'Serious Flow' Simpson Spoils A Knight's Tale, Union Downs Clarkson 4-3 in OT

Well I desperately wish I made the trip to the North Country this weekend, but I unfortunately was forced to stay back at school to work the Albany Devils hockey games. But while at work last night, I was fortunate enough to be able to listen to Union's game at Clarkson via live stream radio on my buddy's ipod. Its a good thing no Albany front office members walked into the team's merchandise store because I was completely zoned out from my work. The customers who came into the store probably thought I was crazy yelling at the ipod and calling out our guys names to make a play.

Coming into the contest, the #7 Dutchmen were atop of the ECAC with 29 points, one point ahead of second place Yale. Clarkson, on the other hand, sat comfortably in the eighth spot with 15 points and a sub-.500 league record of 7-9-1. The last time these two teams met was at Messa Rink on January 8th. Union went to town on the Golden Knights that night with a final score of 8-1.

Last night's win was written a bit differently. What everyone thought would turn out to be another blowout proved to be a nailbiter for the players, coaches and Dutchmen fans both present and left behind.

The Dutchmen got off to a fast start in the opening frame, recording the first seven shots of the contest and outshooting Clarkson 15-8 after one period of play. Union capped its first goal of the night on the powerplay. With Clarkson freshmen forward Ben Sexton in the box for cross-checking, Union senior forward Adam Presizniuk found sophomore defenseman Greg Coburn skating in from the point and fed him a pass through the crease. Coburn scored from the goal mouth to give Union a 1-0 lead at 7:14 of the first period.

The Dutchmen would make it 2-0 at even strength late in the period. Junior forward Kelly 'Shut up Richard' Zajac cut away from the left corner, niftily displaying his puck handling, and beat Clarkson goaltender Paul Karpowich with a low backhander at 17:25.

Sophomore goaltender Keith Kinkaid made several key saves on two Clarkson power plays in the second period, with his most impressive stop coming just after Zajac was whistled for tripping at 17:10. On the ensuing faceoff in the Union zone, Kinkaid made a glove save through traffic on a Brandon DeFazio shot from inside the circle.

On the same Clarkson power play, senior forward John 'Delta's Most Wanted' Simpson gave Union its first shorthanded goal of the season at 18:39 to give the Dutchmen a commanding 3-0 lead.

The third period would spark all momentum for Clarkson. At even strength, Clarkson would finally receive their first offensive break. After an initial kick save by sophomore goaltender Keith Kinkaid on a shot from the point from Alex Boak, Clarkson’s Corey Tamblyn scored on the rebound at 4:45 to start the rally.

Just 18 seconds later, Clarkson’s Brandon DeFazio fired a shot from the high slot that deflected off the pad of Ben Sexton and between Kinkaid’s pads to cut Union’s lead to 3-2.

Clarkson would then even the score on the power play at 6:30 in the third period. With freshmen forward Josh Jooris in the box for tripping, Clarkson senior forward Scott Freeman crashed the net for a rebound to tie the game at 3-3, setting up the wild finish.

A combination of nervousness and anxiety filled Cheel Arena as the Golden Knights and Dutchmen took the ice for the overtime period. The Clarkson band had never given up hope and continued to play throughout the night. The Bonesaw Brigade, Clarkson's student section, attempting to influence the level of play on the ice with their bells and whistles, significantly failed at the hands of 'Serious Flow' Simpson. Wayne scored at 3:48 of overtime to lift #7 Union (23-7-3, 15-3-1 ECAC Hockey) to a 4-3 win over Clarkson.

The win was Union’s eighth straight victory, a school record in the Division I era. Union set an all-time program record for wins, surpassing the previous mark of 22 wins set by both the 1976-77 and 1984-85 teams. The Dutchmen also clinched a first round bye in the ECAC Tournament, securing a top four finish in the conference for the third time in program history.

Union outshot Clarkson 38-28 for the contest, as Kinkaid made 25 saves for his 22nd win of the season. The Dutchmen went 1-for-7 on the power play, while Clarkson was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

The #7 Dutchmen will continue their continue their North County trek tonight as they take on the St. Lawrence Saints at 7 pm at Appleton Arena.

For more game recap, visit the following links below:

Union Athletics

Times Union

Ken Schott's Report

Clarkson Athletics

Thanks for reading!

