2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

[Hokydad]

I've never seen what SG did tonight in 40+ years, very entertaining game though.

Must be the rink. Saw Cornell come withing inches of doing same thing back in 2009. Player had to dive to save it....

[rdf8585]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Postgame video:

Wilkins: http://t.co/nqkFxDDtOp

Pontarelli: http://t.co/J7dGQz3A4Q

R.Bennett: http://t.co/7ekWW8OO9J

Lichtenwald and Vecchione: http://t.co/WXvBNULA2u

QU head coach Rand Pecknold: http://t.co/SnNe9k1FTF

[Dutchman]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Great win and 3rd period showed heart
Nice 4 points, great way to hit the break. Vechionne is hitting his stride

We still have Dartmouth who just knocked off Harvard and Yale and battled Brown to overtime ..... on Wednesday and then off to St. Cloud (#1) that weekend. Then the break.

[rdf8585]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Video of Wilkins' game-winner: http://youtu.be/eikXL0zPpIU

[ADK11]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Incredible game tonight and I'm still buzzing.. can't imagine what the players are feeling. Not exactly a thing of beauty for the players or the refs, but a great effort by both teams and highly entertaining. Easy to see why the Q is so good and I'm sure this is just round 1.

The big question I had coming into this one was whether U was as fast as the Bobcats.. the answer is maybe not quite, but they aren't off by much and are much closer than last season. Pontarelli and Vecchione are really developing some chemistry and are as fast as anyone out there. And what can you say about Eli.. another amazing pass on the GWG. Was most impressive to see a good Union 60-minute effort and defensive effort as the game wore on. Despite a couple strange goals, I thought U controlled most of the second half of the game and from what I can tell no other team has been able to do that to the Bobcats so far this season. So many players continue to step up each game, is amazing to watch. Bennett is right that there are still plenty of things to work on and players that need to develop more, but the potential talent level on this team is very high. I'm still not sure what to make of Stevens and some of the defensive breakdowns, but right now am just enjoying a great 4 point weekend!! Congrats to the team and coaches!! Now get ready for the Big Green on Wednesday and hopefully takeover 1st place outright!

[rdf8585]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

That was one of the most entertaining games I've ever seen down there. There's a lot of expectations when 1 vs 2 meet, but this game easily met expectations. The rink was as loud at times as I can remember it, and that's without the students tonight.

Upsides? First place tie, showed a lot of ability to battle adversity (i.e Ghostisbehere flub, down 4-3 in the third), this freshman class looks increasingly special.

Downsides? They blew leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 and the PK allowed two on five chances. Stevens wasn't spectacular.

Also, food for thought: Union was 3-2-3 after eight league games last year. This year, after losing quite a bit of talent, the Dutchmen are 7-1.

Here's another video - See Gostisbehere put the puck into his own goal and then his big redeeming save: http://youtu.be/LIQyNrV4OKU

At least he had a sense of humor about the flub; he retweeted someone's picture of it after the game.

And a recap: http://bit.ly/18gkj3m

[Wholin1]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

If not an artistic success, a hugely entertaining game. The atmosphere in Messa was electric and it was LOUD. The fans did a great job picking up the team when they needed it most, and as pointed out, without students in attendance. This team may be developing into something special. The own goal could have easily deflated them but didn't. Eli has been a real find. He actually seems to be playing better on the college level than in juniors where his numbers were good but far from spectacular. Pontarelli had a breakthrough game and Vecchione looks like the real deal along with Taylor. Agree that Colin still needs to strive for greater consistency, those two quick goals to me seemed to be of the soft variety. If he hits his stride we will be hitting on all cylinders. Still this is a generally young team so there will be bumps in the road, but the potential is there.

A couple of comments on Q. They are a very talented group but did seem a bit out of synch. U's hard play may have had something to do with that too. The Jones twins are a handful and it will be good to see them move on, though I understand there are more sibs on the way. Frankly with their resources and admissions advantages, they should be a formidable program for years to come. They are a bit on the chippy side with lots of high hits and pokes after the whistle. I think it's their style to try to get under an opponents skin and with the inconsistent officiating why not? Pecknold's post game comments were interesting. None of the usual platitudes complimenting the opposition, just call out his own team. It's understandable in some ways that he is not highly regarded by many of his peers, but this isn't a popularity contest and only the strong survive.

