Zajac Nets Two in Union's 5-2 Win at St. Lawrence

It seems everything is going right these days for the #7 Union Dutchmen. From the defense to the offense, everybody is playing on the same page. Our guys are all making big plays by completing the extra pass and making that one extra stride to the puck. Last night was no different as the Dutchmen took on the St. Lawrence Saints at Appleton Arena in their final regular season road game of the 2010-2011 season.

St Lawrence would take the early lead at 15:42 of the first period with Union forward Jeremy Welsh in the penalty box for slashing. Jacob Drewiski scored on the ensuing power play, lifting a backhander over the shoulder of sophomore goaltender Keith Kinkaid.

Union would then even up the score just two minutes later off Wayne 'Serious Flow' Simpson's goal. Simpson received a pass from freshman forward Kevin Sullivan and firing a low wrist shot past Weninger.

With the game tied at 1-1, Union scored three second period goals to take command of a game that was evenly played through the first 30 minutes. The Dutchmen took their first lead of the game on the power play, with Jeremy Wick in the penalty box for boarding.

Just over a minute into the man advantage, sophomore forward Jeremy Welsh took a pass from freshman forward Josh Jooris and fired a shot between Weninger's pads at 13:28 of the second period

Union quickly extended its lead to 3-1 on the next shift on a two on one at even strength when senior forward Adam Presizniuk fired the initial shot into Weninger's pads, but the puck kicked right to Zajac, who tipped it into the net at 14:33.

Zajac would strike again on another odd man rush at 19:06. Freshman forward Matt Hatch sent Zajac off on a two-on-one. Zajac cut into the shooting lane and fired a shot into the top corner for a 4-1 Union lead.

Sophomore forward Kyle Bodie scored his seventh goal of the season at 18:02 of the third period, taking a pass from younger brother Mat on the play. Mat Bodie recorded his 21st assist, tying a school record for a defenseman set by Mike Schreiber ('10) last season.

St. Lawrence forward Kyle Esserly scored with 13 seconds remaining in the game on a 5-on-3 to account for the final score.

The Dutchmen defeated St. Lawrence by a final score of 5-2 in front of 1,471 fans at Appleton Arena. The win was Union's ninth in a row, extending a school record winning streak in the Division I era.

Sophomore goaltender Keith Kinkaid (23-7-2) made 25 saves for his 23rd win of the season. Weninger made 18 saves on 22 shots in two periods, while Joe Spadaccini made two saves in the third period. Union went 1-for-5 on the power play, and were outshot 27-25 in the contest.

The Dutchmen will return home to face Quinnipiac on Friday at 7:00 pm.

For more game recap on last night's win at St. Lawrence, please visit the following links:

Union Athletics

Times Union

Ken Schott's Report

St. Lawrence Athletics

Thanks for reading!

-JZolot

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:

College Hockey Video of the Week (1/10/11): Former St. Lawence goaltender Mike McKenna makes amazing save

While this video is not of a college hockey game, it does feature a former college hockey player. The player featured is former SLU and current Albany Devils goaltender Mike McKenna.

McKenna played for the Saints from 2001 to 2005 where he went 32-44-8 and put up solid stats. He was selected 172nd (6th round) in the 2002 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators. McKenna has appeared in 17 NHL games, including two appearances with the New Jersey Devils this season. For McKenna's complete stats check out Hockey DB, and for more about him check out his page on Wikipedia.

This clip is from the Albany - Syracuse game (AHL) that took place this past Friday night at the Times Union Center in Albany. With the game tied in the third period Syracuse's Nick Bonino (who is a former star at Boston University) had a chance to give his team the lead. But, McKenna was up to the task and made an acrobatic save to keep the game tied. The Devils would score the game-winning goal just moments later.

For more on the game and quotes from McKenna go to the Hockey Spoken Here blog on Times Union.com.

Presizniuk Breaks Record in 3-1 Win Over SLU

Adam Presizniuk

Last night the Dutchmen opened up the Winter term with a 3-1 win over the Saint Lawrence Saints. The game was very reminiscent of last year's ECAC semifinal game where Union beat SLU 3-1. It was a very good hockey game with a lot of hard-hitting action and solid goaltending play. Keith Kinkaid has one of his better performances of the year as he stopped 26 shots.

