NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – After a two-week hiatus for final exams, the Dutchmen powerplay was the difference maker in Saturday evening's 3-2 non-conference victory over Merrimack College (HEA) at Lawler Rink.   

The victory is Union's first road non-conference win. The Dutchmen close out November with a 3-1-1 record, posting consecutive victories, and improving to 4-7-2 on the season and 2-3-1 in conference play.

Sophomore Liam Robertson had a career day, scoring two power-play goals for his first multi-goal game, including his first game-winning goal, and tying first-year Michael Hodge for the team lead with five goals. First-year Collin Graf scored his fourth of the season off a turnover to tie the game in the third. Juniors Chaz Smedsrud, Gabriel Seger, and Matt Allen, and sophomore Tyler Watkins all earned assists in the win.  

After a scoreless first period, the Dutchmen broke through with a power-play goal at 16:49 of the second period. Allen passed the puck up to Watkins, who was wide open near the blue line. The sophomore ripped a shot through traffic and Robertson tapped in the rebound for his first goal of the night.

Graduate student Max Newton snapped the shutout bid at 7:51 of the third period. Steven Jandric broke free on a two-on-one opportunity, sliding the puck across to Newton who one-timed it to beat junior Connor Murphy glove side.

The Warriors took a 2-1 lead 1:35 later when Jordan Seyfert stuffed home a rebound. Merrimack's lead was short-lived as the Dutchmen scored less than three minutes later. Seger won the battle in the corner of the offensive zone, sending the puck to Graf in the slot. Graf sent a one-timer that beat first-year goaltender Hugo Ollas to knot the game at two.

Robertson's game-winning goal occurred 1:53 later. Merrimack's Matt Copponi committed a slashing penalty to give the Dutchmen a power-play opportunity at 14:02 of the third period. Only 13 seconds later, Smedsrud sent a pass to Robertson on the doorstep who backhanded the puck into the net to give Union a 3-2 lead.

The Dutchmen went 2-for-6 on the powerplay and were perfect on the penalty kill, stopping Merrimack on all three opportunities, and only allowing one shot on goal. Union has not allowed a power-play goal in the last four games with opponents going 0-for-12 in that time frame.

Murphy saw his shutout streak snapped at 107:51. The junior made 20 saves and improved to 4-6-1 on the season. Freshman goaltender Hugo Ollas made 19 saves for the Warriors and fell to 4-5-0 on the season.

Union returns to Messa Rink next weekend for the final ECAC Hockey series of the calendar year. The Dutchmen face Princeton on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.