Dutchmen dominate RPI in third, 8-3

In the first two periods, Union was dominating Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in all phases of the game. The Dutchmen were outshooting the Engineers, outhitting them and dominating the faceoffs.

But the only place the Dutchmen weren’t winning was on the scoreboard. They were down, 3-1, after Drew Melanson scored his second goal of the game with 6:56 left in the second period.

However, the Dutchmen didn’t lose focus. And, thanks to the line of center Mike Vecchione, right winger Daniel Ciampini and left winger Matt Wilkins, the Dutchmen wore down the Engineers with a record-tying six-goal third period to cruise to an 8-3 victory in the third annual Mayor’s Cup game Saturday before 8,714 fans at the Times Union Center.

It’s the third time in team history that Union (12-10-2) scored six goals in a period. The last time the Dutchmen did that was against RPI on Nov. 3, 2012.

“I thought the guys had the focus right from the get-go,” said Dutchmen coach Rick Bennett after his team snapped a three-game losing streak. “We just didn’t have the result on the scoreboard. I think the guys, basically, felt that, and stayed relentless.”

The trio, put together for this game, collected 15 points. Ciampini, a senior, had three goals and three assists to surpass 100 points for his career. The six points tied a team record for most in a game. Jason Ralph had six points in a game against Colgate on Nov. 5, 1999.

The sophomore Vecchione collected two goals and three assists. Wilkins, a junior, had four assists.

“This is the first time we’ve played together as a line,” said Vecchione, who won 20 of 24 faceoffs. “I’ve played with Daniel a lot last year and the beginning of this year, and Matt the second half of this year. We just had chemistry from the start. As you can see [by the statistics], we were finding each other all over the ice.”

The Dutchmen, who outshot the Engineers (9-17-1), 31-13, got a late second-period power-play goal from freshman defenseman Nick DeSimone to cut RPI’s lead to 3-2. And then 17 seconds into the third, Jeff Taylor set up Ryan Scarfo in the left circle, and he buried a shot past goalie Jason Kasdorf to tie it, 3-3.

Then it was time for Vecchione, Ciampini and Wilkins to take over.

Ciampini snapped the tie with a power-play goal at 3:30. Vecchione, on assists from

Ciampini and Wilkins, made it 5-3 at 6:58 when he batted the puck out of the air. The puck rolled down Kasdorf’s back and trickled in.

Ciampini set up Eli Lichtenwald’s power-play goal with 11:02 left. Vecchione got the secondary assist.

With 9:17 left, Vecchione chased Kasdorf from the game with his second tally of the night on a nice pass from Wilkins.

“It was just getting back to the simple things,” said Ciampini, who has 20 goals on the season. “We just continued to do that over and over again. … We stuck with it.”

Ciampini completed his second hat trick of the season on a two-on-one rush. Vecchione was on the right wing when he sent the puck to Ciampini on the left side, and he put it past goalie Scott Diebold with 4:41 to go.

“I thought [Union] was terrific,” RPI coach Seth Appert said. “I thought they showed why they’re national champions coming off a losing streak. They played like a championship team. They did what champions do. They responded, and they had tenacity and will. I thought they were fantastic tonight and better than us, simple as that.”

RPI took a 1-0 lead on Melanson’s goal 2:07 into the game. Ciampini tied it 27 seconds later, and that gave him 100 career points.

“It’s very special,” said Ciampini, who has 105 career points. “It’s a great group of guys. I got a lot of texts before the game. [Former Union defenseman Shayne [Gositsbehere] had to remind me this morning, so it’s always good to have friends like that. It’s an honor, and I’m very privilege.”

RPI 2 1 0 — 3

Union 1 1 6 — 8

First Period — 1, RPI, Melanson 5 (Bourbonnais, Bradley), 2:07. 2, Union, Ciampini 18 (Taylor, Vecchione), 2:34. 3, RPI, Neal 4 (Laliberte, Bublea), 16:13. Penalties — RPI bench, served by Melanson (too many men), 13:10; Lichtenwald, Uni (interference), 13:26; Laliberte, RPI (holding), 13:40.

Second Period — 4, RPI, Melanson 6 (Curadi), 13:04. 5, Union, DeSimone 1 (Brassard, Wilkins), 17:14 (pp). Penalties — Liljegren, RPI (tripping), 5:11; Vasaturo, Uni (unsportsmanlike conduct-throwing stick), 15:11; Nanne, RPI (holding), 17:00.

Third Period — 6, Union, Scarfo 8 (Taylor, Henry), :17. 7, Union, Ciampini 19 (Taylor, Lichtenwald), 3:30 (pp). 8, Union, Vecchione 12 (Wilkins, Ciampini), 6:58. 9, Union, Lichtenwald 3 (Ciampini, Vecchione), 8:58 (pp). 10, Union, Vecchione 13 (Wilkins, Ciampini), 10:43. 11, Union, Ciampini 20 (Vecchione, Wilkins), 15:19. Penalties — Melanson, RPI (slashing), 2:53; Bradley, RPI (boarding), 8:02; Laliberte, RPI (hooking), 11:26; Curadi, RPI (roughing), 19:13; Wood, RPI, major-game misconduct (hitting from behind), 19:13; Ammirato, Uni (slashing), 19:13; Vasaturo, Uni (roughing), 19:13.

Shots on Goal — RPI 5-5-3 — 13. Union 8-12-11 — 31.

Power-play opportunities — RPI 0 of 1; Union 3 of 7.

Goalies — RPI, Kasdorf 9-11-0 (29 shots-22 saves), Diebold (10:43 third, 2-1). Union, Stevens 10-7-0 (13-10), Pieri (19:13 third, 0-0).

A — 8,714. T — 2:20.

Referees — Chip McDonald, Brad Leblanc. Linesmen — Jason Shattie, Stephen Drain.

Categories: College Sports