Union, RPI playing for semifinal spots
SCHENECTADY — The Union College hockey team found success on its lone visit to Dartmouth in the regular season and with a berth in the ECAC semifinals in Lake Placid on the line, the Garnet Chargers will be looking for continued success at Thompson Arena.
Union last advanced to the conference semifinals during the 2016-17 season before losing to Cornell, but will be looking to return to Lake Placid by knocking off Dartmouth in a best-of-3 series beginning at 7 p.m. Friday.
Game 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday and, if needed, Game 3 will be at 4 p.m. Sunday.
No. 6-seeded Union (1616-3) is fresh off a convincing 6-0 win over Brown last Saturday at Messa Rink in the opening round of the playoffs while fourth-seeded Dartmouth (11-9-9) earned a bye last week.
“For us, it went about as good as you could have hoped for,” Union coach Josh Hauge said. “We didn’t have to manage minutes, didn’t have to overplay anyone,
it wasn’t a super physical game. We came out of it pretty healthy. Sometimes when you have that weekend off, you can get out of your game flow a little bit.”
In the team’s first meeting this season, Union knocked off Dartmouth 5-1 behind a pair of goals by Josh Nixon and 25 saves from junior goaltender Kyle Chauvette. Dartmouth returned the favor with a 5-4 win over the Garnet Chargers at Messa Rink in late February.
To advance to Lake Placid, Hauge stressed the importance of his club staying true to its identity.
“Keep playing a simple game, take care of the puck and be physical, be hard,” Hauge said. “It is going to come down to special teams and goaltending. There isn’t a lot of space in playoff hockey. If you aren’t taking care of the puck, you are in trouble. At this time of the year, you have to have your best players be our best players. They have to want the puck on their stick, they’ve got to know they can make a play at any time and that is the mindset right now.”
While Union is in New Hampshire battling Dartmouth, No. 12-seeded RPI (10-21-4) will be looking to continue its season with a big challenge in the form of defending national champion Quinnipiac. The topseeded Bobcats prepare to host a best-of-3 series against an Engineers team fresh off a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 5 seed Clarkson in the opening round.
RPI raced to a 3-0 thirdperiod lead and withstood a Golden Knights rally in the closing minutes as junior goaltender Jack Watson delivered a clutch effort.
“It was a tale of two games, a 55-minute game where he (Watson) was a spoke in the wheel of many spokes, and then he stepped up when his number was called in the last five minutes with their goalie out,” RPI coach Dave Smith said. “His competitiveness was off the charts in that moment.”
RPI lost both games to No. 7-ranked Quinnipiac (24-8-2) this season, with a 5-1 road loss in December and 7-2 defeat at Houston Field House in mid-february.
Smith is focusing on his team achieving its potential more than the competition.
“We are living in a world where we ask, what do we have to do to be the best versions of ourselves,” Smith said. “They are a good team, Clarkson is a good team. Nothing good will happen if we are not the best version of ourselves.”