RPI breezes past Union in league opener

Box Score

by Ryan Fay

Union head coach Rick Bennett has seen a lot of hockey in his 11 seasons with the Dutchmen.

Union head coach Rick Bennett addresses the media
after Union's 5-1 loss to RPI on Friday.

But he hadn't seen a loss as ugly as Friday's 5-1 setback to RPI at Messa Rink, the ECAC Hockey opener for both teams. He said the Dutchmen didn't play hungry and were outplayed.

"This is the worst loss in my time here, hands down," said Bennett, who joined Union as an assistant coach in Aug. 2005 before taking over as head coach after the 2010-11 season. "Not even close."

Early on, the game was even. But things went south for Union (2-2-3) after Travis Fulton gave RPI a 1-0 lead at 10:38 of the first period on a goal from the bottom of the right circle.

"I thought it was going fine," Bennett said. "Then we let in the first goal and it fell apart."

It sure did. Phil Hampton gave RPI a 2-0 lead at 15:22, just under a minute before Kenny Gillespie made it 3-0 and chased Dutchmen goalie Alex Sakellaropoulos.

Jake Kupsky relieved Sakellaropoulos, but it didn't help. Riley Bourbannis pushed RPI's cushion to 4-0 at 18:12. He was left wide open to tap in a rebound after a Union player missed a defensive assignment.

"We just wanted to keep plugging along, keep going and stick to the game plan," Bourbonnais said.

Milos Bubela further iced the win with a shorthanded goal at 2:06 of the third. With Union on a five minute power play, Spencer Foo sent a pass to Nick DeSimone at the point. But DeSimone let it get away, springing Bubela on a breakaway that resulted in a 5-0 lead for the Engineers.

Bubela's shorthanded goal was a microcosm for Union's power-play unit, which struggled all night. It finished 1-for-9 while mustering just 10 combined shots on the man advantage. The only one that went in Mark Dufour's blast from the top of the slot at 17:14 that cut the Engineers lead to 5-1.

RPI (2-4-0) picked up 22 saves from goalie Jason Kasdorf, who would have seen a lot more action had the Engineers not blocked 29 shots.

“Our will, as a group, to block shots, there’s nothing more that says you love your teammates than blocking shots,” RPI head coach Seth Appert said. “Riley Bourbonnais, he’s a goal scorer, and he scored again tonight for us. I mean, man, he’s blocking shots. But everybody is. And that just shows the guys care about each other.”

With such an unsatisfying result, it would be understandable if Bennett wanted to forget about it and just move on to tonight's rematch at the Houston Field House.

But Bennett wants to keep the game fresh in his team's memory.

“I don’t want to forget about this game, to be honest with you. Not one bit,” Bennett said. “I hope it hurts until they come for the 11 o’clock meeting [today], because they’re going to watch it. Hats off to RPI. That was an absolute, great game by RPI. Outcoached, definitely outplayed. That was like a Stanley Cup Game seven to them."

Union, which didn't make its players available after the game, skated without co-captain Mike Vecchione. Bennett said Vecchione was on the physically unable to perform list and offered no further update.

POSTGAME AUDIO

Union head coach Rick Bennett



RPI's head coach Seth Appert, plus players Riley Bourbonnais, Mike Prapavessis, and Travis Fulton



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Stevens injured in season opener (with videos)

by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- Union starting goaltender Colin Stevens suffered an upper-body injury in the first period of Friday's season-opening 3-3 tie with Bowling Green at Messa Rink.

Bowling Green's Bryce Williamson barreled into Stevens at the 6:12 mark of the opening period, and subsequently received a five minute major for charging the goalie. Stevens, a Niskayuna native, was pulled from the game after getting examined by Union athletic trainer Cheryl Rockwood.

Stevens (Union)

The junior is scheduled to be re-examined Saturday morning, leaving his status for Saturday's 7:30 p.m rematch with Bowling Green up in the air.

