The crosstown rivalry between Union and Rensselaer resumed Saturday night.
Last season, the Dutchmen took three of four points from the Engineers, and after a 1-1 tie, both teams skated away with one point, as they did last season at the Houston Fieldhouse.
It took until the third period for anyone to put the puck in the net and the Engineers did it first. Marc Cavosie drew two Dutchmen to him and his pass to Matt Murley found Murley alone and with room to skate. He took a few strides and ripped one over the shoulder of Brandon Snee for the 1-0 lead.
But Union waited less than two minutes to tie the game on an odd play. Jason Kean threw the puck towards the net and as it elevated it popped up on Nathan Marsters. Marsters thought he had the puck, but it rolled down his back into the net to tie the game for the Dutchmen.
“That goal came right off of Nathan’s head,” said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen. “I don’t think hat will make the ESPN highlights.”
From there the two teams battled without another goal.
“It was a good game, close-checking, and I thought we could have executed a little better around the goal in terms of scoring, but I thought we really held them at bay,” said Fridgen. “We gave up one odd-man rush all game long.”
“I thought it was a great college hockey game all around. Both teams made very few mistakes,” said Dutchmen head coach Kevin Sneddon. “Our guys responded well and to give up a power-play goal and then when that happens, our guys get down a little bit and with a tight checking game, it seemed to get us going a bit. So I liked how they responded and how they played until the end.”
The Engineers had numerous odd-man rushes throughout the game, but were stoned by Snee or never got shots off.
“As long as the competitiveness and the work ethic is there, you can’t fault them,” said Fridgen about the lack of finishing. “The execution will come.”
The Engineers (4-4-1, 1-1-1 ECAC) and the Dutchmen (3-4-3, 0-2-1 ECAC) will host Princeton and Yale next weekend in ECAC competition.
“They played as hard as we did and it was probably the best outcome,” said Sneddon. “You never like to not have a win, but for a college hockey fan to see that quality of hockey, that’s what the ECAC is all about.”
