SCHENECTADY, NY – Junior midfielder Alan Fox (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland) scored the lone goal of the contest and junior goalkeeper Rob Kramer (Westport, CT) set a new school record for shutouts in a season to lift Union to a 1-0 victory over Utica in an ECAC First Round playoff game Wednesday night at College Park.
Thanks to RPI's 2-0 upset win at top seed Oneonta today, the second seeded Dutchmen will now host the ECAC semifinals and finals this weekend. Union, 12-3-4, will play Medaille (17-2-2), which defeated Nazareth Wednesday night, 1-0. RPI will face St. John Fisher Saturday at Union's College Park at 11 a.m. while Union will play Medaille at 1:30 p.m. Utica finishes the 2006 season with a record of 10-9. The championship game is Sunday at 12 p.m.
Fox took a cross from the center and slid while taking a low shot to the right of the Utica keeper at 25:48 for the eventual game-winner. It was his second tally of the season, with assists credited to Ryan Banagan (Albany, NY) and Chris Poey (Amherst, MA).
Kramer made four saves and posted his 10th shutout of the season. He had previously been tied for the school record with Jonathan LaDuke, who had set the record of nine shutouts in the 1986 season.
The Pioneers had a shot at the early lead when Evan Dufault (Sutton, MA) blasted a shot from seven yards out to the left of Kramer and he made a high save on the shot. Poey had a chance at insurance at 29:59, minutes after the first Union goal, but his shot from in close was stopped nicely by Murphy on the right side of the Utica net. Kramer made an excellent leaping save off the shot of Dufault at 51:13 to preserve the lead. Union threatened again at 71:29 as Tripp Pietrak (Amherst, NY) broke through two defenders and let go a drive to the left of the net that was caught by the leaping Murphy.
Union outshot the Pioneers, 16-8 on the night, including 8-2 in the second half. Utica freshman goalkeeper Kevin Murphy (West Islip, NY) made five saves for the Pioneers. The Dutchmen had a 6-3 advantage in corners. Dufault had a team high five shots, with three on net for Utica, while Pietrak took four shots and Banagan and Pietrak each had two on net.
Box score