Freshman netminder Alex Sakellaropoulos, who came to the Dutchmen from the U.S Hockey League's Chicago Steel, was summoned into his first collegiate action following Stevens' injury.

"I was nervous from the get-go," Sakellaropoulos said. "Once I stepped into the rink, I was nervous. My stomach was jittering. It was so scary out there. When I saw [Stevens] go down, I thought he would collect his thoughts and get back at it.... once Stevens headed to the bench, I guess it was my time to go."

Sakellaropoulos said the situation proved how important is to always be ready.

"You have to treat it like you're playing no matter if you're the backup or the starter," he said. "You don't know what's going to happen."

Sakellaropoulos allowed three goals on 24 shots in just under 59 minutes of action in relief of Stevens.

Senior forward Daniel Carr, who picked up a power play goal in the tie, took notice of the freshman's solid debut.

"That was a great job by Sakellaropoulos," Carr said. "He got put in a tough spot tonight with Stevens going down in the first [period]. He stepped in and made some big saves for us. It's rare to see a freshman goalie be a calming influence in net and he does that for us already. We've seen it in practice and we saw it out there today."

Third-year Union head coach Rick Bennett echoed those sentiments.

"[Sakellaropoulos] did a great job for us," Bennett said. "We're proud of the effort he put out there tonight. He gave us a chance."

OTHER FRESHMAN FIRSTS

Forward Eli Lichtenwald's first collegiate goal, a power play tally, put Union on the board at 9:52 of the first period... forward Michael Pontarelli, added to the roster after Josh Jooris signed with the Calgary Flames in late July, notched his first two collegiate assists.

POSTGAME VIDEOS









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Dartmouth-Union game one postgame blog (with 4 videos)

Postgame videos are below or at the link.

by Ryan Fay

BOX SCORE

IN A NUTSHELL
Union defeated Dartmouth, 4-1, in game one of the best-of-three ECAC quarterfinals.

BIG WIN
Winning the first game of a best-of-three series is always important.

That wasn't lost on sophomore forward Daniel Ciampini, whose second period goal proved to be the eventual game-winner.

"It's huge," he said. "We've been itching to get going and dying to play. The guys have a lot of energy. Ask any of the guys in the locker room and they're up and ready to go. That was the case last week and all week this week in practice. It really showed tonight, especially in the first period. We came out guns firing."

In the opening 20 minutes, Union outshot Dartmouth, 15-7, and carried a 1-0 lead going into the second frame.

GROSENICK RETURNS
Following a one game absence with a lower-body injury, junior goaltender Troy Grosenick returned to action and piled up 31 saves in the winning effort.

Two of those saves were on breakways, one in the first period and one in the third.

"It was a weird bouncing puck that got through to [Dartmouth's Conor Dempsey]," Grosenick said of the first breakaway. "Breakaways are one on one battles and you have to have pride in that."

As for the second breakaway, Grosenick said Dartmouth's Tim O'Brien tried to beat him five-hole.

"That's a pretty smart play, actually," Grosenick said. "If you watch NHL breakaways, a lot of guys take quick shots and try to get it above the stick but below the pad and try to beat the goalie down."

"You talk about times of adversity and Troy came up big with two breakaway saves," Union head coach Rick Bennett said. "You're going to need that from your goaltender in the playoffs."

CONTROVERSY
Daniel Carr scored two goals on the night, his 13th and 14th of the season. The second of two, at 9:14 of the third period, was the subject of much controversy.

The goal was momentarily reviewed to see if Matt Wilkins was in the crease, but it was eventually allowed.

Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet didn't agree with the final verdict.

"There was a guy standing in the crease and it's clear," Gaudet opined after the game. "It's evident. It's a call I like to have reviewed. I had to call a timeout to get it reviewed. There was a guy in the blue paint when the puck went in."

Bennett wasn't as sure.

