SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Union (N.Y.) moved into a tie for first place in the ECAC Hockey Standings with a 6-4 win against fifth-ranked Quinnipiac before a home crowd at Messa Rink on Saturday evening. The 11th-ranked Dutchmen also extended their winning streak to seven games while remaining unbeaten (4-0) against ranked opponents.
Union's freshmen class played a significant part in the win, as Michael Pontarelli (two goals, one assist), Eli Lichtenwald (two goals, one assist) and Mike Vecchione (one goal, two assists) accounted for five of the team's six goals. Sophomore Matt Wilkins provided the game winner at 14:31 of the third period on a tip-in off Lichtenwald's centering pass.
The Dutchmen opened a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes on Vecchione's rebound of a Sebastien Gingras shot at 4:42. After Bryce Van Barbant scored on the power play at 18:33, Pontarelli answered by stuffing home a rebound at 19:38.
The Bobcats tied the contest at 2-2 in a most unusual manner. With Union skating with an extra attacker and an open net due to a delayed penalty whistled on Quinnipiac, the Dutchmen put a puck into their own net at 3:51. The mistake was quickly forgotten when Lichtenwald put the home team back in front on a wrist shot from the slot at 5:48 of the middle period.
The third period saw Quinnipac score twice in a span of 62 seconds on goals from Travis St. Denis and Kellen Jones, giving the Bobcats their first lead of the night at 4-3. Pontarelli scored 41 seconds later to knot the game at 4-4, setting up the exciting finish.
No. 1 Minnesota 3, Michigan State 2
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Mike Reilly tallied his seventh goal and 11th point of the season -- both lead all Big Ten defensemen – for the eventual game winner as the No. 1 Minnesota bested Michigan State 3-2 on Saturday afternoon in the program’s final action of the 2013 calendar year.
After Christian Isackson scored his first goal of the year off an assist from Gabe Guertler – Guertler’s first career point as a Gopher – at 11:47 of the first period, Seth Ambroz netted his team-high eighth goal of the year at 18:25 after being set up by Michael Brodzinski and Justin Kloos. Ambroz has now tallied five goals in his past four games and needs just one more tally to tie his career best of nine set as a sophomore last season. The Gophers outshot the Spartans 17-3 in the first period while the visitors would go on to outshoot Michigan State 38-21 in the game
Minnesota (12-2-2 overall, 3-0-1-0 Big Ten) continued the offensive production in the second period as Reilly tallied the deciding goal at 6:05. Isackson added his second point of the day with an assist on the play along with Jake Bischoff before the Spartans eventually made it onto the scoreboard with Villiam Haag’s fifth goal of the season -- a power-play tally -- at 15:17 of the second period. Dean Chelios and Greg Wolfe assisted on the Michigan State goal. The Spartans (5-8-1, 0-1-0-1) cut the lead to one with an extra-attacker goal in the game’s final second from Michael Ferrantino with assists from Jake Chelios and Brent Darnell.
Adam Wilcox made 19 saves in the win for the Gophers, moving to 11-2-3 on the year.
No. 2 St. Cloud State 5, No. 20 Minnesota-Duluth 1
DULUTH, Minn. -- St. Cloud State scored twice in the first period, twice in the second en route to a 5-1 win against Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday evening.
The Huskies were led on offense by David Morley, who was one of five Husky players to score a goal. Morley also added two assists.
SCSU got first-period goals from Jimmy Murray and Brooks Bertsch before Morley scored in the second to make it 3-0. Charlie Sampair would score at 11:31 of the second period to cut the Huskies' lead to 3-1. But Cory Thorson scored 33 seconds before the end of the period to regive SCSU a three-goal lead.
Ryan Papa capped the scoring with a third-period goal for St. Cloud State.
