Coming into the weekend, No. 20 Union had gone four straight games without getting a win. St. Lawrence, on the other hand, had managed to move itself into a three-way tie for second along with Union and Yale. With only a few weekends left of regular season hockey, this game was very important for both clubs.
To start the game, St. Lawrence seemed to have the upper hand, as they limited Union’s scoring opportunities, outshooting Union 12-5 in the first period. The first period ended without a score, however, as both teams failed to convert on their power play opportunity.
“To start the game, they were playing at a different level than us,” Union coach Nate Leaman said. “But we were able to make it 0-0 after one when we weren’t playing well.”
St. Lawrence kept the momentum going into the second period, and was finally able to get a goal with 12:38 remaining. The goal was scored by forward Aaron Bogosian after catching Union in a line change. Racing down the ice, Bogosian fired a shot that just got past Union goalie Keith Kinkaid’s glove.
Finding themselves down a goal, Union took only two minutes to tie the game back up. The goal was scored by Adam Presizniuk, putting in the deflection after St. Lawrence goalie Kain Tisi was able to block a shot by Jason Walters.
Following the goal, Union had three power play opportunities, with the Saints killing all three. During the third penalty, St. Lawrence managed a breakaway opportunity and was able to get a short-handed goal, putting them up 2-1 going into the third period. The goal was scored by Travis Vermeulen with the assist going to Alex Curran.
The third period belonged to Union. Less than four minutes into the period, Union tied it up, and eventually scored three goals to win the game 4-2.
The first goal was scored by Mario Valery-Trabucco after he was fed a pass in front of the net by Walters. The goal was scored after St. Lawrence had some trouble managing their lines, having kept them out for close to two minutes.
“We have to be more pro-active in managing our shifts,” St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said.
Four minutes later, Wayne Simpson shot the game-winning goal, redirecting Mike Schreiber’s shot into the net.
“Schreiber did a good job getting it near the net, and I just pushed it in,” explained Simpson.
The third goal of the period, and fourth of the game for Union was put in by Brock Matheson. Assisted by Andrew Buote, Matheson received the puck at the blue line and fired it in. The puck deflected off of Tisi’s glove, putting the game away with 1:53 left to play in the game.
“Like last night, we had a lead in the third and let it slip away,” Marsh said, “The mistakes we made cost us tonight.”
With the win, Union puts itself into a tie with Cornell and Yale for first place in the ECAC. Despite the weekend sweep, St. Lawrence stays in fourth in the conference.
Next week, the Dutchman (15-7-6 overall, 9-3-4 in the ECAC) travel to play Harvard and Dartmouth, while St. Lawrence (14-10-5, 8-5-3) goes back home to host Quinnipiac and Princeton.