"Sometimes you wonder with the rules here," he said. "Was he in the crease or was he not? Was he pushed in? Was he not pushed in? Whatever happens, happens, and we're going to respond in a positive way."

HARD HIT
Carr was the recipient of a hard hit to the head in the third period courtesy of Dartmouth's Tyler Sikura, who was subsequently given a five minute major for contact to the head and a game misconduct.

After briefly staying down on the ice, Carr got up and returned to the game.

"I feel fine," Carr said after the game. "Hockey is a fast-paced game and stuff like that happens. I don't think it was anything personal. I just think it was part of the game."

"He's always battled through injuries," Bennett said of Carr. "He played with a broken bone in his wrist in his freshman year. That is one tough guy.  It's amazing how you get rewarded for stuff like playing through injuries."

Bennett admitted Carr was "banged up" but said his forward wasn't seriously injured and "is good to go" for Saturday's game two.

ADJUSTMENTS
Even though his club suffered a 4-1 loss, Gaudet isn't looking to make a lot of adjustments going into game two.

"We have to play the same way. We have to play hard," Gaudet said. "There's no secrets to this game. I've been a head coach for 25 years. The game is about winning battles, winning races, and getting pucks to the net. Every time we get a puck to the net, there are rebounds and we have to capitalize on those. It's a game of momentum."

PAIRWISE UPDATE
With all Friday games final, Union rose one spot to 15th in the Pairwise.

NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS
Both teams posted 0-fers on the power play. Union went 0-4 while Dartmouth went 0-3.

IN THE BOX
Sophomore forward Sam Coatta had zero penalty minutes in 22 games this season entering game one. He must have been in unfamiliar territory when he made not one, but two, trips to the box on Friday. He was whistled for hooking at 10:28 of the third period and roughing at the 18:48 mark.

WHERE WAS EVERYONE?
The announced crowd of 1,641 was the lowest home attendance figure since a Tuesday night game against Harvard drew 1,624 on Jan. 22.

The previous five home games drew over 2,000 fans each, including 2,271 to see Dartmouth play on Feb. 1. That game was televised nationally on NBC Sports Network. Friday's game was not televised.

UP NEXT
The two teams meet again Saturday at 7 pm for game two. A win sends Union back to Atlantic City, New Jersey for the league semifinals next weekend. A loss forces a game three at Messa Rink Sunday at 7 pm.

THREE STARS
1. CARR, UNION - Scored two goals, one to open the scoring at 9:46 of the first period and the aforementioned controversial tally in the third.

“I just rolled around,” Carr said of his second goal. “Mat Bodie drove through and took everyone at the net. It was a good play by him, and a good play by Josh Jooris and Wilkins to get to the net. I just threw it at the net, and it went in.”

2. GROSENICK, UNION - Returned to action while looking 100%.

3. CIAMPINI, UNION - His second period tally was the eventual game-winner and his first since Jan. 26 vs RPI.

"I was just lucky to be in the right spot at the right time," Ciampini said of his goal. "I just got it high enough over his pad for it to go in."

POSTGAME VIDEOS

Union players Grosenick, Ciampini, and Carr



Union head coach Bennett



Dartmouth head coach Gaudet and forward Neiley



Union hits the ice for pre-game warmups

Union 4, Clarkson 0 - postgame blog (with 2 videos)

by Ryan Fay

BOX SCORE

IN A NUTSHELL
Union blanks Clarkson, 4-0, in the regular season finale in front of 2,371 fans at Messa Rink.

BYE, BYE, BYE
With the win, Dartmouth's 4-1 loss to Quinnipiac, and RPI's 4-1 victory over St. Lawrence, the Dutchmen clinched a first round bye and enter the league playoffs as the fourth seed behind Quinnipiac, RPI, and Yale. Union returns to Messa Rink to face a yet to be determined opponent during the weekend of Mar. 15-17.