-JZolot

Here's a video of Wayne's game-winning goal:

Players To Watch This Weekend

This weekend the Dutchmen travel to the North Country to take on Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Union won both meetings with these teams earlier this season as they topped the Golden Knights 8-1 and the Saints 3-1. The Dutchmen have outscored Clarkson 24-4 over their past three meetings.

Union has won seven straight games, which is the longest streak in the country. Also, if they win Friday they will set the record for longest win streak in Union's D-I history.
Clarkson
Brandon DeFazio: the senior captain leads the team with 11 goals and 20 points.
Allan McPherson: the freshman forward is second on the team with 11 assists and is tied for second with 19 points.
Jake Morley: the junior forward leads the team with 15 points.

St. Lawrence
Greg Carey: the freshman forward is a very serious candidate for ECAC Rookie of the Year. He leads the Saints with 15 goals and averages a point per game. Carey also leads the team with six power-play goals.
Kyle Flanagan: the sophomore forward leads the team with 20 assists and is tied with Carey with the team lead in points with 30.
Aaron Bogosian: the senior captain is second on the team with 11 goals, and has scored three goals in his past four games.

Union
Matt Hatch: the freshman forward scored twice last Friday against Cornell and has been a great asset to the first line. The games in the North Country are very close to his hometown (Massena, NY), so I assume a lot of family and friends will be there. He should have some extra jump.
Mat Bodie: the freshman defenseman is very close to breaking Mike Schreiber's '10 record for assists in a season by a defenseman (21) and most points in a season by a defenseman (29). The younger Bodie currently has 20 assists on the season.
Daniel Carr: the freshman has 18 goals on the season which is tied with Chase Polacek for most in the ECAC. He also leads the league with 11 power-play goals. Carr has scored six goals in has past seven games.
For more on the weekend check out:
Union Athletics
Clarkson Athletics
St. Lawrence Athletics

Clarkson's Bonesaw Brigade:


Puck Art With SLU's equipment manager:

Union Destroys Clarkson 8-1

Kyle Bodie scored twice

Once again, the Golden Knights come into Messa Rink and lose. The last time Clarkson came to Schenectady and won was January 2001. Last year the Dutchmen skated all over them and won 11-2. Obviously, things weren't different this time around.

Kyle Bodie had a big game with two goals, and Kevin Sullivan scored his first career goal. Also, Mike Ingoldsby picked up his first career point. Keith Kinkaid played another good game as well. It was great to see the team have a big offensive outburst in an ECAC game.

Senior forwards Andrew Buote and Stephane Boileau were out of the lineup last night (the second night in a row for Boileau). Coach Leaman hasn't been too happy with the seniors lately, saying that he is "challenging" them.

After a very good first period Clarkson goaltender Paul Karpowich fell apart once again at Messa Rink. He was the starting goaltender in Union's 11-2 shellacking last year, and was pulled once again this time around in the third period. Maybe Karpowich will refuse to start at Union next season (haha).

The only thing Clarkson had going for them was their pep band/cheering section. They were loud and supportive throughout the entire game. Union fans and the administration should start taking notes on how a pep band/student section work.

Also, I hear some Union students have been kicked out of the rink for doing "classic Union chants" by the campus police officers. I never hear any profanities chanted, so I don't know what this is all about.

For more on the game go to:
Union Athletics.com
USCHO
Ken Schott's Blog

Tonight's Lineups vs. Clarkson

Union


Luke Cain

Carr - Welsh - Jooris
Presizniuk - Zajac - Hatch
Sullivan - J. Simpson - W. Simpson
Cain - Pallos - K. Bodie

Julseth-White - Ingoldsby
Coburn - Stuart
M. Bodie - Matheson

Kinkaid
Milan
Grosenick

Notes: Luke Cain returns to the lineup in place of Andrew Buote. I'm a little surprised that both Buote and Stephane Boileau are both out of the lineup. I guess Coach Leaman is not happy with their performances lately. Also, Nolan Julseth-White will dress tonight instead of Ryan Forgaard.

Clarkson

DeFazio - Oakley - Freeman
Zarbo - Morley - McPherson
Pawlick - Tamblyn - Tremblay
Cayer - Burton - Frederick

Borowiecki - Himelson

Brandon DeFazio

Reed - Rufenach
Pokulok - Boak

Karpowich

Rosen

Notes: The Golden Knights have six NHL draft picks on their roster:
Tremblay (Boston '08, 6th round)
Cayer (Detroit '08, 5th round)
Borowiecki (Ottowa '08, 5th round)
Rufenach (Detroit '07, 7th round)
Karpowich (St. Louis '08, 7th round)
Rosen (NY Islanders '10, 7th round)

#15 Union Opens Up Winter Term Against St. Lawrence and Clarkson

Mess Rink

This weekend the Dutchmen welcome in ECAC foes St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Both games begin at 7pm. The Dutchmen will finish off the regular season with 16 straight ECAC games, 10 of which are at Messa Rink.

