February 27, 2009

St. Lawrence Prevails Against Dutchmen

Boxscore

SCHENECTADY, NY - Despite out shooting No. 17 St. Lawrence 31-14, the Union College men's ice hockey team experienced a 2-0 loss at Messa Rink on Friday as part of ECAC Hockey and the American Cancer Societies' "Pink at the Rink" campaign. The Dutchmen wore special blank and pink jerseys that will be auctioned off at ecachockeycoachesvscancer.com.

With the loss, Union slips to ninth in the conference and just one spot out of first-round home ice with a 8-11-2 ECAC Hockey record and a 15-15-3 overall mark. St. Lawrence improves to 10-7-4 in the conference and 18-11-4 overall.

The Dutchmen still have a chance at securing home ice for the first round with a win on Saturday, Feb. 28 against Clarkson at Messa Rink (7 p.m.). A victory on Saturday would tie Union with Clarkson in the standings and after splitting the season series, the Dutchmen would take the second tie breaker with nine wins. If Union prevails against Clarkson and Quinnipiac loses at Princeton, the Dutchmen would finish in the seventh spot.

As for the game, Union enjoyed 6:04 straight of power-play time during the first period and unloaded eight shots and hit three posts during four power-play chances, including two 5-on-3 opportunities. Seniors #Lane Caffaro# and #Matt Cook# and sophomore #Andrew Buote# each struck the iron and St. Lawrence goaltender Alex Petizian kept the rest out of the net, keeping his team up 1-0.

The Saints took the lead at the 9:58 mark when senior defenseman Zack Miskovic cashed in on a rebound while on the power play. Senior forward Kevin Devergilio and senior forward Brock McBride picked up the assists.

Junior forward Jeremiah Cunningham gave St. Lawrence a 2-0 advantage at 5:32 of the second with a wrist shot just inside the left circle. Senior defenseman Shawn Fensel left the drop pass and freshman forward Rick Carden registered the second assist.

The game marked the ninth time this season Union outshot its opponent and the fourth time limiting them to less than 20 shots.

Union will recognize its six seniors at the conclusion of Saturday's game, which can be seen locally on Time Warner Sports Channel 3.