STORRS, CT – The Union College men's hockey team rattled off four second-period goals en route to a 7-2 defeat of Connecticut in non-conference action at the Freitas Ice Forum Sunday afternoon. Head coach Nate Leaman picked up his 50th career victory as the Dutchmen snapped a five-game road losing streak with the win.
Brendan Milnamow (Wilton, CT) picked up his first goal of the season on the power play at 5:08, one-timing a pass across the point from
Mike Schreiber (Sherwood Park, AB) to give Union the first goal of the game for the third time in the last three games.
Mario Valery-Trabucco (Montreal, QC) set up Schreiber from down low for his fourth point in three games. Union is 6-1-0 in games when the Dutchmen score first this season.
UConn knotted the game early in the second period on a rebound goal from Trevor Stewart, but
T.J. Fox (Oswego, NY) answered back with the first of two tallies at 8:45 when he buried a rebound from
Michael Beynon's (Nepean, ON) shot from the point.
Beynon put the Dutchmen up, 3-1, less than three minutes later with his first goal of the season, a high wrister from the top of the left circle that went straight through traffic over the shoulder of UConn goaltender Scott Tomes.
UConn's Stewart struck again 13 minutes into the middle frame on a power-play tally to cut the Dutchmen's lead to 3-2, but it was all Union after that, as Fox collected his second goal of the night and
Jason Walters (Renfrew, ON) tallied his fifth goal of the season to put the Dutchmen up, 5-2 headed into the second intermission. Fox one-timed a shot from the right circle passed across by Schreiber while on a 4-on-3 power play at 17:24, and Walters shoved in a loose puck from a shot by
Olivier Bouchard (Quebec City, QC) past a sprawled Tomes 23 seconds later.
Valery-Trabucco put Union up 6-2 with his third goal in two games at 3:33 of the final stanza, lifting a wrister past Tomes after intercepting a Huskies pass inside the blue line. Walters added a power-play tally at 15:32, giving the Dutchmen their largest margin of victory this season. Sophomore
Lane Caffaro (Save Lake, AB) passed behind the net to
Matt Cook (Belle Mead, NJ), who connected with Walters on the doorstep.
Union held a 41-27 advantage in shots in the game, and converted five of 11 power-play opportunities.
Justin Mrazek (Regina, SK) made 25 saves before giving way to
Rich Sillery (Hyattsville, MD) late in the third period. Tomes stopped 27 Dutchmen shots in 43 minutes, while Beau Erickson made seven saves in the final 16 minutes.
Union is back in action at former ECAC Hockey League foe Vermont for the Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup on December 29 and 30. Union will face St. Cloud State at 4 p.m. on the opening day of the tournament. The Dutchmen will face off with either Vermont or Rensselaer on the second day of play. Union has never faced St. Cloud State.
