Union Wins Battle of Ranked Teams

Photo by Marilyn Zube

Final	1	2	3	Final
Union (9-3-5)	1	1	1	3
Merrimack (10-3-2)	0	1	0	1

Scoring Summary
1st - 13:47	PP - Carr, Daniel (Union)
2nd - 15:06	Bates, Shawn (Merrimack)
2nd - 17:59	PP - Gostisbehere, Shayne (Union)
3rd - 19:48	EN - Zajac, Kelly (Union)

Union	Merrimack
G: 3 Players (#9, #14, #19 - 1) A: 5 Players (#7, #12, #19, #22, #28 - 1) Sh: Greg Coburn - 5 Sv: Troy Grosenick - 19	G: Bates, Shawn - 1 A: 2 Players (#3, #20 - 1) Sh: Velleca, Jeff - 4 Sv: Cannata, Joe - 31

TEAM STATISTICS	Union	Merrimack
Power Plays	2 for 7	0 for 5
Shorthanded Goals	0	0
Penalties (min)	6 (12)	8 (16)
Shots on Goal	34	20
Face Offs Won	38	30

full stats

NOR­TH ANDOVER, MA –  Freshman defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere scored the go-ahead power play goal at 15:06 of the second period to help lead No. 11/12 Union (9-3-5, 3-2-2 ECAC Hockey) to a 3-1 win over No. 5/5 Merrimack (10-3-2, 7-2-1 Hockey East) in front of 2,489 fans at Lawler Arena.

With the win, Union extended its unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2) and recorded its first win against a top 5 opponent since a 3-2 win over No. 1 Yale on Jan. 28, 2011 at Messa Rink.

Senior forward Kelly Zajac sealed the win with an empty net goal in the third period and freshman forward Daniel Carr added a power play goal in the first period for the Dutchmen, who finished the night 2-for-7 on the man advantage. The Dutchmen were 5-of-5 on the penalty kill.

Sophomore goaltender Troy Grosenick made 19 saves, while Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata stopped 31 shots in net for the Warriors, who were outshot 34-20 on the night by Union.

The Dutchmen got off to a great start, using an early 5-on-3 power play opportunity to take a 1-0 lead. With Merrimack’s Kyle Singleton already in the penalty box for tripping, Kyle Bigos was whistled for boarding, giving the Dutchmen 46 seconds of 5-on-3 power play time.

Sophomore defenseman Mat Bodie fed Zajac, who fired a shot from the high slot on net. Carr jammed the rebound past Cannata to give the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead at 13:47 of the first period.

Union carried the momentum into the second period, outshooting the Warriors 11-2 over the first 15:00 of play. Freshman forward Trevor Mingoia was stopped from just outside the crease on a backhand chance at 14:27. Cannata was shaken up on the play but stayed in the game.

Shortly thereafter, Merrimack’s Shawn Bates used the Union defense as a screen, firing a wide angle shot over the shoulder of Grosenick at 15:06 to even the game at 1-1.

Merrimack’s Jesse Todd was called for hooking at 17:0o, giving Union another power play just minutes later. Early on in the man advantage, Grosenick came up with one of his best saves of the game, stopping a Rhett Bly breakaway with a right pad save.

Coming back down the ice, sophomore forward Josh Jooris set up freshman defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who fired a low wrist shot past Cannata at 17:59 to put Union up 2-1 heading into the third period.

Union will have next weekend off and will next play on Dec. 30 at Denver in a game that begins at 9:35 ET.