Two Late Goals Give Union Win
TROY, NY -- Two goals with less than a minute
left completed the comeback as the 20th-ranked Union College men's
ice hockey team defeated Rensselaer, 5-4, on Wednesday night at
Houston Field House. Senior Mario Valery-Trabucco led Union with
the 17th hat trick in program history. Union, which is 8-3-5
overall and 4-0-3 in ECAC Hockey, extended its unbeaten streak to
nine games and remains the only ECAC Hockey team without a league
loss. The Dutchmen are now tied for third with Colgate in the
standings with 11 points.
The Dutchmen trailed, 4-3, will less than a minute remaining until
senior Jason Walters tied it up on a rebound off a Adam Presizniuk
deflection with 51 second remaining.
The game appeared to be heading into overtime for the third time
this season between the two teams, but Mike Schreibers wrist shot
with 18.4 seconds remaining found the back of the net, giving Union
its eighth win of the season and second at RPI in 11 days.
Trailing 3-1 early in the third period, Valery-Trabucco scored
back-to-back goals in almost exactly the same spot, finding the
upper-left corner from the right face-off dot both times. His first
goal of the span came at 3:44 and his second was at 5:40.
Chase Polacek seemed to put RPI ahead for the final time with a
power-play goal at 12:19. The goal was his second of the game as
Polacek made was the cause of the 3-1 lead at 1:40 of the
third.
Valery-Trabucco gave Union the first lead of the game 5:55 of the
opening period. The play started at the point with senior Jason
Walters controlling the puck. He found Presizniuk at the right post
and fed to Valery-Trabucco across the crease. RPI's Allen York made
the original save, but the senior roofed the second.
Valery-Trabucco's hat trick was the first since Olivier Bouchard
accomplished the feat on Feb. 6, 2006. Valery-Trabucco has
registered a team-high 10 goals and 21 points on the year. He has
produced a team-best eight multi-point games and has scored nine of
his last 11 games.
Freshman goaltender Keith Kinkaid also extended his unbeaten streak
to six games with 25 saves. He is 5-0-3 during the span and 5-1-3
overall.
For Union's bench general Nate Leaman, the win was the 99th of his
career.
The Dutchmen have one more test before taking their winter break
hiatus as the United States Under-18 team comes to Messa Rink on
Friday, Dec. 11 for a 7 p.m. exhibition contest. The game will be
part of "Shots for Tots" event hosted by Union and the U.S. Marine
Corps. To purchase tickets at UnionAthleticsTickets.com.












