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The opportunity to take early control of its ECAC battle with Quinnipiac presented itself to the Union College hockey team in the first period and the Dutchmen seized the moment.
Following 14 minutes of evenly played hockey, the Dutchmen exploded for three goals in a span of 100 seconds and never looked back, registering a 4-1 win over the Bobcats on Friday at Messa Rink. The win clinched a first-round bye and secured home ice in the second round of the upcoming conference playoffs.
In a chippy game that featured 18 minor penalties, including six for unsportsmanlike conduct, first-place Union (21-8-2, 14-4-1) committed itself to creating traffic in front of the net of Quinnipiac (16-13-2, 10-8-2) and took the lead when J.C. Brassard’s shot from the point through a screen found the back of the net at the 14:18 mark of the first period.
“That is what we talk about, the pack of wolves goal. It just felt like we were in that game early,” Union coach Rick Bennett said. “We were pretty happy with the way we responded to the start and the boys were rewarded for that.”
UNION 4, QUINNIPIAC 1
Quinnipiac 0 1 0 — 1
Union 3 1 0 — 4
First period—1. Union, Brassard 2, (Maier, Walker), 14:18; 2. Union, Supinski 6, (Vecchione, DeSimone), 14:50; 3. Union, Foo 21, (Vidmar), 15:58, (pp). Penalties—Scarfo, Uni, (boarding), 10:15; Martin, Qui, (tripping), 14:50, C. Clifton, Qui, (interference), 15:09.
Second period—4. Union, Vecchione 24, (J. Taylor, Foo), 16:10, (pp); 5. Quinnipiac, Tiefenwerth 2 (unassisted), 18:09. Penalties—Light, Uni, (tripping), 2:41; Davidson, Qui, (tripping), 10:13; Vecchione, Uni, (embellishment), 10:13; Dufour, Uni, (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:12; Duane, Qui, (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:12; Light, Uni, (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:12; Mick, Qui (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:12; Brown, Uni, (high-sticking), 14:25; C. Clifton, Qui, (slashing), 15:12; T. Clifton, Qui, (boarding), 15:37.
Third period—No scoring. Penalties—Kolias, Uni, (holding), 7:49; Cukste, Qui, (unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:30; Dufour, Uni, (unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:30; C. Clifton, Qui, (slashing), 11:27; MacMaster, Qui, (slashing), 15:04.
Shots on goal—Quinnipiac 6-8-5—19; Union 9-7-10—26.
Power-play opportunities—Quinnipiac 0 of 3; Union 2 of 6.
Goalies—Quinnipiac, Chris Truehl 10-8-2 (9 shots-6 saves); Andrew Shortridge (17-16); Union, Alex Sakellaropoulos 18-4-1 (19-18).
T—2:20. A—2,172.
Brassard’s goal lifted the Dutchmen bench and Union poured it on.
“Once we scored that goal, we saw their body language was a little different,” Dutchmen captain Mike Vecchione said. “Once we score one goal, our next mentality is to get a shot on net and see what happens. They were shaky and on their heels.”
Union made it 2-0 just 32 seconds after Brassard’s goal when Brett Supinski took a Vecchione pass while alone in the slot and fired the puck by Bobcat goaltender Chris Truehl, who was pulled following the first period.
“Veccs was driving wide and both their D-men went to him,” Supinski said. “They collapsed on him and he dropped it off to me. I had the whole middle of the ice and we were talking about shooting pucks after we scored that first one so I just tried to get it to the net.”
On the play that resulted in Supinski’s goal, Bobcat winger Craig Martin was whistled for tripping and was joined in the penalty box 21 seconds later when Connor Clifton was sent off for interference, giving Union a 5-on-3 power play and the Dutchmen cashed in on the chance.
Spencer Foo ripped a shot from in close at 15:58 of the first to cap the dazzling sequence for the Dutchmen, who welcomed back goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos after he missed the past four games with an injury.
“Their first six shots were all from the outside so it was quite easy to just get myself back into things,” Sakellaropoulos said.
Ten of the 18 penalties were called in the second period and while the game was physical both during the action and after the whistle, Union didn’t back down and refrained from taking a foolish penalty by retaliating.
“Sometimes, it is going to get a little nasty when you play between the boards,” Bennett said. “Tonight was one of those games. They play hard. I give their coaching staff credit. We had to come out and play one of our best games against a team like that. As far as the nastiness, that is just hockey.”
Sean Martin, a local freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union
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