Union whitewashes Sacred Heart, 9-0, in season opener

A major question heading into the 2010-2011 season for the Union College Dutchmen was who is going to replace leading goal scorers Mario Valery-Trabucco and Jason Walters this season.

That question was at least partially answered on Friday as freshmen Josh Jooris and Daniel Carr combined for four goals and three assists in a 9-0 romp over the visiting Sacred Heart Pioneers.

Jooris picked up a hat trick in his first collegiate game, the first Union player to conquer the feat, while Carr accumulated a goal and three assist in his first game as a Dutchman. Ironically, the last time a Union player scored a hat trick was last Feb. 4, when Valery-Trabucco pulled the trick in a 11-2 win over Clarkson.

“We really put in a solid effort tonight,” Jooris said. “We were good right off the get go.”

Sacred Heart head coach C.J. Marottolo praised Union after the game.

“Union is a very good team, are well coached, and fast,” Marottolo said. “They also have some very good freshmen.”

The Dutchmen proved why they are a nationally ranked team early in the contest as they dominated the play on the ice and on the scoreboard as they outshot and outscored the Pioneers 18-6 and 3-0, respectively, in the first period.

Union held a slight advantage in play early in the first frame and broke through on a goal by senior Stephane Boileau 7:13 into the season. The goal occurred when senior winger Justin Pallos was able to push the puck to the net causing Sacred Heart goaltender Steven Legatto to sprawl out across the crease. With the puck sitting in between Legatto’s right foot and the right post, Boileau jammed the puck past the goal line for Union’s first goal of the season.

“We wanted to have good momentum early,” Boileau said. “I was just the lucky person to put it in the net.”

While Boileau scored the goal, Union head coach Nate Leaman was very impressed by the player who assisted on the goal.

“I thought Pallos was a big spark plug for us tonight,” Leaman said. “He got things going for us.”

A little over three minutes later it was the freshmen’s turn to do the scoring. The play developed when Jeremy Welsh caused a turnover at the Sacred Heart blueline. He proceeded to feed the puck to Carr at the right circle, who ripped a slap shot on goal.

Legatto was able to stick out his left pad, but the puck slid back to Carr to the right of the net who slipped the puck to Jooris in front of the net where he knocked the puck into the net for his first career goal.

“Welsh and Josh had great games,” Carr said. “They made it easy for me to get the puck.”

Carr went on to praise the play of his linemate and classmate.

“Josh is an extremely skilled player and an easy guy to play with,” said the freshman from Sherwood Park, Alberta.

Just 27 seconds later Boileau put in his second goal of the evening when he tipped a high Brock Matheson shot from the left point down and past Legatto to give his team a 3-0 lead.

“I was real pleased with the first period tonight,” Leaman said. “We put them on their heels and Keith [Kinkaid] made some big saves.”

The play evened out for the first three-quarters of the middle frame as each team received ample scoring opportunities, but both teams were unable to convert.

Sacred Heart’s best chance occurred a little after the halfway mark of the period when they received 49 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage after Union’s Brock Matheson was called for interference, which was then followed by a too many men on the ice penalty on the Dutchmen.

The Pioneers and Marottolo called timeout to devise a plan of attack, but Union goaltender Keith Kinkaid, who picked up the shutout with 19 saves, and the Dutchmen were up to the task as they were able to kill off both penalties.

Union took this momentum into their next power-play opportunity, which came with 5:28 left in the period. It took 1:19 seconds for the home team to capitalize and take a four-goal lead. It was Jooris once again as he scored his second goal of the night when he tipped a turnaround shot by Carr from the left slot past the Pioneer goaltender.

“Carr is a great player,” Jooris said. “He’s got a great sense for the net and has a good touch on the puck.”

In last season’s meeting between the two teams, the Pioneers held a 5-1 lead heading into the third period, but allowed Union to tie the game at five before Sacred Heart eventually won the game in overtime. So, the Dutchmen knew that they couldn’t be content with this lead.

They proved this as the flood gates officially opened up in the third period with the Dutchmen closing out the game with four goals to give themselves a 9-0 victory.

The two teams meet again tomorrow night at Messa Rink at 7 p.m. for their final matchup of the season.

“Obviously we’re disappointed in the score, but we have a very young team and we have to grow with them in their roles,” Marottolo said. “We have to be patient and come out better tomorrow night.”

“I’m anticipating a lot tougher game tomorrow night,” Leaman said.