNION SH Novak, Max/5 - 18,6,7,22,20 18,3,9,20 3. 2nd 16:00 UNION EVEN Hatch, Matt/7 Sullivan, Kevin/3 28,18,21,14,17 15,6,22,19,7 Jooris, Josh/12 4. 3rd 00:31 UNION PP Simpson, Wayne/13 Bodie, Kyle/21 17,22,21 21,12,22,14,9 Bodie, Mat/15 5. 3rd 09:00 UNION EVEN Carr, Daniel/11 Jooris, Josh/13 21,20,11,26,22 9,7,6,22,19 Vasaturo, Charlie/2 6. 3rd 11:09 YALE PP Miller, Andrew/11 Agostino, Kenny/16 17,18,22,7,6 18,22,6,9 Wilson, Stu/4

Union, Dartmouth skate to 2-2 tie (with 2 videos)

For postgame press conference videos, scroll down or click here. There's two from tonight. One combined video from the Union side with Rick Bennett, Mat Bodie, and Kevin Sullivan. The other is Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet.

=========

by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- Considering #18 Union and #16 Dartmouth (11-7-3, 7-5-2) entered play tied with 15 points in the ECAC standings, it was only fitting that the two teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Friday in front of 2,271 fans at Messa Rink.

But Union (13-8-5, 6-4-4) was minutes away from coming away with two points instead of one. 

With Union protecting a 2-1 lead, Daniel Ciampini took a tripping penalty at 14:41 of the third period. Dartmouth's Rick Pinkston quickly tied the game at two 24 seconds into the power play when his shot hit the post, bounced off Troy Grosenick, and into the net.

"I wouldn't say it was the hardest working penalty," said Union head coach Rick Bennett. "We've gotten away with some lucky ones with too many men and haven't gotten punished for it. But maybe this is like a justification. Yeah, it was lazy. We've got to curb it."

The game-tying tally was the second power play goal allowed by Union's usually unbreakable penalty kill (89.3%), which allowed more than one power play goal in a game for the first time this season.

Dartmouth's Eric Neiley tied the game at one on the power play at the 9:25 mark of the middle period. Neiley's one-timer from the left faceoff dot came mere seconds into a power play chance generated by a tripping penalty on Kyle Bodie.

Union's country-best power play, which finished 1-for-5, had a golden opportunity in overtime when Eric Robinson went off for elbowing 20 seconds into the extra frame. But outside of a jam attempt by Josh Jooris, the Dutchmen manufactured little on the man advantage.

"Our specialty teams let us down tonight. That's the bottom line," Bennett said. "We had some passengers in the top six forwards. At this time of the year, you can't have that. You just can't. All those guys have been given a great opportunity."

Added defenseman Mat Bodie, "special teams has been a huge part of our team identity so far this year. Tonight, we just didn't get it done. With regards to the power play, we were trying to force some plays. We didn't keep it simple and that's what cost us getting the win."

Following a busy-but-scoreless first period, Kevin Sullivan opened the scoring with his first goal of the year at the 3:25 mark of the second period. Matt Hatch sped down the left wing, went behind the net, and found Sullivan in front.

"I didn't have to do much there," Sullivan said in reference to his goal. "Hatch made a great play. He drove wide and Jooris went to the net. I was just lucky to be driving the net in that spot."

Mat Bodie's power play goal broke a 1-1 tie at 13:25 of the second period when he fired a pass from Matt Wilkins that went over the shoulder of Dartmouth goaltender Cab Morris and into the back of the net.

"Wilkins made a great pass to me and I believe him and Novak were in front of the goalie screening," Bodie said. "Assistant coach Jason Tapp said high on (Morris) from the point, so I shot high. It had eyes."

Since the calendar flipped to 2013, the Dutchmen have scored three or fewer goals in eight of their nine games. Bennett knows what has to change.

"I wish we would have that pack of wolves mentality around the net a bit more," he said. "That's why we're scoring two, three goals. It hasn't been four or five."

Union, which outshot Dartmouth, 39-26, resumes play on February 8th at Clarkson. The Golden Knights tied Colgate, 4-4, on Friday.

POSTGAME VIDEOS





Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
2012-13 Union College Men's Hockey
#16 DART vs #18 Union (Feb 01, 2013 at Schenectady, NY)

DART (11-7-3 (7-5-2 ECACH)) vs. Union (13-8-5 (6-4-4 ECACH)) Date: Feb 01, 2013 Location: Schenectady, NY Arena: Messa Rink Attendance:2271 Start time:7:40 pm End time:10:10 pm Total time:2:30  Goals by Period  1st  2nd  3rd  OT  Total  DART   0  1  1  0  2  Union   0  2  0  0  2  Scoring Summary #  Prd  Time  Team  Type  Scored by  Assists  Visitor on ice  Home on ice  1.  2nd  03:25  UNION   EVEN  Sullivan, Kevin/1  Hatch, Matt/2  14,25,5,4,12  16,15,6,7,3                    Coburn, Greg/13        2.  2nd  09:25  DART   PP  NEILEY, Eric/5  BULLOCK, Ryan/4  11,23,16,9,25  18,9,22,28                    SIKURA, Tyler/17        3.  2nd  13:01  UNION   PP  Bodie, Mat/3  Wilkins, Matt/6  5,4,8,29  22,9,7,18,19                    Carr, Daniel/11        4.  3rd  15:05  DART   PP  PINKSTON, Rick/3  KEENAN, Mike/9  19,7,27,22,21  18,9,16,22                    WALSH, Dustin/7