Union's Vecchione ready to play

PHOTOGRAPHER: Ken Schott

Union College hockey coach Rick Bennett had a bit of a scare late in Tuesday’s practice at Messa Rink when sophomore center Mike Vecchione was injured during a drill and left the ice.

Vecchione didn’t practice Wednesday morning, but he is expected to be in the lineup Friday night when the 17th-ranked Dutchmen (6-5-1) take on Notre Dame (6-6-2) in the first round of the Shillelagh Tournament at Compton Family Arena in South Bend, Ind.

Vecchione was favoring his left knee as he was helped off the ice after getting checked into the boards. At the end of Tuesday’s practice, he joined his teammates at center ice, walking with a slight limp before heading to the trainer’s room.

He was kept out of Wednesday’s practice just as a precaution.

“Mike is a hundred percent healthy,” Bennett said. “He met with our trainer, Cheryl Rockwood, and all tests were great, so he’s ready to go.”

Vecchione is tied with senior winger Daniel Ciampini for the team scoring lead with six goals and 10 assists in 12 games. He has a team-best 46 shots on goal.

“It’s a scare when anybody goes down,” Bennett said. “Obviously, you don’t like to see your top-line center go down. But I would feel the same way if anybody went down on our team. It is what it is.”

Dutchmen junior defenseman Sebastien Gingras, who was injured late in the game against Harvard Nov. 8 and missed the games against Quinnipiac and Princeton the following weekend, wasn’t wearing the red no-contact jersey in practice, a sign that he has recovered from his upper-body injury.

“He’s fine and ready to go,” Bennett said. “It’s just a matter of if he’s going to play or not.”