In its two-game series with Notre Dame, the Union College hockey team proved it can play any style. Thursday, the Dutchmen won a one-goal game. Friday, they showed that they can win a shootout.
The Dutchmen scored five goals on just seven shots in the third period, giving them a 7-4 non-conference win at Joyce Center and a sweep of the Fighting Irish.
“It was not a pretty game by any means,” Union coach Kevin Sneddon said. “There was a lot of special teams, a lot of undisciplined [play] on both teams. There wasn’t cheap stuff, just a lot of unnecessary stick work and interference. It took the flow out of the game for a while.”
Union (2-0) has already won as many road games as it did all of last season, when it was 2-13-1 away from Achilles Rink.
The score was tied, 2-2, entering the third period. Rob Globke scored on a penalty shot at 3:41 to give the Irish (0-2) a 3-2 lead.
Jeff Hutchins got that one back for Union at 5:24. Just under two minutes later, Kris Goodjohn scored a short-handed goal to give Union a 4-3 lead. But a giveaway by Union goalie Brandon Snee led to a short-handed goal by Globke at 9:44.
But 36 seconds later, Randy Dagenais scored a power-play goal to regain the lead for Union. Doug Christiansen screened goalie Morgan Cey.
“Doug gave me a beautiful pass from the far corner to the top of the blue line, and he went right to the front of the net,” Dagenais said. “When he stands in front of the net, the goalies
can’t see.”
Nathan Gillies and Jeff Wilson scored late goals to seal Union’s win.
“We are going to be a good team when we learn to play as hard as the team (Union) we played tonight did,” said Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin. “We know we are capable, we just have to start doing it.”
“It was a gutsy effort,” Sneddon said. “For the first time, we showed a lot of maturity towards the end of the game.”