"It's one of those where anyone would take it," head coach Rick Bennett said of picking up the bye. "It means we can get some players back healthy. Everybody has played so much this year, so it's refreshing to have it. We have to make the best use of it. I thought we did last year, but we have to continue to do what has worked for us this year. Last year is last year, so we have to worry about this year."

RISING TO THE OCCASION
With Troy Grosenick on the sidelines following an injury sustained in Friday's 5-1 win over St. Lawrence, sophomore Colin Stevens stepped in and stopped all 24 shots that came his way. It was Stevens' third shutout of the season and first since blanking Penn State, 2-0, on Nov. 24.

Grosenick was listed first on the line chart released earlier Saturday, which usually indicates a start, but Bennett said Stevens was the guy all along.

"I had a pretty good idea that I was going to be playing after what happened [to Grosenick] last night," Stevens said. "I went about it like any other game. Preparation is huge and I'm glad we got the two points."

Grosenick's status for the playoffs is to be determined.

LIGHTING THE LAMP
With five goals Friday and four more Saturday, Union scored nine goals over the weekend. It marked the best offensive output for a single weekend since scoring 11 goals in a sweep of RPI Nov. 2-3.

"Overall balance on the lines," Bennett said when asked about the increased offensive production. "It was really nice to get three lines going and the fourth line put up some productive shifts. [Fourth liner] David Roy is going to be a heckuva player for us. Once he gains a step here and there, it's really going to help us for the future. [Fourth liners] Sam [Coatta] and Cole [Ikkala] did a tremendous job."

100 POINT CLUB
With an assist on Josh Jooris' third period goal, junior Daniel Carr became the 10th player in the program's Division I era to reach the 100 career points milestone. Senior Wayne Simpson joined the exclusive club earlier this season.

SENIOR NIGHT
Postgame ceremonies were held for the five seniors on the roster. Greg Coburn, Wayne Simpson, Kyle Bodie, Ryan Forgaard, and Shawn Stuart will be graduating this spring. With two more wins, the group will go down as the winningest class in program history.

"Since I've been here, it seems like senior night has been a great night all around," Bennett said. "It's nice that our guys played so tremendously hard for our seniors. That's what we ask as a coaching staff -- to play as hard as you can for them. Not that you're playing any different, but there's always something extra you like to give seniors... a nice going away present, per se."

WEEK TO WEEK
Sophomore defenseman Charlie Vasaturo was injured in the first period of Friday's win and is considered to be "week to week." The blueliner has two goals and two assists in 20 games this season.

PLAYOFF TICKETS
Information on playoff tickets can be found here.

THREE STARS
1. Stevens - The Niskayuna native came through in a pinch and helped Union clinch a first round bye in the ECAC playoffs.

"He had a great game tonight and I'm really happy for him," Bennett said.

2. Kevin Sullivan - The junior scored two goals for his first multigoal game of the season. Sullivan played his best hockey as the regular season drew to a close with three goals and three assists over the final nine contests.

"The first [goal] was basically all Hatch using his speed coming in," Sullivan said. "Just threw it in front and luckily it went on my stick. I took a couple whacks and it went in."

As for the second goal, "Carr and Jooris were working it pretty well up top," Sullivan added. "I just got a lucky bounce on my stick."

When asked for a reason behind the late season scoring surge, the forward said "bigger games, I guess."

3. Carr - The forward had two assists, both in the third period. The second helper was the 100th point of his Union career.

POSTGAME

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

Colgate downs Dutchmen, 4-1

The following was provided by the Union College Sports Information Office:

==========

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HAMILTON, NY – Sophomore defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere scored a power play goal, but No. 20 men’s ice hockey (15-11-5, 8-7-3 ECAC Hockey) fell, 4-1, to Colgate (14-13-4, 6-10-3 ECAC Hockey) in front of 1,903 fans at Starr Rink.

Colgate’s Kurtis Bartliff scored on the Raiders’ first shot of the night, Spiro Goulakos and Taylor Spink scored power play goals in the second and third period, and Robbie Bourdon added an empty net goal for Colgate, which snapped a six game winless streak.

