A three-point weekend in the North Country wasn’t going to satisfy Union. The Dutchmen wanted to leave with four points. <\/p>\n
It was a happy bus ride back to the Capital Region for the Dutchmen. They got their first-ever North Country sweep. The Dutchmen had to work a little overtime Saturday against St. Lawrence to earn the sweep. Joel Beal scored on a rebound of a Nathan Gillies shot with 52.4 seconds left in overtime, giving the Dutchmen a 4-3 ECAC win over the Saints at Appleton Arena. <\/p>\n
“I’m just happy for the seniors,” said Union coach Kevin Sneddon, whose team beat Clarkson, 5-3, on Friday. “I’m happy for the guys who have been through the tough times. To see a guy like Nathan Gillies, who’s trying to help the young players along, have a smile on his face and for him to have some taste of success is real special.” <\/p>\n
The win was the Dutchmen’s fifth straight. The have all come in ECAC play, which sets a team record for consecutive league victories. Union (8-5-2 ECAC, 12-11-4) now stands alone in third place, two points ahead of Yale after it lost to Dartmouth. <\/p>\n
Union had come close the last three seasons in sweeping the North Country trip. Instead, the Dutchmen ended up splitting the games. <\/p>\n
“Words can’t even express what our team is feeling right now,” said Gillies, who scored twice. “We’re not cocky, but confident. We have the winning attitude right now.” <\/p>\n
After getting outshot, 39-24, through regulation, the Dutchmen came out flying in overtime. Chris DiStefano nearly won it 13 seconds into overtime, but goalie Mike McKenna made a spectacular glove save off his wrist shot. Twenty-three seconds later, McKenna robbed Gillies of a potential game-winner. Sneddon took a timeout with 1:13 left. <\/p>\n
“I just told them, `Play to win,’ ” Sneddon said. <\/p>\n
And that’s what they did. <\/p>\n
Gillies took a pass from Jordan Webb and fired a shot from the left circle. McKenna made the save, but kicked the rebound on to Beal’s stick. Beal made no mistake, firing it into the net. <\/p>\n
“I saw `Webber’ get the puck, and I saw Gillies busting through,” Beal said. “I knew Webb was going to give it up. I just took off hard for the net. Gillies [made] a great shot. It came off the pad and right to me. I just had to bury it.” <\/p>\n
That goal made up for a turnover Beal committed in the second period that led to John Zeiler’s short-handed goal. <\/p>\n
Despite getting outshot, 20-6, in the first period, Union was fortunate to be tied, 1-1. Jim Lorentz scored for the Saints (4-8-2, 7-15-4) at 6:17, but Gillies tied it 1:07 later. <\/p>\n
After Zeiler’s goal, Webb tied the score at 13:03 of the second. Gillies gave Union a 3-2 lead 3:26 later with his third short-handed goal of the season. T.J. Trevelyan tied it 5:03 into the third period. <\/p>\n
“We found a way to win,” Sneddon said. “We didn’t play our best hockey, but we had key plays at key times by key players. That was the difference in the game.” <\/p>\n
Ken Schott covers college hockey for The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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