The most important play of the night came when Union took a 2-1 lead early in the third period for a number of reasons:

1. Union just allowed SLU to tie the game very late in the second period, so the Saints had a lot of momentum going into the period. The goal halted any momentum the Saints had.
2. The goal was scored by Kelly Zajac, who has been on a bit of a cold streak. Also, the upperclassmen haven't been scoring too much, so it was nice to see Zajac and Justin Pallos score Union's first two goals.
3. Adam Presizniuk assisted on the goal; giving him 116 points on his career. This is the record for most points by a Dutchman in the D-1 era. Jason Walters '10 set the record last season. Congrats Prezie! Keep it up!
4. Matt Hatch made a great pass to Zajac in the slot to set up the goal. Coach Leaman has been looking for the missing link on that line, and Hatch is off to a good start to filling that hole.

The Dutchmen were also excellent on the penalty kill as they stymied all six of SLU's power-play opportunities. They blocked tons of shots and were great positionally. I was especially impressed with Andrew Buote, Kyle Bodie, and Pallos on the kill.

Justin Pallos (#11)

Speaking of Pallos, I just want to say that he has done an excellent job this season and has been a very valuable member of this team. Even though he is undersized, he works his butt off every night and is always in the right place at the right time. In the beginning of the season when I did my "projected lineup" I didn't even give Pallos a shot to crack the lineup. Obviously, I was wrong. Keep it up Justin! Also, he is the featured player in this week's Dutchmen Game Day, so make sure you pick up your copy at the rink and read a very interesting article about Pallos.

Tonight, the Dutchmen look to make it a weekend sweep of the North Country teams when they welcome in Clarkson. Last night, the Golden Knights upset RPI 3-2 in overtime.

For more on last night's game check out:
Union Athletics.com
USCHO
Ken Schott's Blog


Here's video from last night's post-game press conference with Coach Leaman (and his 13-month old son), Kelly Zajac, Justin Pallos, and Adam Presizniuk:


Also, here's a video from the Hot Harry's burrito eating contest featuring my friend John Russell (he lost):

Tonight's Lineup vs. SLU

Here's Union's lineup tonight:



Matt Hatch

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

Forgaard - Ingoldsby
Coburn - Stuart
M. Bodie - Matheson

Kinkaid
Milan
Grosenick

Notes:
- Matt Hatch will get his shot to flill the missing link on the Prezie-Zaj line. I think it's worth a try considering Hatch is a hard-working and speedy player. Let's see if it works out.
- The Simpson brothers are back on the same line. It seems that Leaman is unsure if this is a good combo since they are separated and put back together every few games.
- Mike Ingoldsby returns tonight from his concussion.
- Stephane Boileau and Nolan Julseth-White are both out of the lineup tonight.

#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

Union beats SLU to go to ECAC Championship Game

Who would have picked Union to be in the ECAC Championship game in the beginning of the season? Not many. The Dutchmen were picked to finish sixth in both the Coaches and Media Poll prior to the season. But, with last night's barn-burner Union will face Cornell to decide who will take home the ECAC crown.

Last night's atmosphere was incredible. I don't think I've ever seen so many Union fans in one place! The Union faithful took up about four to five sections at the TUC. The fans were also extremely loud and easily drowned out the SLU fans with their chants. They even found ways to make the SLU cheers into Union cheers. Dutchmen fans will have to be even louder tonight as Cornell has a tremendous and loyal following and has a great cheering section.

The Dutchmen did not play a great game as they seemed to not have enough jump and were fighting the puck a little too much. Luckily, Keith Kinkaid was stellar in net for Union as he made 29 saves on the night, including 13 in the final period. He was great positionally as he was able to catch almost every outside shot in his chest. It looks like the Coach of the Year made a "Coach of the Year" decision. Even though the Dutchmen missed the net on some good opportunities, they were still opportunistic. On only eight shots in the final 40 minuets, Union was able to score two goals.

On other notes, Kelly Zajac got hurt for the second game in a row. After separating his shoulder last weekend, he seemed to sustain another arm/shoulder injury. But, he returned in the second period and played the rest of the game. Now that's what I call a hockey player. As an old hockey friend of mine used to say, "Just Tape It Up." Also, with an assist on last night's game-winning goal, Jason Walters in now the all-time leading scorer with 115 points. But, Mario Valery-Trabucco is right on his tail.

