A disastrous second period led to the Clarkson University Hockey team’s sixth straight loss as Union College skated by the Golden Knights 5-1 in ECAC Hockey action before 2,637 fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday night.
Five Dutchmen scored in the road win as Union completed the weekend sweep in the North Country. On Friday, the Dutchmen won at St. Lawrence 4-3 while Clarkson lost to Rensselaer 5-2. The Knights, whose last victory was on October 24, fall to 3-8 overall and are 0-4 in ECAC Hockey play. Union improved to 5-3-3 and 2-0-2 in the league.
Clarkson held a 1-0 lead after the first on a power-play goal by junior Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT), who put in a rebound at 18:51 for his second goal of the weekend and third of the year. Junior defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) and junior captain Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) assisted.
Clarkson has struggled all season in the second period and the middle frame against Union was no different as the Dutchmen tallied four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead through 40 minutes.
Union scored twice in the first 50 seconds and three times in the opening four minutes of the frame to take control. Just 29 seconds in, Mario Valery-Trabucco capitalized on a Clarkson turnover deep in its own end and recorded his fifth goal of the season, scoring into a wide open net. Twenty seconds later Jason Walters connected off a pass from Jeremy Walsh to put the visitors on top 2-1. Andrew Buote made it 3-1 at 3:36. The Dutchmen’s leading scorer, Kelly Zajac converted on a 3-on-1 rush at 16:04 with his team-high sixth goal of the season.
The Knights have been outscored 22-7 in the second period this season.
Stephane Boileau closed out the scoring with a power-play goal at 16:04 of the third.
Union, which won its fourth straight over Clarkson, outshot the Green and Gold 30-19, including a 16-6 margin in the second period. Sophomore Richie LaVeau (Arlington Height, IL) made 25 saves for Clarkson. Keith Kinkaid posted 18 stops for Union.
The Knights went 1-of-5 on the power play, while the Dutchmen were 1-of-6 with the man-advantage.
Clarkson takes to the road for four straight games, beginning with next Friday’s contest at Dartmouth. Union plays in the RPI Tournament on November 27-28 for its next action.
