Union fans can breath a sigh of relief; your Dutchmen finally won their first game of the 2017-18 season.
The defending ECAC regular season champions, ranked No. 16 in the preseason USCHO.com poll, went 0-5 to start the season.
They are now 1-5 after a dominating 6-1 win over hosts RIT. Not that the team was worried.
“Not at all,” Union coach Rick Bennet said. “It wasn’t talked about all week long. They just practiced hard this week. They just had a better, better week of practice. You could see it in the morning skate today. There was a little more life. And it carried through today.”
However, just because the team was not worried or talking about the losing streak, it doesn’t mean the coach wasn’t thinking about it. That thought process got Bennet to give freshman goalie Darion Hanson his first collegiate start after Jake Kupsky played every minute of the first five games.
Bennet explained, “Jake’s a smart guy. He knows we’re 0-5, so we have to sometimes switch it up. We switched it up tonight. Last time I checked, Darion Hanson was a pretty darn good goalie in juniors, so that’s why we recruited him. And tonight he did it for us.”
Hanson stopped 24 of 25 shots, and by the time he did let one in, Union was already in control, leading 3-0 after one.
“It was a nice performance by Darion Hanson,” Bennet said.
The first two goals were unassisted. Greg Campbell picked up a loose puck at center and from inside the right faceoff circle, fooled Christian Short. Brett Supinski picked up a loose puck along the boards after a poor clear, and his bad-angle shot found the near side.
Just 24 seconds later, Joseph Campolieto received a drop pass in the slot and rifled a one-timer past Short.
“I thought collectively the freshmen did a nice job tonight,” Bennet said. “I thought our D did a nice job with gap control, which led to a few goals.”
RIT came out strong to start the second, and though Erik Brown scored by knocking in a loose puck in front of the net, Union and Hanson held strong.
Parker Foo and J.C. Brassard scored power-play goals a little more than a minute apart in the second half of the period to permanently put the game away.
One week after Friday the 13th, Union got 13 shots in each of the first two periods.
Brendan Taylor scored in the third, knocking in a puck sitting on the line after Short flubbed gloving it.
RIT put pressure on for the final half of the period, outshooting Union in the third, 14-6.
“I give Wayne Wilson and his group credit,” Bennet said. “That’s an offensive team that had us on the ropes at the end. It was just a good team win tonight.”
Next up for Union as they try to start a winning streak is a game further west in New York at Niagara. The Purple Eagles are not playing like last year’s team, as they are 2-1 after winning just five games all of last season.
“I’m expecting a tough battle,” Bennet said.
Around the ECAC
No. 10 Providence 6, St. Lawrence 5 (OT)
Josh Wilkins scored 2:47 into overtime to give Providence the win at St. Lawrence. The Saints are now winless after five games. St. Lawrence was constantly chasing the Friars from behind. Mike Marnell finally tied the game at 16:35 of the final period, the only goal in the third. Five different players scored for the losing side, as Arthur Brey made 25 saves.
No. 18 Quinnipiac 6, No. 16 Northeastern 4
Quinnipiac scored three unanswered third period goals by Karlis Cukste, Tanner MacMaster and Craig Martin to defeat Northeastern. The Bobcats overcame 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits. Six different players scored for the winners, and Nick Jermain got three assists. Keith Petruzzelli made 37 saves as Quinnipiac was outshot 41-15.
No. 19 UMass Lowell 3, No. 12 Clarkson 1
Clarkson lost its first game of the season, dropping a home contest to Lowell. After letting up a first-period goal, Jack Jacome tied the game midway through the second. However, a late goal in the second and an early goal in the third put the game out of reach. Jake Kielly made 24 saves in the loss.
Niagara 4, Rensselaer 3 (OT)
Sean King barely beat the buzzer in overtime to shock Rensselaer. It was Rensselaer’s first loss, but the Engineers don’t have a win either, as they have two ties. Niagara led 3-0 with a goal in each period after scoring 39 seconds into the third. Then, Max Reisinger, Jacob Hayhurst and Will Reilly scored to force overtime. Chase Perry made 27 saves in the loss.
