Union Adds to ECAC Lead With 2-1 Win Over No. 2 M. Hockey

UPDATED: January 15, 2017, at 4:57 p.m.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — A 119-minute scoring drought would be a significant dry spell for just about any hockey team, never mind one that entered the weekend with the most prominent scoring offense in the country.

Over its first 14 contests, the No. 2/3 Harvard men’s hockey team had scored 4.57 goals a game. But this weekend, the Crimson and the back of the net seemed to grow apart—that is, until co-captain Alexander Kerfoot rekindled the relationship with 10 seconds left in Harvard’s game at Union on Saturday night.

But it was a classic case of too little, too late for the Crimson, who for the second consecutive night generated a great deal of shots but not nearly enough goals. In a matchup of the ECAC’s two most prominent contenders, the No. 11 Dutchmen scored once in the second and again in the third, pulling out a 2-1 victory that pushes Union (16-5-2, 10-1-1) six points ahead of Harvard (11-4-2, 7-3-1) in the league standings.

“Tonight I think shows you how tough it is and how well you have to play to win on the road,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “I thought we were close and did some good things, but we’re going to have to be better.”

Union goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos made 31 saves against the Crimson on Saturday, and he was in position here against Ryan Donato. By Thomas W. Franck

Despite getting just 14 shots on goal through the first two periods, the visitors only trailed, 1-0, heading into the final frame of what Donato called a “playoff-type hockey game.” Only a power-play punch-in by Sebastian Vidmar 4:42 into the second separated the two sides.

Then in period three, the Crimson’s shot total skyrocketed. Still chasing its first goal of the weekend, Harvard outshot the Dutchmen, 18-4, in the final stanza, earning three power plays in the process.

The Crimson earned its first man advantage of the period with 15:22 remaining when Union star Mike Vecchione was whistled for a trip, and over the next two minutes, Harvard subsequently peppered goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos with three shots on net. Freshman defenseman Adam Fox may have added another a few seconds after the penalty expired, but swarming in from behind after being released from the box, Vecchione knocked the rookie off the puck to jumpstart a 3-on-1 the other way.

Union forward Spencer Foo (15) had a goal and an assist on Saturday to extend his point streak to 21 games—the longest in Division I hockey. By Thomas W. Franck

With the puck on his stick, J.C. Brassard pushed forward, then fed Vecchione on the right wing. The senior moved into the Crimson zone and left the puck atop the slot for junior Spencer Foo, whose one-timer doubled the hosts’ lead with 13:10 left to play in the game.

Speaking before having had a chance to review any video, Donato said he believed the goal was the result of a penalty, meaning the odd-man rush never should have happened. To knock Fox off the puck, Vecchione took a downward swipe at the freshman’s stick that could have potentially been called a slash. But Donato didn’t get the whistle he was hoping for, and the nation’s two leading point-getters—Vecchione and Foo—did what they do best on the other end.

Harvard still outshot the hosts, 14-3, the rest of the way, but Sakellaropoulos managed to save the first 13 of those chances as part of his 31-save effort and his 65-save weekend.

“If you’re going to have an off-period, the guy you need going is your goaltender,” Union coach Rick Bennett said. “And that’s what Alex had done for us this past weekend. He was our MVP this weekend hands down.”

Messa Rink had an above-capacity crowd on hand Saturday night to watch two of the ECAC's best go head to head. By Thomas W. Franck

After the game, co-captain Devin Tringale said the Crimson needs to work on getting more bodies and pucks to the net in order to prevent goalies from getting as hot as Sakellaropoulos became. But he did say that he thought a sense of urgency helped Harvard generate more shots in the third.

“We probably would have liked that from the get-go, and that’s something that we need to work on—being urgent and scoring the first goals in these games,” Tringale said. “These ECAC teams can pack it in pretty well, so it’s definitely something we need to build on and work on moving forward.”

Posing the biggest problem for the Crimson was its inability to execute on the man advantage—a bit of a surprise considering Harvard boasts the most efficient power play in the country (33 percent entering the weekend). Before Kerfoot scored nine seconds into the Crimson’s final man advantage at 19:50 in the third, Harvard had been 0-for-5 on the night and 0-for-10 on the weekend.

Senior forward Tyler Moy had three shots on goal and an assist on Saturday. By Thomas W. Franck

“We didn’t do a very good job getting some pucks through,” Donato said about his power play. “[Union] blocked a lot of shots. I think our execution could have been a little bit better. We have to be able to adapt and take what they’re giving us, and I don’t think we were as sharp as we usually are tonight.”

One night after dropping from second to fifth in the PairWise rankings following its shocking 4-0 loss to last-place RPI, the Crimson now has sunk all the way to 10th. The PairWise rankings serve as a predictor of who will make the 16-team NCAA tournament in March.

When asked what a captain’s message to his team should be after a weekend like this, Tringale answered with the following:

“Let it sting for a little bit. Definitely let it fuel the fire. We don’t want to experience a weekend like this ever again. So use it as a motivating factor.”

“But at the same time,” Tringale continued, “have a little bit of a short-term memory. Because we have a big game Tuesday against Dartmouth.”

By Thomas W. Franck

GAME NOTES

—Rick Bennett lauded two coaches in particular after the game on Saturday. He said Union associate head coach Jason Tapp did an excellent job creating a scouting report because “it was really detailed and guys knew exactly what was going to happen from Harvard.” Among other things, Union aimed to take the middle of the ice away from a Crimson team “with that type of speed and skill.”

He also credited volunteer assistant coach Matt Alvey, who runs the penalty kill for the Dutchmen, for having his guys “plugged in, ready to go.” As previously mentioned, Union killed five of six penalties. (Harvard killed three of four.)

—After picking up a goal and an assist on Saturday, Union forward Spencer Foo has now logged a point in 21 consecutive games—the longest streak in the country.

—One night after freshman Colton Kerfoot made his collegiate debut against RPI and sophomore Michael Floodstrand also made an appearance, Harvard’s lines appeared much more “normal” on Saturday as Tringale and junior Eddie Ellis returned to their spots on the fourth line. Meanwhile, sophomore Adam Baughman played in his sixth game of the season. He skated on the third defensive pairing alongside senior Clay Anderson.

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MeagherTHC.