Colgate’s Eric Mihalik made 35 stops in net for the Raiders, who were outshot 36-32 for the night by the Dutchmen.

The Raiders finished the night 2-for-5 on the man advantage, while the Dutchmen went 1-for-4 on the power play.

Colgate got off to a fast start, scoring on its first shot of the night in the opening minutes. Thomas Larkin fed Bartliff in the slot, and Barliff beat junior goaltender Troy Grosenick (28 saves) from three feet out at 2:58 to put the Raiders up 1-0.

Union controlled play for much of the frame before and after Colgate’s opening goal, establishing their forecheck early on in the contest.

Minutes after Bartliff’s goal, Colgate’s Joe Wilson tripped up Mat Bodie in the Union zone, giving the Dutchmen their first power play opportunity of the night. Union would take advantage, as senior forward Kyle Bodie fed cross-ice to sophomore defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.

Gostisbehere fired over the shoulder of Mihalik at 6:56 to tie the game at 1-1.

Union continued to carry the play, as senior defenseman Greg Coburn hit the post on a one-timer off a feed from junior forward Josh Jooris at the 9:00 mark, and later in the period, Mat Bodie fired into the chest of Mihalik as the trailer on a Union odd-man rush.

Early in the second period, Colgate regained the lead after Jooris was sent to the penalty box for charging in the opening minute. Colgate’s Spiro Goulakos fired a slapshot from straightaway past Grosenick in the final second of the man advantage at 2:37.

Union’s best chance to even the score came at the 9:13 mark after good sustained pressure by the fourth line. Sophomore forward Sam Coatta fired a low turnaround shot from the slot on net, and freshman forward David Roy had his rebound chance deflect high over an open goal.

Grosenick was at his best on another Colgate power play later in the period, with Jooris again in the penalty box. Grosenick kicked his right pad out to make a stop on Colgate’s Kyle Baum, then stopped a long drive by Goulakos after the Jooris penalty expired at 17:00.

Colgate went on an early power play in the third period, as Mat Bodie went to the box for interference at 3:24. Tylor Spink was at the goal mouth to put in a rebound of a Jeremy Price shot from the point at 4:30, giving Colgate a two goal lead.

Union’s best chance to cut into Colgate’s lead came with 5:57 to go, as junior forward Josh Jooris put a rebound of a Charlie Vasaturo shot into the pads of Mihalik.

Union will take on Cornell tomorrow night at Lynah Rink in a contest that starts at 7:00 p.m.

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.

==========

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.

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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

Same old story for RPI in 3-2 loss to Union (plus 3 postgame videos)

For postgame videos, click here or scroll down. There's three - RPI coach Seth Appert, Union coach Rick Bennett, and Union players Josh Jooris/Matt Wilkins/Troy Grosenick.

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by Ryan Fay

ALBANY -- There are some things that never seem to change.

Take the RPI-Union series. After losing to their route 7 rivals, 3-2, in Saturday's inaugural Mayor's Cup game, RPI's loss was just more of the same.

Earlier this week, I asked RPI head coach Seth Appert about Union's success against his team. One the things he said was "we've taken some ill-advised penalties against them and they have an absolutely lethal power play."

Saturday's loss, RPI's eighth in a row against 19th-ranked Union, was a continuation of that. RPI's Nick Bailen, a senior, took what most would call an "ill-advised" penalty when he went off for interference with 97 seconds left in regulation of a tie game. After the game, Appert offered "no comment" on the penalty.

Wilkins (Union Athletics)

At the time of the penalty, RPI had recently tied the game at two off the stick of Mark McGowan, so the last thing the Engineers wanted to do was give the country's best powerplay (27.1%) a chance to win the game.

