HAMDEN, Conn.—Senior goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos made a career-high 52 saves to backstop the 18th-ranked Union College men’s hockey team to a 5-2 ECAC Hockey win against No. 5/7 Quinnipiac, Saturday night at High Point Solutions Arena. The Dutchmen, who snapped Quinnipiac’s 14-game regular season home unbeaten streak, improve to 10-3-2 overall and 6-1-1 in ECAC Hockey, while the Bobcats go to 10-5-2 overall and 6-2-1 in conference play.
Sakellaropoulos became the first Union goaltender to record 50 or more saves in a game since Keith Kinkaid stopped 52 shots against Quinnipiac on March 12, 2010. He turned away 18 in the first, 14 in the second and 20 in the third to move to 9-1-1 on the season.
Nick DeSimone led the offense, scoring a pair of goals, including the game winner, and Spencer Foo extended his point streak to 13 games with a two assists. Mike Vecchione contributed a multi-point game with a goal and an assist and Ryan Walker registered his first career multi-point game with two helpers. Jeff Taylor and Cole Maier rounded out the scoring for the Dutchmen.
Quinnipiac goaltender Chris Truehl made eight saves in the first 46:15, while Andrew Shortridge stopped four shots in relief. Kevin Duane and Karlis Cukste each scored for the Bobcats.
Duane put Quinnipiac in front at with a power-play goal at 16:44 of the first, redirecting Connor Clifton’s shot from the point past Sakellaropoulos.
After being outshot 19-4 in the frame, Union responded with four unanswered goals, including three in the second period, to open a 4-1 lead.
DeSimone got the Dutchmen on the board a power-play goal at 4:25 of the second with a wrist shot that deflected off a Quinnipiac defenseman and over the Truehl’s left shoulder. Walker and Ryan Scarfo assisted on the tally.
Union pulled ahead at 12:02 when Jeff Taylor rifled home a one-timer from the top of the right circle and DeSimone added his second at 16:59, finishing off a feed from Foo on a 2-on-1 for what would prove to be the game-winning goal. Matt Krug recorded his second assist of the season on the goal.
Maier extended Dutchmen’s lead to 4-1 at 6:15 of the third, taking a pass from Walker and beating Truehl high on the glove side from the slot.
Cukste cut Quinnipiac’s deficit to 4-2 at 12:52, but Vecchione capped the 5-2 win with an empty net goal at 18:08.
The Bobcats outshot the Dutchmen 54-17. Union went 2-for-4 on the powerplay, while the Quinnipiac was 1-for-5.
Union, which notched its third come-from-behind win against a nationally-ranked opponent this season, continues its six-game road swing next weekend with games at Brown (Dec. 9) and Yale (Dec. 10).
