The Second Annual Eastern Senior All-Star game provided a surplus of excitement and goals for the 3,203 college hockey fans in attendance Sunday Apr. 6 as the ECAC all-stars edged the Hockey East seniors, 10-8, in an up-and-down, run-and-gun offensive shootout at the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse.
The ECAC team (comprised of players from ECAC Division I, as well as Division II/III all-stars from Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont) took a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period and never trailed in the contest, although the score was tied 4-4, 5-5, 7-7 and 8-8 before Vermont forward J.C. Ruid finally tallied what turned out to the gamewinner at 15:49 in the third period to lift the home team to victory.
Ruid, who finished with a goal and four assists to lead all scorers, was named Most Outstanding Player for the ECAC, while Providence College defenseman Hall Gill scored a goal and added two assists to be named MOP for Hockey East squad (comprised of players from Hockey East, along with ECAC Div. II/III players from Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire).
The ECAC fielded an all-UVM first line of Ruid and All-Americans Eric Perrin and Martin St. Louis. The trio combined for four goals and 13 points on the afternoon while fellow UVM-er Matt Stelljes, subbing in for Clarkson’s Todd White who was sick, tallied two goals and added an assist to give the local fans plenty to cheer about.
The Hockey East squad also got outstanding offensive performances from Rob Bonneau of UMass-Amherst (1-2–3), David Wainright of B.C. (2-1–3) and David Green of Providence (0-4–4).
Trailing 8-6 with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Hockey East team got back-to-back goals from Wainright at 12:24 and 13:00 to tie it up, 8-8.
Ruid put the ECAC ahead to stay at 15:49, scoring off a scramble in front of the net. The Ballston Lake native then banked a pass of the boards up ice to St. Louis who put the puck into an empty net with 10 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Each team used three different goalies. The ECAC’s lineup consisted of Brian Audette of Brown (12 saves), Dave Dragone of Potsdam (17 saves) and Tim Thomas of Vermont (12 saves), each playing a period, in that order. Hockey East started Martin Legault of Merrimack (eight saves) in the first period, followed with Stuart Logan of Bowdoin (13 saves) in the second and Dan Dennis of Providence in the third (seven saves).
The ECAC’s goals were scored by: Matt Stelljes-Vermont (2), Martin St. Louis-Vermont (2), Eric Perrin-Vermont (1), J.C. Ruid-Vermont (1), Petr Vasicko-Elmira (1), Mark Kotary-Oswego (1), Matt Pagnutti-Clarkson (1) and Sebastien Bilodeau-Middlebury (1).
The Hockey East team got goals from: David Wainwright-B.C. (2), Hall Gill-Providence (1), Neil Donovan-MA-Lowell (1), Brian Callahan-B.C. (1), Nick Lamia-Colby (1), Rob Bonneau-MA-Amherst (1), and Reg Cardinal-Maine (1).
