SCHENECTADY, NY – 9.5 seconds was all that stood between staying alive and heart break. Unfortunately for the Dutchmen, fate decided to hand out heart break, as Princeton scored to secure a 3-2 win over Union in game two of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals on Saturday night.
David Hallsey scored the final goal to send the Tigers to the semifinals in Lake Placid. The goal came after Union shutdown a three-on-once chance for Princeton, but Hallsey crashed to the far side of the net and one-timed in a pass from behind the goal to end the Dutchmen’s season.
Princeton scored the game’s first two goals as the Tigers took advantage of a slow start by Union. The game’s first goal came at the 14:44 mark of the first period, but the Tigers quickly doubled their lead scoring on a shorthanded breakaway just four minutes later.
After the sluggish start, the Dutchmen took back control of the game, outshooting Princeton, 15-4, and tying the game up all in the second period.
Sophomore Anthony Rinaldi got Union on the board with a snipe on the power play at the 7:53 mark. After netminder Jake Kupsky set up the play behind his net, Greg Campbell hit a stretch pass to Rinaldi who quickly scored after gaining the zone. The assist to Kupsky marked his first career point and the first Union goalie to assist on a goal since Alex Sakellaropoulos did so against Michigan on Oct. 23, 2015.
The Dutchmen then quickly erased their deficit just more than a minute later when Ryan Walker scored a backdoor goal after receiving a perfect feed from Ryan Scarfo. Walker’s 11th goal of the season knotted the game up at 2-2 with just less than 11 minutes left in the second period.
Union was then assessed a five-minute major shortly after, but the Dutchmen remained energetic and had no problem killing off the penalty with limited Princeton offensive pressure.
With the game tied at 2-2 to start the third period, the Dutchmen continued to outpace the Tigers. It looked as if all but certain that Union would eventually score and play extend the series to a third game. Unfortunately, the dagger of Hallsey’s goal with 9.5 seconds remaining would end all hopes of that.
The Dutchmen end the 2017-18 season with an overall record of 12-15-2 and finished second place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a league record of 16-5-1.
Senior Ryan Scarfo led the team in scoring with 20 goals and 16 assists on the season. The Dutchmen will graduate Scarfo and fellow seniors J.C. Brassard, Connor Light and Tyler Hynes. The four seniors combined for 432 games, 59 goals and 100 assists over the past four years.