For more on last night's game check out Union Athletics.com, USCHO.com, Ken Schott's Blog, Daily Gazette.com, and other literature you can find on the Extra Frame Blog.

Tonight's game against the Big Red will be a tough one for the Dutchmen as Cornell is one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the nation. Oh, and have I mentioned that they have one of the nation's best goaltenders? Ben Scrivens has been lights out all year and is near the top in every statistical category in all of Division I college hockey. He is tied for first with a .935 save percentage, second with a 1.83 GAA, fourth with 20 wins, and tied for first with six shutouts. He was recently named First Team all-ECAC and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Scrivens leads the second best defense in the country that has only allowed 1.91 goals per game. Besides Scrivens, Cornell's strength is its' special teams. The Big Red sports the ninth best power-play in the country (20.7%) and the third best penalty kill in the country (87.4%).

So, the keys tonight for the Dutchmen are to stay out of the penalty box and to be opportunistic. It was only two games ago that Union did not have to kill any penalties, and if they do that again they will be in good shape. Also, if they go on the power-play they're going to have to screen Scrivens and pounce on any loose pucks.

If the Dutchmen are able to come out on top tonight it will probably be by the score of 1-0 or 2-1. In their past five games, Cornell has not allowed more than one goal and have only allowed one goal in their three playoff games. Scrivens and the defense brings their shutout streak into tonight's game as they have shutout Harvard and Brown in back-to-back games. Cornell has not allowed a goal in over 170 minutes. The game will be a great battle between high-flying offense (Union is fifth in the nation in scoring) and stifling defense (Cornell is second in the nation in team defense).

Looking into St. Lawrence

Forwards: the Saints have a very balanced attack up front with many players doing their part as they have seven forwards with double-digit points. Their big time players have also been stepping up in the playoffs. The forwards will bring a lot of energy and speed to the ice.

Travis Vermeulen: in his three seasons in Canton Vermeulen tallied 18 goals (1 power-play goal), 24 assists, and 42 points in 105 games. This year he has emerged as the offensive leader on the Saints as he has put up monster numbers: 17 goals (7 power-play goals), 24 assists, and 41 points (tied for fourth in ECAC) in 40 games. He leads the team in each of these categories. Vermeulen has been a consistent scorer throughout the season. He has continued his consistency late into the season as he has registered at least one point in 17 of his last 20 games. He has not scored a goal in the playoffs, but has picked up four assists. Yesterday Vermeulen was named the ECAC Defensive Forward of the year. He has been a top penalty killer for the Saints and has been very successful in the face-off circle. He also sports a +10 plus/minus rating. He is only 5' 6" and 170 lbs, so the big Union defensemen should try to knock him around.

Mike McKenzie: this senior forward has been a constant point producer for the Saints during his tenure. He has kept it up this year as he has tallied 14 goals, 21 assists, and 35 points this season. He is second to Vermeulen on the team in goals and points. He has been the offensive catalyst for the Saints during the playoffs as he has tallied a goal in the Saints last four playoff games. McKenzie has also been hot late this season as he has registered a point in eight of his last nine games (7 goals, 5 assists). He has also scored a goal in seven of his last eight games.

Kyle Flanagan: while McKenzie has been the goal scoring machine in the playoffs for the Saints, Flanagan has been the assists machine. He has registered an assist in four of SLU's five playoff games. Flanagan, a freshman from Canton, has been racking up the assists all year. He is second on the team with 23 assists in just 30 games.

Aaron Bogosian: the junior has been another key for the Saints in the playoffs. He has registered a point in all five of SLU's playoff games (3 goals, 3 assists), and has tallied a point in eight of his last nine contests. Bogosian is third on the team with 11 goals. Bogosian is from Massena, New York and is the brother of Zach Bogosian, who is an assistant captain for the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers.

Defense: the Saints defense is solid on the defensive end, but is lethal on the offensive side of the puck. They have four defesnemen with double-digit points, all of whom have scored at least six goals. This means the Union wingers will have to pressure the point and block a lot of shots.

George Hughes: the freshman leads all Saints defensemen with 18 assists and 23 points (fourth in ECAC among defensemen). He has picked up four assists this postseason, including one in each of his past two games.

Derek Keller: the senior defender leads all ECAC defensemen with nine goals. Six of his nine goals have come on the power-play so make sure to keep an eye on him when the Saints power-play unit takes the ice. But, Keller has been in a goal-scoring drought as he hasn't scored since 2/19 at Yale.

