TROY, N.Y. – The Union College men’s hockey team used two special teams goals to defeat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 4-1, on Friday night at the Houston Field House. With the win, the Dutchmen improve to 5-1-1 (1-0-0 ECAC Hockey), while the Engineers drop to 1-4-1 (0-1-0 ECAC Hockey).
Union jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 8:38 of the first period. Not long after a 5-on-3 power play had been reduced to a 5-on-4 advantage, junior Ryan Scarfo (North Chelmsford, MA/Powell River Kings) stuck home his second goal of the year, with assists to freshman Vas Kolias (Schaumburg, IL/Youngstown Phantoms) and junior Nick DeSimone (East Amherst, NY/Buffalo Junior Sabres).
The visitors quickly made it 2-0, when senior defenseman Jeff Taylor (Clifton Park, NY/Dubuque Fighting Saints) saw his cross-ice feed deflect off of an RPI stick and over the left shoulder of sophomore netminder Cam Hackett (Sault Ste. Marie, ON/Lincoln Stars) at 12:50. Helpers went to junior Spencer Foo (Edmonton, AB/Bonnyville Pontiacs) and senior captain Mike Vecchione (Saugus, MA/Tri-City Storm).
Vecchione gave Union a 3-0 lead at 16:40 of the second, slamming home his team-leading ninth goal of the year from the left circle. Following the expiration of a Dutchmen power play, Foo found Vecchione all alone for a one-timer into an open net.
Sophomore Cole Maier (Pequannock, NJ/Nanaimo Clippers) pushed the advantage to 4-0 with a shorthanded breakaway goal, just 1:02 into the third. Picking off a cross-ice pass, Maier faked to his right before beating Hackett with a move to the left side of the net for his second goal of the year.
RPI pulled one goal back at 13:44 of the stanza, thanks to a shot from the blue line by junior Jared Wilson (Calgary, AB/Vernon Vipers) that deflected off of a Union player and past senior goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos (Tinsley Park, IL/Chicago Steel) for his team-leading fourth goal of the season. Assists went to sophomore Evan Tironese (Qualicum Beach, BC/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) and senior captain Jimmy DeVito (Bloomingdale, IL/Lincoln Stars).
Sakellaropoulos (4-0-0) finished with 32 saves, while Hackett (1-1-0) had 35 at the other end of the ice. The Dutchmen went 1 for 10 on the power play, while RPI finished 0 for 6.
Both teams are back in action tomorrow night in Schenectady for game two of the series. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.
