SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Backed by a 29 save performance by junior Connor Murphy, the seventh-seeded Union College men's hockey team rolled over tenth-seeded Princeton University, 5-1, Saturday night at Messa Rink to advance to the second round of the ECAC Hockey Playoffs.

After the conclusion of the first round, the remaining teams will be re-seeded and will travel to the top four seeds. Union will find out their opponent tomorrow night.

Four Dutchmen put up multi-point games in the victory. First-year Collin Graf scored back-to-back goals in the third period for the first multi-goal game of his career. Sophomores Chaz Smedsrud and Liam Robertson netted a goal and an assist each. Junior Dylan Anhorn added two assists in the win. First-year Caden Villegas tallied his third goal of the season in the opening frame and seniors Brandon Estes and Ryan Sidorski added an assist each.

Villegas opened the scoring at 12:45 of the first period. After a puck battle near the Union bench, Sidorski gained control and sent the puck to Anhorn at center ice. The assistant captain sent a pass from the left-wing wall to Villegas in the crease, who redirected the puck into the net to give Union the 1-0 lead.

Robertson gave Union a 2-0 lead when a Princeton skater lost an edge and fell at the Union blue line, putting the puck right onto Robertson's stick. The sophomore took the puck on the breakaway and beat Jeremie Forget stick-side for his 13^th goal of the season.

Graf scored twice in a span of 2:34 in the third period. The first-year forced a turnover at the Princeton blue line, skating in from the right-wing circle and sending it past Forget's glove. With Union on a 5-on-3, Graf found the back of the net again to put Union up 4-0. Smedsrud attempted a wraparound shot that rebounded off of Forget, and Graf sent a one-timer from the goal line. Smedsrud added a goal of his own at 17:41 of the final stanza, picking up a rebound from Estes's shot to make it 5-0 Union.

Princeton broke through in the final minute of play to end the shutout bid for Murphy. Owen Farris was called for slashing at 18:20 of the third period, and Princeton capitalized less than a minute later when Corey Andonovski found the back of the net.

Murphy made 29 saves in the victory to improve to 14-16-3 on the season. Forget made 32 saves in the loss.

Schedule and opponent updates can be found on UnionAthletics.com in the coming days.