As far as officiating it was the usual mystery. I'm not complaining though because it seemed apparent to me that an obvious U takedown in our defensive end led to the breakout and game winning goal. As RB would say, that's hockey.

[Dutchman]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Ken Schott: Parting Schotts
Union-Quinnipiac postgame report (with 5 videos)
http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/...with-5-videos/

[Dutchman]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Dartmouth Scouting Report:

Short Week. We play Dartmouth on Wednesday ... big game .... got to get to work.

Dartmouth's Last Four Games:
- beat Harvard (2-1) and Yale (4-1) on the road
- played two of the top 10 teams in the country (Yale & Q)
- 2-2
- played very well against Q, lost 1-3
- average goals against 2.00
- Brown escaped with an overtime goal (at home) 3-2
- out-shot Harvard 35 - 21
- scored 3 in the first period at Yale and held on
- scored 2 in the first period against Brown and almost held on
- big - 16 players 6'0" and over, 1 6'4", 4 6'3" 9 6'2"
- big - 10 players over 200 lbs.
- Grant in goal for these four games (6'2" - 180) - looks to be playing well.

Anything unexpected? What has happened?

In the first two weeks of November, Dartmouth squared off against the three most high powered offenses in the ECAC, Union, RPI and St. Lawrence. All three of which are now in the top 10 in the country. These three teams scored 7, 7, and 8 goals respectively. This onslaught was an aberration. The Dartmouth goalie situation has stabilized. They have started to play the way they were expected to play all along. As the Local Valley Press (NH) noted "Dartmouth will undoubtedly right the ship at some point". Looks like they have.

Dartmouth is now playing the way they were forecast to play preseason.
2013-14 Dartmouth Men's Hockey Season Preview

http://www.dartmouthsports.com//View...CLID=209284861
and
http://www.uscho.com/2013/10/08/dart...-a-close-team/
and
http://hockeyjournal.com/news/colleg...uths_next_step

This is the same Dartmouth team that was ranked 8th in the Country last January break and injuries and all those great freshmen are now sophomores and payed together this summer in Europe. As noted accurately by others on this thread, there are not going to be any easy points anywhere this year in the ECAC. If you want to win in the ECAC this year its going to require 60 minutes of sustained fierce hand to hand combat, ferocious attacking, horrendous bloodletting and a 110% continuously focused effort. In the end there will be very few points separating the top teams from the bottom teams. Unfortunately this intense and balanced league play may mean that we end up with fewer teams making the NCAA playoffs as we continuously knock each other off all year.

Whats is in it for us? - Sole position of first place ECAC going into the break and pretty much until early January when league play resumes.
Whats in it for Dartmouth? - last year in Dartmouth's last weekend of play they only needed 2 points to make the final 4 in the ECAC. They did not make it and we did. When they reached us in the second round of the ECAC championship, in our barn, we dispatched them in two games and ended their season and sent them home. They went from 8th in the country in January to home in March. Now it looks like they are going the other way !!!

Key for us?
Leadership - Captain Mat Bodie and the upperclassman leadership who are refusing to allow defeat to be an option.

[Dutchman]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Charles Grant Named ECAC Hockey Men's Goaltender of the Week

http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ViewA...CLID=209331188

Grant picked up his first career weekly accolade thanks to a 22-save performance Saturday night at Thompson Arena against Harvard, helping the Big Green to a 2-1 victory over their longtime Ivy League and ECAC Hockey rival.
The win was the first of the season for Dartmouth and was the result of timely scoring and the stellar play of Grant in goal. Allowing just one tally to Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey midway through the second period, the Berwick, Nova Scotia, native would clamp down the rest of the way, keeping the visitors off the scoreboard

[rdf8585]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Nolan Julseth-White was one of several former Dutchmen who had good weekends for their current teams.

See what he did, and who else stood out:

http://bit.ly/1e03Um9

[sshablak]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Huge weekend for you guys, good luck, beat St Cloud x2

[rdf8585]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Rose again in both polls today: http://bit.ly/1d5eD9K

Expected a bigger jump in the USCHO poll. SCSU ranked 1st in USCHO, 2nd in USA Today/USA Hockey Mag.

[UnionHockeyManiac]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

It sounds like a broken record, but I hope we don't overlook Dartmouth on our way to SCSU.

[Dutchman]

Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat?

Any idea what the turnout will be for like for Dartmouth Wednesday night? Have all the students gone home? Got to keep the focus on Dartmouth.