The Dutchmen of Union College came to BG with an undefeated record and left that way after beating the Falcons 3-1 on Friday, then getting a 1-1 tie on Saturday. BG once again out-shot their opponent in both games, but just couldn’t get the puck in the net as Kris Mayotte came up big in net all weekend for Union.
“We have a good goaltender and Sigalet is a great goaltender too,” Union head coach Nate Leaman said. “Kris Mayotte was making saves look easy all weekend and the best thing he was doing was controlling his rebounds by sucking them like Velcro.”
In Friday night’s game, the two teams came out and played a pretty even game from the start. Early on, the Dutchmen got some good shots on Jordan Sigalet, but Sigalet was able to come up with the saves. The Falcons would counter with quality chances themselves, but like much of the weekend, Union goaltender Mayotte came up big.
Union came up with the lone goal in the first period when Scott Seney came up the ice and two Falcon defenders fell down giving Seney an opening to skate in, then put a shot over Sigalet’s left shoulder to make it 1-0 at the 11:40 mark.
The Falcons’ best opportunity came on a shorthanded breakaway by Steve Brudzewski, but he was denied twice by Mayotte. Union had two big chances to score another goal, but had two shots go off the top post when Sigalet was down and out of position.
BG was out-shooting the Dutchmen 11-9 going into the second period, but Union started the period on a power-play and didn’t waste any time. Ian Ross had his shot go off the boards and trickle past Sigalet after hitting Falcon Dana Hanson’s leg to make it 2-0 just 28 seconds in.
“The second goal is just one of those things in hockey where it hit off the boards and hit Dana Hanson’s leg … it happens, head coach Scott Paluch said.”
Just 4 minutes later, Seney got his second goal of the game to make it a 3-0 lead for Union.
Once again, the Falcons out-shot the Dutchmen in the period (9-5), but weren’t getting quality shots and were having trouble controlling the puck. The best chance came off a shot by Ryan Minnabariet in front, but Mayotte got a big glove save.
The Falcons got some momentum to begin the final period when Brett Pilkington netted the lone goal of the game for BG at 2:22. He was able to get a stick in front of a shot by Brian Escobedo from the point to slip it by Mayotte to make it 3-1 with Mark Wires also adding an assist. However, they didn’t get many quality chances the rest of the game and fell short 3-1 in the game after out-shooting the Dutchmen 31-23.
“I thought Union played a very good game and are an extremely disciplined team that is very good,” Paluch said. “Right now we’re lacking confidence offensively and its something we have to turn around by converting on the power-play along with getting better opportunities.”
Union coach Nate Leaman liked how his team was able to come in and get a big win.
“It was a real gutsy effort tonight and I like how the team gutted it out on the road,” Leaman said. “I know tomorrow night is going to be harder and the guys know it’ll be harder. We’ll be coming in here tomorrow night expecting a real war.”
A war it was on Saturday night, as both teams came out and were physical from the start. The teams combined for 16 penalties in the first two periods alone.
In the first period, Mayotte and Sigalet came up with big saves in a scoreless period that saw the Falcons out-shoot Union 12-9. The second period began with the Falcons generating some quality chances short-handed, but Mayotte was able to step up again.
Union got on the board at 4:41 off a goal by Jason Visser that was put into an open net after Sigalet made an initial save to his left that trickled in front.
BG was generating opportunities, then finally got a goal from Wires in front off a shot by Don Morrison at 16:54 with another assist going to Mike Falk that tied the game at 1-1.
“Donnie got a good shot on net and their goalie stopped it in front, but left it sitting there so I was able to just stick it in, Wires said.” In the third period, the Falcons got 11 shots on net compared to only four for the Dutchmen. Neither team was able to find the net in the period with the best chance coming from Wires in front, but Mayotte got a high glove save to keep it tied.
The game went to overtime and in the five-minute extra session, the Dutchmen out-shot BG 5-0. Sigalet made big saves throughout the overtime, including one in front of the net where Union thought they had put it in through all the traffic.
BG held on and got a 1-1 tie on the night.
“I thought it was a very good college hockey game where both teams sensed it was going to be a one goal game and knew it would be close all night,” Paluch said. “We still got to find a way to get points, but we were able to hang in to get a tie.”
“It was nice to get a point… a win would have been nice, but we were able to fight and get a tie tonight,” Sigalet said. “The guys played good in front of me tonight and it was nice to get that goal in the second to avoid having to come back in the final period again.” Union moves to a school best 4-0-1 start on their season, while BG goes to 1-4-1 on the year. The Falcons went 1-15 on the power-play, while Union went 1-12.
The next game for the Falcons will be next Friday at home against Miami, who is currently in a tie with Ohio State for the CCHA lead.
