After losing two straight games, both at Achilles Rink, Union had to wonder if it was starting another February fade like last year. <\/p>\n
The Dutchmen emphatically put an end to such thoughts Saturday against Princeton. <\/p>\n
Kris Goodjohn had two goals and two assists, and Nathan Gillies added two goals and an assist to lead the Dutchmen to a 6-2 ECAC victory at Achilles. <\/p>\n
Despite ending their slump, the Dutchmen (9-7-2 ECAC, 13-13-4 overall) remained in a three-way tie for fourth place, the final spot for a bye in the first round of the playoffs, with Brown and Dartmouth. The latter two both won Saturday. <\/p>\n
The Dutchmen can clinch at least a home-ice spot next Friday if they win at Colgate. That means they can finish no worse than eighth, which is the final first-round home playoff spot. <\/p>\n
Last season, the Dutchmen went 3-6-1 over their final 10 games, dropping from a possible home-ice spot to out of the playoffs by one point. But consecutive losses to Brown and Yale over the past week did not cause alarm. <\/p>\n
“We don’t really talk about that kind of stuff,” said Gillies, who was suspended from the Yale game. “[We] know in our hearts that we’re not going to fade. We’re going to pull through as a team. We don’t need to talk about that kind of stuff. That’s for you guys [the reporters] to talk about.” <\/p>\n
Things didn’t start well for the Dutchmen Saturday night. Mike Patton’s power-play goal at 10:20 of the first period gave the Tigers (2-15-1, 3-21-1) a 1-0 lead. But Goodjohn answered 42 seconds later, beating goalie Nate Nomeland from the slot while on his knees. <\/p>\n
“They didn’t get down,” Union coach Kevin Sneddon said. “That goes back to leadership. [Friday] night, we were missing that element to our team.” <\/p>\n
Union had an extended two-man advantage late in the first and early in the second when Princeton picked up three straight penalties. A few seconds after the second five-on-three expired, Goodjohn scored his second goal of the game 1:55 into the second. That ended an 0-for-15 power-play slump <\/p>\n
“It was pretty big,” said Goodjohn, who was ejected late in the game for arguing a penalty against him. “We haven’t been playing as well as we could have on the power play, so it was nice to get one under us.” <\/p>\n
Goodjohn made a nice pass to defenseman Matt Vagvolgyi in the slot. Vagvolgyi fired it past Nomeland at 6:58 of the second for his second goal of the year. Both have come against the Tigers. <\/p>\n
Gillies made it 4-1 1:07 into the third when he shook off Matt Maglione’s check, drove to the net and beat Nomeland through the pads. <\/p>\n
“It was a good drop pass by [Chris] DiStefano,” said Gillies, who added a power-play goal with 59.2 seconds left. “I had a free lane to the net.” <\/p>\n
Chris Owen scored a power-play goal at 14:37, but Randy Dagenais responded for Union with a goal 13 seconds later. <\/p>\n
Ken Schott covers college hockey for <\/i>The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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