Union's last meeting with both the Saints and the Golden Knights were very memorable games. Union last met St. Lawrence in the ECAC semifinals last season where they won 3-1, while the last Union-Clarkson game saw Union score a program record 11 goals.

The Dutchmen come off of a second place finish at the Mariucci Classic in Minnesota where they beat the University of Minnesota, but fell to Bemidji State in the championship game.

Players To Watch:

St. Lawrence (6-8-3 overall, 3-4-0 ECAC):
Kyle Flanagan (forward): has nine points (five goals, four assists) in just seven league games... leads team with 15 points
Sean Flanagan (forward): tied with his younger brother Kyle in the team lead in assists with 10... third on the team with 12 points
George Hughes & Peter Child (defense): are both very good offensive defensemen... Hughes has one goal and eight assists, while Child has three goals and three assists on the season

Fun Fact: Saints senior captain Aaron Bogosian and Union freshman forward Matt Hatch are both from Massena, New York. Aaron's younger brother Zach, is the assistant captain of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Clarkson (10-7-2 overall, 4-2-1 ECAC):
Brandon DeFazio (forward): the senior captain leads the team in goals (9), assists (tied with 8), and points (17)
Paul Karpowich (goalie): in his last meeting with the Dutchmen he was lit up as the Golden Knights lost 11-2 at Messa Rink... he's put up some good numbers this season with a 2.79 GAA and .918 save percentage

Fun Fact: You can follow DeFazio on Twitter @defazanator

#15 Union (11-6-3 overall, 3-2-1 ECAC)
Adam Presizniuk (forward): is just one point away from becoming Union's all-time leading scorer in Division I history as he's currently tied at 115 points with Jason Walters '10... he returned last weekend from a thumb injury
Josh Jooris (forward): had a great weekend at the Mariucci Classic where he scored two goals against Minnesota, including the game-winner in overtime, and was named to the all-tournament team.

Fun Fact: Jeremy Welsh and Daniel Carr are the only Dutchmen to have more than one goal in ECAC play this season (6 games).

For complete game notes go to Union Athletics.com.

Check out this weird video featuring some SLU fans:


Here are highlights of Union's 11-2 win over Clarkson last season:

College Hockey Video of the Week (12/20/10): ECAC Hockey Bloopers

Even though the ECAC is known for being a league with smart schools, they still make some mistakes. Enjoy!

RPI's Allen York and Clarkson's Nick Tremblay


SLU's Equipment Manager

College Hockey Video of the Week (11/29/10): Union "Throwback" Video from 2006-2007 season

To me this is a "throwback" video because I was not at Union and neither were any of the current Dutchmen. In this video you get to see some of our favorite past Dutchmen like T.J. Fox, Justin Mrazek, and Lane Caffaro.

This is footage from overtime when Union hosted #10 Clarkson on January 20, 2007. The Golden Knights held the nation's longest unbeaten streak at the time, while the Dutchmen were en route to a last place finish in the ECAC standings. For the game recap click here.

The 2006-2007 was an awful season for Union as they finished in dead last in the ECAC standings with a 7-14-1 record... but look at Union College hockey now!

P.S. Look for a young "UnionHockeyManiac" (aka Will Friedman) at the 2:23 mark.

Dutchmen put up a record 11 goals against Clarkson

Wow, that was ridiculous. All of us in the press box were completely flustered within the first 10 minutes of the game with all the goals being scored. After a while we all expected that every shot on the Clarkson net went in. Clarkson is a miserable team considering the injuries, illnesses, and the sexual misconduct charges earlier this year. They were missing some defenseman, but hey 11 goals is 11 goals. If you're a Division I hockey team you should not be letting up 11 goals to any league opponent. That being said, Paul Karpowich is not a good goaltender. I remember thinking last season after the three times I saw him that he was not a good goaltender. He seems to be out of place way too much, which leaves big openings where players like Mario can snipe the net easily. I guarantee that will not be the case tonight as St. Lawrence goaltender Kain Tisi is 100 times better than Karpowich. Statistically, Tisi is one of the top netmidners in the ECAC. The matchup with the Saints will be a good and important game.

