ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - No. 6/6 Union men's hockey (23-7-7), the No. 1 seed in the ECAC Hockey Tournament, earned it's second ever berth into the ECAC Hockey Championship game with a 6-2 win over No. 4 seed Colgate last night. Sophomore forward Daniel Carr scored twice, junior forward Jeremy Welsh had a goal and two assists, and sophomore forward Josh Jooris had a goal and three assists to lead the Dutchmen, who will appear in the league title game for the second time in the past three seasons.
Union's opponent will be No. 19/RV Harvard (13-9-11, 8-5-9 ECAC Hockey), the No. 3 seed, which earned a 6-1 win over No. 13/13 Cornell to gain a spot in the championship game for the first time since 2008. Harvard's Alex Killorn scored twice, and Colin Blackwell had four assists to lead the Crimson. Harvard is seeking its first ECAC Hockey title since 2006, and ninth title in program history.
» Union in the ECAC Hockey Championship Game
Union returns to the ECAC Hockey Championship game for the first time since 2010, when Union, the No. 3 seed, took on No. 2 seed Cornell at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. on March 20. In that contest, Union could not solve Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens, who stopped all 32 Union shots as the Big Red earned a 3-0 win to take the league title.
»Sullivan Comes Through in the Clutch
Sophomore forward Kevin Sullivan (six goals, six assists) has scored a number of key goals this season for the Dutchmen, including the game-winning goal in the second period of Union's 4-2 win over Rensselaer in Game 2 of the ECAC Quarterfinals last Saturday. Four of Sullivan's six goals on the season have been game-winners. Sullivan ranks 12th in the nation in game-winning goals, and has scored the clinching goal in three of the last seven games.
»Welsh Sets New Single Season Goals Record with 24th Tally
Junior forward Jeremy Welsh, who scored his 24th goal of the season last night in a 6-2 win over Colgate, broke the school single-season record of 23 goals set by former linemate Mario Valery-Trabucco '10 in 2009-10. Welsh is just the fourth Union player in the Division I era to reach the 20-goal mark. He has well surpassed the 16 goals he scored in 2010-11 and 10 tallies his freshman year in 2009-10.
»Troy Grosenick Named One of Ten Finalists for Hobey Baker
Union College sophomore goaltender Troy Grosenick was named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, presented annually to the top men's college hockey player, the Hobey Baker Selection Committee announced. Grosenick is the first student-athlete in program history to be named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. Grosenick, who entered the season with just one career start, is in the midst of a stellar campaign for the Dutchmen. In his first year as a starter. Grosenick ranked first in conference action in goals-against average (1.60); save percentage (.940); and win percentage (.767).
»Scouting Harvard
Harvard enters tonight's ECAC Hockey Championship game on a role, winners of three in a row and five of its last six. The Crimson have scored 14 goals in the last two games, including a 6-2 win over No. 13 Cornell last night. Alex Killorn his 21st and 22nd goals of the season and Colin Blackwell had four assists to lead Harvard.
Harvard, which averages 3.18 goals/game is on pace for its highest-scoring season since 2002-03, when the Crimson averaged 3.91 goals per game and ranked sixth nationally in scoring offense.
Harvard's power play is first in the nation at 27.9% (38-for-136) and has scored a power play goal in each of the last three contests
On the flip side, Harvard is allowing 2.94 goals/game, and is 79% on the penalty kill, both in the bottom half of the country. Freshman goaltender Steve Michalek has seen most of the action in net and is 7-7-8 with a 3.19 GAA and .894 save percentage. Raphael Girard started (18 saves) got the start against Cornell last night.
»The Union-Harvard Series
Union compiled a 1-0-1 record against Harvard during the regular season, earning a 2-0 win on Jan. 13 at Fenway Park in the last meeting between the two teams. Union and Harvard tied 3-3 when the teams met at Messa Rink on Jan. 6. Union is 3-0-1 in the last four games against Harvard. The Dutchmen have never met the Crimson in the ECAC Hockey Playoffs.
Harvard has controlled the series, which began when Union joined Division I in 1991. The Crimson own a 30-8-4 record, including a 5-4- 1 record in the last 10 meetings.
»The Last Meeting
On Jan. 13, sophomore defenseman Mat Bodie scored with three seconds left in the second period, and senior forward Kelly Zajac added a third period goal to help No. 14/13 Union College earn a 2-0 win over Harvard in front of 8,981 fans at Fenway Park as part of Sun Life Frozen Fenway 2012. Sophomore goaltender Troy Grosenick stopped all 18 shots to earn his third shutout of the season, as Union outshot Harvard 32- 18, including a 10-2 advantage in the third period. Union, which allowed two power play goals in the first meeting between the two teams last Friday at Messa Rink, held Harvard scoreless in two power play chances, while converting on the power play (1-for-4) for the third consecutive game.
Union's first outdoor game since Feb. 12, 1949 was a success, as the team wore eye black and com- memorative jerseys with a similar design to those worn in 1949, when the Dutchmen took on Vermont. In a scoreless first period, with players acclimating to windy conditions, both teams had quality scoring chances early on. Harvard's Colin Blackwell tested Grosenick early on with a shot in the slot at the 1:00 mark and Union's Wayne Simpson fired a wrist shot from the circle that Michalek stopped with his blocker at the 7:30 mark.
Harvard appeared to score the game's first goal at 3:34 of the second period, when Peter Starrett fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Grosenick. But the goal was waved off after officials determined that the net was off the moorings before the shot was taken. The Dutchmen took a 1-0 lead later in the second period on their third power play of the night. Harvard's Patrick McNally was called for trip- ping at 18:14, negating a Crimson power play just 41 seconds into the man advantage. When Union's Daniel Carr returned at 19:33, the Dutchmen took advantage of their short power play. With time run- ning down in the period, senior forward Kelly Zajac fed sophomore defenseman Mat Bodie at the point. Bodie faked an initial shot, creating space at the top of the point.
He followed with a wrist shot from straight away that deflected off the leg of Harvard's Ryan Grimshaw and over the shoulder of Michalek at 19:56 of the second period.
With the assist, Zajac moved past Joel Beal '05 to take sole possession of second place on the school as- sists list in the Division I era with 75 career helpers.
The Dutchmen pushed their lead to 2-0 early in the third period at even strength, as Zajac recorded his fifth goal of the season and team-leading 23rd point of the season. Senior defenseman Nolan Julseth-White fired wide from the point, but Simpson corralled the rebound behind the net and fed a backhand pass into the slot. Zajac jammed the puck past Michalek at 5:37 to give the Dutchmen a decisive advantage.
