ITHACA, N.Y. – The Union College men's hockey team battled back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat No. 10 Cornell, 3-2, in the first game of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals on Friday night at Lynah Rink.
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Union is now one win away from advancing to the ECAC Hockey semifinals at Lake Placid. The win also marks the third-straight season that Union has recorded at least 20 wins, and the sixth time during head coach
Rick Bennett's career.
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Summary
- Union got on the board first behind a goal from Sebastian Vidmar in the middle of the second period.
- After Cornell tied the game at 1-1, Union appeared to take a 2-1 lead, but the officials overturned the Dutchman goal after review, which led to Cornell taking a 2-1 lead before the end of the second period.
- Captain Cole Maier scored his ninth of the year at the 10:40 mark of the third period to tie the game up at 2-2.
- Fellow senior Brett Supinski then scored less than five minutes later to put the Dutchmen on top 3-2.
- Sophomore netminder Darion Hanson made 32 saves, including 15 in the third period alone, to help lead the Dutchmen to victory.
Statistical Comparison
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How It Happened
Cornell opened the contest out-shooting the Dutchmen 12-4 in the first period. However, both teams played fairly defensively looking for the other side to make a mistake first, and the first period would come to a close with neither team finding the back of the net.
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Union evened things out in the second period, as shots were equal 7-7. Midway through the period,
Sebastian Vidmar picked up a rebound on the side of the net, and went around behind for a wrap-around attempt, beating Cornell netminder Matthew Galajda to put Union on the board first.
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The lead would be short lived, as Cornell scored three minutes later to tie the game up. Union then got another puck past Galajda, but after a lengthy review, the officials decided that Galajda had been interfered with and waived off the Union goal, putting the game back at 1-1. The Big Red then used the momentum from the overturned goal to score their second of the night with just 1:02 left in the second period.
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The Dutchmen continued to battle in the third period, and were eventually rewarded for their efforts at the 10:40 mark when
Cole Maier scored on a two-on-one with
Vas Kolias. The junior defenseman had the puck out wide and put a pass into the slot for Maier. Despite being hooked on the play, Maier was able to dive out and chip the puck over the glove of Galajda to tie things up.
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Five minutes later, senior
Brett Supinski ended a 10-game goal drought with a snipe over the left shoulder of Galajda to put Union up 3-2.
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Cornell then opted for an empty net in the final two minutes of play, but despite playing the majority of that time in the Union end, Dutchman goaltender
Darion Hanson came up with answers for everything Cornell threw at the net to secure the Union win.
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Up Next for the Dutchmen
Union and Cornell return for game two of the quarterfinal series tomorrow, March 16, at Lynah Rink. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. (ET).
