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Union men’s hockey powers past Clarkson, 6-2

Potsdam, NY — The fifth-ranked Union College men’s erupted for five unanswered goals, including four in the second period, en route to a 6-2 win against Clarkson on Friday night at Cheel Arena. The Dutchmen move to 18-5-2 overall and 11-1-1 in ECAC Hockey, while the Golden Knights go to 11-11-4 overall and 6-6-2 in league play.

Mike Vecchione registered a goal and two assists, moving him back atop the NCAA scoring list (44 pts) and Mark Dufour produced his second career two-goal game to lead Union. Jeff Taylor added a goal and an assist and Spencer Foo had a pair of helpers. Cole Maier rounded out the scoring for the Dutchmen. In goal, Alex Sakellaropoulos made 27 saves, to improve to 17-3-1. The win was the 35th of his career, tying him for fifth in Union’s Division I era (Corey Milan ’11).

Clarkson struck first when Haralds Egle scored on a power play at 15:54 of the first, but Vidmar answered for Union just 12 seconds later, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Foo and Vecchione. The goal was Vidmar’s 11th of the season.

The Dutchmen continued to roll in the second, pulling away with four unanswered goals in the frame.

Dufour gave Union the only lead it would need at 5:43, collecting a pass from Zachary Emelifeonwu at the top of the crease before tucking home a backhand high on the blocker side. The assist was the first career point for Emelifeonwu.

Maier made it 3-1 2:46 later, scoring from the slot on a give-and-go with Luc Brown, who notched his third point in the last two games (1G-2A). Brett Supinski also assisted on the goal, extending his point streak to five games (3G-5A).

Dufour added his second of the game at 14:47, redirecting Vas Kolias’ feed from left wing past Clarkson goaltender Jake Kielly (14 saves). Taylor potted the team’s final goal of the stanza on the power play at 19:31, hammering a one-timer from the top of the right circle.

Vecchione pushed the lead to 6-1 at 2:54 of the third, taking a pass from Vidmar and making a quick backhand move before lifting a shot past Steve Perry (four saves). The goal was the 157th point of Vecchione’s career, moving him into a tie with Daniel Carr ’14 for first in Union’s Division I era.

The Golden Knights scored the final goal of the game at 14:08 of the third on a Devin Brosseau power-play tally.

Clarkson outshot Union 29-24 and finished 2-for-9 on the power play, while the Dutchmen went 2-for-6 on the man advantage.

Union is back in action tomorrow night, taking on No. 16 St. Lawrence at 7 p.m.

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