Late goal sinks Union men’s hockey at St. Lawrence
CANTON, N.Y.—Alex Gilmour scored with 17.7 seconds remaining in regulation to lift 16th-ranked St. Lawrence University to a 4-3 win over the No. 5/5 Union College men’s hockey team, Saturday night at Appleton Arena. The Dutchmen, who had their four game winning streak snapped, move to 18-6-2 overall and 11-2-1 in ECAC Hockey, while the Saints go to 15-7-6 overall and 11-2-3 in the conference.
Nick DeSimone had a goal and an assist to lead Union. Cole Maier extended his point streak to three games with a goal (3G-1A), and Ryan Walker rounded out the scoring for the Dutchmen. Brett Supinski pushed his point streak to six games (3G-6A) with an assist, and Luc Brown picked up a point for the third straight game with a helper (1G-3A). In goal, Alex Sakellaropoulos made 36 saves.
Union opened the scoring at 18:06 of the first when Walker redirected DeSimone’s shot from the point past St. Lawrence goaltender Kyle Hayton (38 saves). Michael Pontarelli also picked up an assist on the tally.
Nolan Gluchowski answered quickly for the Saints, converting on a breakaway at 1:52 of the second after receiving a long lead pass from Michael Ederer, who caused a turnover in the Saints’ defensive zone.
The Dutchmen struck back, potting two goals in a 43-second span. Maier netted his second goal in as many games, blasting home a one-timer from the left circle on a feed from Supinski at 5:51. DeSimone made it 3-1 with his sixth of the year, beating Hayton on the blocker side with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle. Ryan Scarfo and Ryan Burton each picked up an assist on the goal.
Again the Saints responded, producing two unanswered goals of their own to tie the game at 3-3. Gavin Bayreuther cut the deficit in half at 8:51 when he beat Sakellaropoulos with a wrist shot high on the blocker side from the right circle after collecting the puck in the neutral zone.
Alex Gilmour made it 3-3 at 16:26, scoring from a rebound. Carson Gicewicz caused a turnover deep in Union’s zone and picked out Drew Smolcynski in the slot. Sakellaropoulos stopped the initial shot, but Gilmour jumped on the loose puck for his fifth of the year.
The Saints finally notched the game-winning goal in the dying moments of the game when Gilmour redirected Ben Finklestein’s shot from the point into the top corner. Hayton finished with 18 saves in the frame for his 14th win of the season (14-6-6).
Union returns to Messa Rink next weekend, hosting No. 14/14 Cornell (Feb. 3) and Colgate (Feb. 4). Friday’s game against the Big Red is set for 8:30 p.m., while puck drop for Saturday’s game against the Raiders is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.