No. 6 Ferris State 3, No. 14 Lake Superior State 1
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. -- Ferris State moved its nation-best unbeaten streak to 14 games with a 3-1 win against Lake Superior State on Saturday.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick start in the first period with two goals before the game was 10 minutes old. Justin DeMartino scored his fourth goal of the year at the 3:43 mark before Matt Robertson scored his eighth of the season at 9:53 of the period.
That 2-0 lead would carry into the second period when Lake Superior State's Alex Globke added his eighth goal of the year. That would be the only goal CJ Motte would give up in net for the Bulldogs on the 37 shots he faced.
Garrett Thompson added an empty-net goal with about a minute to go in the third to cap the win for Ferris State.
No. 8 Yale 2, Harvard 2 (OT)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale, despite outshooting Harvard 54-27, raced back from a late 2-0 deficit to earn a 2-2 overtime tie after third-period goals by Matt Killian and Kenny Agostino.
The Bulldogs (6-3-3, 3-2-3 ECAC) scored early in the third and with 5:41 left to send a sold out Ingalls Rink into a frenzy. Matthew Beattie had the primary assist on both Yale tallies.
Freshman goalie Alex Lyon stopped 25 of 27 shots, including four in the extra frame, to help the Bulldogs grab a conference point.
The home team finally broke through 2:08 into the third. Beattie carried in from the left side and put a backhander on net that was blocked by Raphael Girard (52 saves). The puck came in the low slot and Killian was crashing the net. He won the puck and flicked a shot between Girard's legs to make it 2-1 and notch his first goal of the year.
The equalizer came nearly a dozen minutes later. Rob O'Gara moved the puck along the boards out of his zone. Beattie, during a partial line change, scooped it up and spotted Agostino moving toward the blueline. Beattle sent a perfect pass along the boards and Agostino quickly took it to the right circle.
Agostino had a teammate skating to his left and he gave him a good look. Just as he turned his head, he uncorked a low laser into the back of the cage at 14:19.
No. 9 Boston College 2, No. 18 New Hampshire 1
DURHAM, N.H. – Boston College will break for the holidays on a high note after sweeping No. 18 New Hampshire with a 2-1 triumph on Saturday night at a sold-out Whittemore Center. With the victory, the Eagles vault into a first-place tie in Hockey East with Providence before going on a 20-day hiatus.
Senior forward Kevin Hayes provided the game-winning goal late in the second period, the fifth of his career, and added an assist to lead all point scorers in the win. Junior forward Johnny Gaudreau extended his point streak to 11 games (10-10-20), helping out on Bill Arnold’s third goal of the season at 16:07 of the first period.
Rookie goaltender Thatcher Demko turned aside several New Hampshire chances to buoy the BC defense, picking up his fourth win via 28 saves. New Hampshire outshot BC 29-19.
The Eagles went all weekend without a power-play chance. Boston College’s penalty-killing unit rose to the challenge again, stopping all four UNH opportunities. The Eagles have not allowed a power-play goal in their past four outings.
No. 10 Clarkson 4, St. Lawrence 3
CANTON, N.Y. -- With another balanced effort in wild affair before a sold-out crowd at Appleton Arena on Saturday night, Clarkson defeated archrival St. Lawrence 4-3 in ECAC Hockey action.
Junior Joe Zarbo capped off another one-goal victory for the Golden Knights with the game winner early in the third period to break a 3-3 tie. Clarkson improves its record to 12-3-1 overall and holds third place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 6-2 league mark. Clarkson is now off until the University of Vermont Tournament on Dec. 28-29.
Despite surrendering a goal in the opening moments of the contest and giving the nation's top-ranked power play two five-minute major man-advantages, Clarkson, with four different goal scorers, skated away with its ninth one-goal victory of the season and a weekend sweep of its archrival. The Green and Gold extended its league unbeaten streak against its archrival to eight games (7-0-1). Clarkson's seniors have gone 9-1-1 against the Saints during the past four years and have never lost a game at Appleton Arena. The Knights lead the all-time series against St. Lawrence 120-65-10.