Matt Wilkins, who turned 22 on Saturday, proved why Union's powerplay is "absolutely lethal" when the freshman forward scored the game-winning goal on the powerplay with 37 seconds left in the game. 

"I was driving the net, I saw Jooris go wide, and their defensemen was sort of flat footed," Wilkins said of the game-winning play. "I drove the net and Jooris made a great pass."

Said Appert of the goal, "at the end of the day, [Wilkins] made a play. We had two guys that didn't execute very well. It was a play that should have been pretty easily defended. We had two guys that made mental mistakes in big moments and they have to grow up from that."

It was the second goal of the night for the Union powerplay, which finished 2-for-4. After Guy Leboeuf was called for cross checking just two minutes into the game, Daniel Ciampini opened the scoring by knocking in a rebound at 3:34.

"It always seems like we take a penalty early and get scored against them, and we did,” Appert said after the game. “It played out, pretty much, how you anticipate [it]."

Earlier this week, Appert also pointed out Union's penalty kill as another reason why Union has had its run of success against his club. On Saturday night, the Dutchmen killed off all five RPI powerplay opportunities, including two in the third period. The Engineers, who outshot Union 38-20, had 15 of their shots on the powerplay including 11 in the first.

Troy Grosenick stopped all 15 powerplay shots and 36 of the 38 overall. When I spoke with him on Tuesday, Appert credited "very good" goaltending as yet another factor behind Union's recent edge in the series.

Grosenick was the biggest reason Saturday's game came down to the third period. For a good portion of the night, RPI was outskating the Dutchmen. The junior netminder kept Union in the game with several spectacular saves, including a couple on Ryan Haggerty, RPI's top goal scorer. The sophomore, who has ten goals this season, did beat Grosenick on one of his five shots, a goal that tied the game at one only 16 seconds into the middle period.

Union head coach Rick Bennett graded Grosenick's performance as "exceptional" and added Grosenick "kind of bailed us out when we needed him to."

Bennett also came away impressed with RPI (8-11-5, 3-6-3).

"That's a good hockey club," he said of RPI, which won the faceoff battle, 37-25. "They've been making strides this season just like they did last year. Whoever faces them in the playoffs better buckle up."

Greg Coburn scored Union's other goal, a long-range rocket early in the third period that momentarily gave the Dutchmen a 2-1 lead.

Union (13-8-4, 6-4-3) resumes play on Friday night at Messa Rink against #12/13 Dartmouth (11-7-2, 7-5-1). The game, a 7:30 pm faceoff, will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network.

POSTGAME VIDEOS

Rensselaer (8-11-5 (3-6-3 ECACH)) vs. Union (13-8-4 (6-4-3 ECACH)) Date: Jan 26, 2013 Location: Albany, NY Arena: Times Union Center Attendance:5959 Start time:7:30 pm End time:9:35 pm Total time:2:05  Goals by Period  1st  2nd  3rd  Total  Rensselaer   0  1  1  2  Union   1  0  2  3  Scoring Summary #  Prd  Time  Team  Type  Scored by  Assists  Visitor on ice  Home on ice  1.  1st  03:34  UNION   PP  Ciampini, Daniel/8  Coburn, Greg/12  22,24,21,11  17,20,12,21,14                    Simpson, Wayne        2.  2nd  00:16  RPI_MHKY  EVEN  Ryan Haggerty/10  CJ Lee/5  29,15,39,22,10  9,14,18,20,19                    Nick Bailen/11        3.  3rd  01:51  UNION   EVEN  Coburn, Greg/8  Simpson, Wayne/15  23,24,3,17,19  20,21,14,12,17                    Bodie, Kyle/12        4.  3rd  15:36  RPI_MHKY  EVEN  Mark McGowan/5  CJ Lee/6  21,22,28,15,3  22,16,20,15,7  5.  3rd  19:23  UNION   PP  Wilkins, Matt/3  Jooris, Josh/10  21,22,10,11  19,7,22,18,9                    Bodie, Mat/13