Congratulations to Super Mario on his 100th career point and second career hat trick, freshman Kyle Bodie on his four point night, and Rich Sillery on his first action this season. I've been hoping that Sillery would see some action this season, and it really made my night that he did. Oh, and a special shout out to #1 fan Will Friedman. It was fun celebrating the win with you last night... haha. Also, if you were wondering who the extra guy behind the bench was last night it was Jason Oshins (second from left), who is a "Coaches Level" donor to the Garnet Blades. For being a "Coaches Level" donor you get the chance to be on the bench for a home game. Oshins is a Board of Trustees member, and is the founder of the Upsilon Sigma chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity at Union College.

You can read more about the game on USCHO.com, Daily Gazette.com, Times Union.com, Union Athletics.com, and Ken Schott's Blog.

Tonight's Lineups (2/5/10)

The Clarkson band is sitting right below the Union band... this could be interesting. Be sure to watch the game on NHL Network. For more thoughts on the game check out Ken Schott's blog.

Union:
Presizniuk - Walters - Valery-Trabucco
Welsh - J. Simpson - Boileau
Cain - Zajac - W. Simpson
Buote - Lareau - Bodie

Matheson - Julseth-White
Wakita - Coburn
Schreiber - Stuart

Kinkaid

Clarkson:
Trembaly - Tamblyn - Beca
Pawlick - Oakley - Freeman
Morley - Massar - Piispanen
Wilson

Borowiecki - Marks
Crowe - Pokulok
Pizzo - Daddario

Karpowich

Union looks to turn things around against Clarkson and St. Lawrence

Things haven't been going to well for our Dutchmen lately as they haven't won since January 16. The main cause of this problem has been the lack of scoring. In Union's past four games they have only scored seven goals, meaning that their top scorers need to start scoring. One example is Mario Valery-Trabucco, who hasn't scored since January 9th at Quinnipiac and has only picked up two assists in his past five games. Mario along with his linemates, Jason Walters and Adam Presizniuk, need to put the offense on their backs and carry it. They are one of the most dynamic and lethal lines in the ECAC and need to play like it every game. Each Mario, Wally, and Prez have only scored two goals since returning for winter term on January 8th. In the past seven games the Dutchmen have scored 19 goals, and Mario, Wally, and Prez have only scored six of them.

These problems though cannot be just blamed on the offense, as the defense has not been on top of their game either. In Union's current four game winless streak the Dutchmen have let up 13 goals. Personally, it doesn't seem like the defenseman are winning the battles for the puck in crucial areas, especially in front of the net. They also seem to be having problems moving the puck up the ice, which could be an explanation for the reduction in scoring.

All in all, everyone from the offense to the defense to the goalies and coaches need to be at their best if they want to turn things around. When everyone on this team is on top of their game they are one of the most dangerous teams in the country. But, if they're not anyone can beat them. This is a huge weekend for the Dutchmen in which they need to beat Clarkson and then at least tie St. Lawrence for it be a successful weekend. Clarkson has been a mess this year, while St. Lawrence has been surging. The Dutchmen picked up their first ECAC wins of the season at St. Lawrence and Clarkson in mid-November.

For more on the games against the Golden Knights and Saints check out Union Athletics.com.

Players to Watch:

Clarkson

• Matt Beca, forward (13g, 12a, 25p)... first on the team in goals, third in assists
  
• Scott Freeman, forward (4g, 15a, 19p)... first on the team in assists


• Bryan Rufenach, defense (5g, 11a, 16p)... leads all Clarkson defenseman with 16 points and second with five goals


• Paul Karpowich, goalie (4-13-3, 3.74 GAA, .889 save percentage)... statistically one of the worst goaltenders in the ECAC and all of college hockey, third to last in ECAC in GAA, second to last in ECAC in save percentage

St. Lawrence

• Travis Vermeulen, forward (11g, 15a, 26p)... leads team in all three categories


• Derek Keller, defense (7g, 5a, 12p)... second on the team in goals, leads all ECAC defenseman in goals


• Mike McKenzie, forward (6g, 14a, 20p)... second on the team in points


• Kain Tisi, goalie (8-4-2, 1.99 GAA, .932 save percentage)... one of the hottest goaltenders in the ECAC and the nation, 4th in the nation in GAA, tied for 2nd in save percentage