ALBANY, N.Y. – Sophomore Cole Maier scored 33 seconds into overtime to lift the ninth-ranked Union College men's hockey team to a 3-2 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), on Thursday night in the Fifth Annual Mayor's Cup, at the times Union Center. With the win, the Dutchmen improve to 17-5-2, while the Engineers drop to 4-21-1.
Maier (Pequannock, NJ) swatted in a rebound after freshman Luc Brown (Napanee, ON) took a shot from the left circle. The game-winning goal was Maier's 10th of the season.
RPI opened the scoring at 15:36 of the first period, when senior captain
Riley Bourbonnais (Rochester, NY/Lincoln Stars) ripped a shot inside the left post for his team-leading 10th goal of the year. Freshman
Jacob Hayhurst (Missassauga, ON/Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) earned the lone helper.
Brown brought the Dutchmen even at 15:45 of the second, slapping home his fourth of the year from Maier and sophomore Brett Supinski (Collegeville, PA).
The Engineers quickly regained the lead (2-1) at 16:59, thanks to freshman
Charlie Manley's (Buffalo, NY/Estevan Blues) first collegiate tally. Knocking down a failed Union clearing attempt at the left point, Manley fired a shot off the stick of a Dutchman defenseman and past senior goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos (Tinley Park, IL) for an unassisted marker.
Union netted the equalizing goal just 1:50 into the third, as freshman Anthony Rinaldi (Pierrefonds, PQ) stuck home a loose puck at the right side of the net for his third of the campaign. Classmates Ryan Burton (Thunder Bay, ON) and Vas Kolias (Schaumburg, IL) picked up the assists.
Sakellaropoulos finished with 24 saves to improve to 16-3-1, while RPI sophomore goaltender
Chase Perry (Andover, MN/Wenatchee Wild) had 30 stops, but falls to 2-13-1. Rensselaer finished 1 for 3 on the power play, while Union was 0 for 4.
The Engineers return to the ice on next weekend, when they visit North Country-rivals No. 16 St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University on Friday (7pm) and Saturday (7pm), respectively. Union faces the Golden Knights on Friday (7pm) and the Saints on Saturday (7pm).