Senior defenseman Jeff Caister and sophomore defenseman Peter Child each have registered six goals and 11 assists this season. Caister scored a goal and had an assist in the Clarkson series, while Child tallied two assists in the Colgate series.

Goaltending: Kain Tisi will be in goal tonight for the Saints. He has received the bulk of the starts this season. He has started three of SLU's five playoff games where he has gone 3-0-0, where he has let up six goals. For most of the year, Tisi was one of the hottest goaltenders in the nation. Heading into his last meeting with Union (2/6) he was fourth in the nation in GAA and tield for second in save percentage. But, he has fallen back down to earth late in the season as he went winless in his last five regular season games and let up 21 goals. Because of his poor end of the season Tisi was not a finalist for the Ken Dryden Award. On the season Tisi is 11-8-3 with a 2.47 GAA (third in ECAC) and .915 save percentage (also third in ECAC).

Prediction: I'm going to have to go with Union tonight. My first reason is because they got to sleep in their own beds last night and have experience playing in the Times Union Center because they played in the Governor's Cup. Also, I feel SLU has had the easiest road to the ECAC Final Four this year. They first played Clarkson, the worst team in the ECAC by far, and it took them three games to knock the Golden Knights off. Then they traveled to Starr Rink, which is the least intimidating rink in the ECAC. It's going to be a big jump for the Saints going from those two environments to a major playoff atmosphere right in Union's backyard. It's going to be a tight one tonight but I say Union comes out on top 3-2.

Rest of ECAC Awards handed out

• RPI's Chase Polacek was named Player of the Year


• Cornell's Justin Krueger named best Defensive Defenseman


• RPI's Jerry D'Amigo named Rookie of the Year


• St. Lawrence's Travis Vermeulen named Defensive Forward of the Year

Also, according to Ken Schott, captain Mike Wakita is questionable for Friday's game against SLU. He left the bench sometime in the third period with a lower body injury, but I'm pretty sure he returned later in the period. There has also been no announcement on who will be starting in goal for the Dutchmen tomorrow. SLU Head Coach Joe Marsh has announced that Kain Tisi will start for the Saints.

Union advances to ECAC Final Four for first time in program history

Finally! Finally! Finally! Union is finally going to Albany for the ECAC Final Four for the first time in program history! The Dutchmen will face St. Lawrence next Friday at the Times Union Center.

The great thing about tonight's victory was that it was a complete team effort. The forwards fore-checked hard, the defense stepped up to the Quinnipiac forwards, beat them badly along the boards and in front of the net, and Corey Milan made all the stops he needed to. It was also great to see the freshman step up for the team as Wayne Simpson and Jeremy Welsh scored both of Union's goals tonight.

It was such an emotional battle between both teams. Bobcat goaltender Dan Clarke was throwing punches, Jason Walters and Eric Lampe were getting at each other for the fourth game in a row, and both teams worked extremely hard. I give the Bobcats a lot of credit for playing the way they did. They worked extremely hard, but just couldn't get past the tough Union defense. I also think the home-ice advantage was HUGE difference in the game. The student section was loud the entire game and the team really fed off of it, which was seen at the end of the game when Milan and the rest of the team jumped into the glass at Section Q.... I honestly thought the glass was going to shatter.

The emotions at the end of the game were incredible to see. Will Friedman and the rest of the student section were jumping up and down and hugging each other while popcorn was thrown into the air and the players could not wipe the smiles off their faces. Union Athletic Director Jim McLaughlin also looked extremely happy, and I even caught the Daily Gazette's Ken Schott with tears in his eyes.

For more on the game check out USCHO.com, Union Athletics.com, Ken Schott's Blog, and Times Union.com.

I was shocked to hear that Brown beat Yale 1-0, which makes all the difference in the world for the Dutchmen. I was even more shocked to see that the only goal was shorthanded and came midway through the first period. Cornell is an incredible team and Union won't have to see them until the ECAC finals. Brown deserves a ton of praise after beating a very good RPI team and then beating the top seed and defending champs on the road in back-to-back weekends. Bears goaltender Mike Clemente has now pulled off three upsets in the past two years. Their hard hitting defensive style has really worked for them. If I were Yale's Sean Backman I would be apologizing to my team for letting them down.

