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.
