SCHENECTADY, NY -- A 2-1 victory against Quinnipiac propelled the 17th-ranked Union College men's ice hockey team into the ECAC Hockey Championship weekend for the first time in the team's 19 year Division I history. Union, the third seed in the tournament, will play fifth-seeded St. Lawrence at 7 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 19 in the Times Union Center in Albany.
Freshman
Wayne Simpson and
Jeremy Welsh registered the goals for Union, which earned its school-record 20th victory this year. This season marks the third time in Union hockey history that the Dutchmen have reached 20 wins and the first since the 1984-85 season.
Union moves to 20-11-6 overall, while Quinnipiac's season ends with a 20-18-2 mark.
Union appeared to have pulled ahead, 3-0, with 13:52 remaining in the game, but the official lost sight of the puck and blew his whistle before the puck crossed the line.
With the door open and the score still at 2-0, Quinnipiac got on the board with 4:29 remaining with a defection goal by Reese Rolheiser.
The Dutchmen defense, which only allowed five goals in 270 minutes in 22 seconds in the series, stood strong the rest of the way and junior goaltender
Corey Milan earned his second win in as many nights with 30 saves.
It didn't take the Dutchmen long to establish a lead as Simpson went top shelf on Quinnipiac's Dan Clarke 2:01 into the game as the two team's skated 4-on-4. The play started with senior
Mike Schreiber keeping the offensive attack alive at the point. He sent a shot towards the net, but Simpson gained control of the puck and fired his sixth goal of the season.
After a scoreless second period, Union used the opening moments of the third to its advantage. After sophomore
Luke Cain had a shot stopped by Clarke, freshman
Jeremy Welsh cleaned up the rebound behind the Bobcat goaltender.
In the series, Union answered with back-to-back wins to claim its second postseason series victory in team history. After losing Friday night's five, overtime game -- the longest in NCAA history -- 3-2, the Dutchmen responded with a 3-1 win on Saturday, forcing a third game.
Second-seeded Cornell will have the top spot in the championship weekend and will face 11th-seeded Brown, which knocked off top-seeded Yale in three games. St. Lawrence has won four straight games in the playoffs and most recently swept Colgate.
Tickets for the ECAC Hockey Championships can be purchased online (
CLICK HERE) or by calling 800-30-EVENT.