Let's just hope enough students stick around next weekend to see if their team can make more history. Also, good luck to the players and their fans on their upcoming finals.

The Starr Curse Lives On

After last night's 5-2 loss at Colgate the
Dutchmen are now 1-17-1 at Colgate. Surprisingly this year's seniors have not won a game at Starr Rink, which is the least intimidating rink in the ECAC. The crowd is always dead and no one even goes to the games. Maybe the problem is going from Lynah to Starr and how different the environments are. Either way losing two games in a row is not how you want to head into the playoffs, but the Dutchmen have a bye which will give them some time to think everything over and get their heads on straight.

Once again, congratulations to Mario Valery-Trabucco on his program record 21st goal of the season. Mario is the MVP of the team this year and is one of the top forwards in the ECAC (along with Chase Polacek, Brock Little and Sean Backman just to name a few). He is a legitimate Hobey Baker and All-American candidate. Also, Mario's linemate Jason Walters is one point away from tying the program's career point record (114, Jordan Webb).

This weekend does bring up some concern for the playoffs. First and most importantly is goaltending. Keith Kinkaid has not stepped up when he has really needed to. He, nor Corey Milan, have stolen a game for the Dutchmen even though they have had some very good games. Goaltending is the most important factor for any playoff teams as hot goaltending will prevail above everything in the playoffs. This also brings up another concern which is the amount of breakaways allowed by the Union defense. It seems like almost every game the opposition gets at least one breakaway opportunity. Also, even though there is no official statistic, it seems like Kinkaid has trouble with breakaways. Finally, it is a bit worrisome that 'Super' Mario scored two of Union's three goals this weekend (the other goal coming from Kyle Bodie). Union played two Top 4 ECAC teams this past weekend and were only able to score three goals. Offense is the strength of this team and will have to continue to be if they want to be successful in the playoffs.

We now have two weeks for Union Hockey to return, and I'm sure it will feel longer than that. Hopefully this extra time will give the Dutchmen some time to relax and tie up some loose ends. If all the top seeds win their first round playoff games Union will face RPI in the quarterfinals, which will be a very energized and exciting series. I'm not excited about this potential matchup because it is very difficult to beat a team five times in one season, especially a rival. Also, all of the regualr season games this season have been extremely tight and could have gone either way.

For more on last night's game check out Ken Schott's Blog, Union Athletics.com, Daily Gazette.com, and USCHO.com.

Three third period goals lifts Union over SLU

On Thursday night I said: "Things haven't been going well for our Dutchmen... The main cause of this problem has been the lack of scoring... meaning that their top scorers need to start scoring... Mario along with is 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."

Well, I doubt Mario, Wally, and Prez read this but maybe they heard what I said through the grapevine haha. These guys were the reason why the Dutchmen were able to put up 15 goals this weekend. Mario registered four goals and three assists, Wally put up a goal and four assists, and Prez had two goals and five assists on the weekend. So, if you do the math this line scored seven of Union's 15 goals this weekend and had a combined 12 assists. Also, the line had their hand in nine of the 15 goals this weekend. In the six previous games the Dutchmen put up only 12 goals. It was also nice to see leaders such as Mike Schreiber and Brock Matheson and freshman such as Kyle Bodie and Wayne Simpson help with the offense this weekend.

The defense also had a good weekend as they only let up four goals. Last night's game marked the third game in a row that they let up just two goals.

It was great to see the team come back in the third period, especially after the short-handed goal just a few seconds before the second period ended. The ability to come back in the third period is a sign of a great and gritty team, which will be huge in the playoffs.

This weekend was a great way to halt the winless skid and now the Dutchmen have to keep it rolling into next weekend when they hit the road to take on Dartmouth and Harvard, both of whom came into Messa Rink and beat the Dutchmen a few weeks ago. Also, the Dutchmen are now in a three way tie for first place in the ECAC with Cornell and Yale and are ahead of fourth place St. Lawrence by three points.

Also note that Mario is now tied for 11th in the nation in points (35), Union is fifth in the nation in goals per game (3.64), tied for 14th in goals against per game (2.50), and 10th in the nation in power-play percentage (20.6%). It will be interesting to see where they end up in the National Rankings on Monday. I personally feel that they will move up a few spots. My guess is to #18.

To read more about the game check out USCHO.com, Union Athletics.com, Daily Gazette.com, Times Union.com, and Ken Schott's Blog.

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