Some comments to add about tonight's 2-2 Union-RPI tie in Troy.

Union played a nice first period.  They consistently stopped RPI at
center ice, often by intercepting errant passes and turning back the
other way.  The offense was pretty sluggish, though, and did not test
RPI goaltender Kevin Kurk much.  Brandon Snee did have to make some
big stops for Union.

Things were very different in the second period.  RPI was all over
Union, putting (I believe) 20 shots on Snee.  Snee was at his best
during a 5-on-3 RPI power play.  For nearly a minute of 5-on-3 and
until the 5-on-4 ended, Union did not clear the zone once or get a
single stoppage of play.  RPI probably put 5 or 6 shots on Snee during
that power play, but he came up big to keep it scoreless.  Shortly
after that, Snee went down with what looked like an injury to his
right ankle, putting a scare into Union.  He was able to shake it off
and remained in the game.  But on RPI's next power play opportunity,
Snee was beaten and RPI jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Nolan Graham
goal.  Union answered back right off the faceoff when Alex Todd left
the puck at the blue line for Doug Christiansen, who beat Kurk from
the blue line to tie it at 1.  Union was very fortunate to come away
from the second with a tie score.

After such a wild second period, the teams and the crowd didn't seem
to have much energy at the start of the third.  RPI was able to take a
2-1 lead when a horrible Union clearing pass went right to Jim Henkel
in the slot and he beat Snee.  Union still wasn't generating much
offense until they got a power play chance.  Just 10 seconds in, Randy
Dagenias' shot beat Kurk to tie it at 2 with under 7 minutes to go.

RPI had a great chance to put it away in regulation when referee John
Murphy called two quick slashing penalties on Union, giving RPI
another long 5-on-3 chance.  This time Snee got some better help from
his penalty killers and we remained tied though the end of the third.

Neither team took too many chances in overtime, but Union had a great
scoring opportunity with about 30 seconds left.  Union was able to
set up a shot from the slot which just hit the outside of the left
post behing Kurk.  From my view in Section 1, it first looked like it
was going to sneak inside the post.

Although Union had to be considered the favorite going in, they're
probably happier with the tie than RPI is.  RPI played very well,
especially in the second, and had their chances to win.  Union managed
to sneak away with the point, thanks primarily to the outstanding play
of Snee in goal and some timely scoring.

It was a hard-played game and was a lot of fun to watch.  Both teams
will try to avoid a letdown from this one when Quinnipiac, one of the
best teams from the MAAC, visits Troy on Saturday and Schenectady on
Sunday.

Union is 3-0-1 in the ECAC, 5-1-2 overall, with their unbeaten streak
now at 6 games (4-0-2).
--
Jim Teresco '92, '93G - [log in to unmask]
Visit the Union Hockey Pages at http://www.vu.union.edu/~hockey