SCHENECTADY — The Union Dutchmen put their best face forward Friday night.
Brendan Taylor stuck his nose in there and wasn’t entirely sure how he scored in the second period, then goalie Darion Hanson took one off his mask in overtime and wasn’t sure how it didn’t go in.
When the smoke cleared at Messa Rink, the result was a perfectly even 1-1 tie with Quinnipiac in which Taylor’s second goal of the season and another sparkling performance from Hanson stood up to give the Dutchmen a valuable point in the ECAC Hockey standings against the No. 5/6 team in the country.
Each team had one goal, one penalty and 28 shots.
One of those for Quinnipiac in overtime hit Hanson in the cheek and still had a good chance to go in, but it missed the top left corner and bounced to the endboard, where a scrum of players tied it up.
Andrew Shortridge was equally good in net for the Bobcats (10-5-2 ECACH, 21-6-2 overall), stopping what appeared to be a sure game-winner for Cole Maier in front with about two minutes left in overtime.
Even the scuffle in the corner after the final whistle of a hard-fought game by both teams was even.
“We’ll take it,” Union head coach Rick Bennett said. “This time of year, a point’s a point, especially against a very good opponent like that.
“I could sit here and say we’re having a party in the locker room, but we’re not. By the same token, the guys played hard, and it was nice to see them kind of rewarded. It was a good tie. Some ties are good, and some ties are bad.”
“I was impressed with Union,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “I thought Hanson was excellent in net. I thought Shortridge was excellent for us. Those were the two best players on the ice.”
The Dutchmen pushed their record to 7-8-2 in the conference and 14-9-6 overall,with 16 points in eighth place, two points ahead of RPI and two behind Brown and Dartmouth heading into Saturday’s game against Princeton at Messa.
After a 0-0 first period with few good scoring chances for either team, Quinnipiac took a 1-0 lead at 8:29 of the second when Wyatt Bongiovanni banged home a one-timer off a feed from the corner by Odeen Tufto.
The Dutchmen tied it 1-1 at 14:50 on Taylor’s second goal of the season off a goalmouth scramble, with assists from Ryan Walker and freshman defenseman Ryan Sidorski, his first career point through 16 games.
“It was kind of a loose puck, and I just tried to take it to the net and fortunately I got a whack at it and I think it went in through his five-hole, so it was nice to get that one,” Taylor said.
“That was a pack-of-wolves goal,” Bennett said.
The Bobcats nearly went ahead 2-1 with two minutes left in the second period, but Chase Priskie’s shot from the right point rattled off the right post. The puck filtered back to Priskie for another long shot, but Hanson stopped it and smothered a rebound attempt.
He rated the save off his mask in overtime as his toughest of the night, or at least the one he was most thankful for.
“I thought for sure that was a goal, having to shift into that, and even when it hit me in the cheek,” he said. “The fact that the puck doesn’t still go in is pretty remarkable. Lucky, for sure, but I’ll take credit for it, I guess.”
It was Union’s ninth overtime game of the season. The Dutchmen are 2-1-6 in overtime, although two of the ties were shootout “victories” in non-conference games against Yale at the Friendship Four in Northern Ireland and aganst RPI in the Mayor’s Cup.
Quinnipiac 0 1 0 0 — 1
Union 0 1 0 0 — 1
First period — None. Penalties — Emelifeonwu, U (boarding), 10:38.
Second period — 1, Quinnipiac, Bongiovanni 11 (Tufto, de Jong), 8:29. 2, Union, Taylor 2 (Walker, Sidorski), 14:50.
Third period — None. Penalties — Cukste, Q (hooking), 11:34.
Shots on goal — Quinnipiac 7-7-10-4 — 28. Union 5-12-9-2 — 28.
Power-play advantages — Quinnipiac 0 of 1. Union 0 of 1.
Goaltenders — Quinnipiac, Shortridge T, 13-3-2 (28 shots-27 saves). Union, Hanson T, 8-6-5 (28-27).
T — 2:37. A — 1,795.
Referees — Douglas Place Jr., Tory Mazzola. Linesmen — James Shea, Paul Traynor.
Reach Gazette Sportswriter Mike MacAdam at 518-395-3146 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @Mike_MacAdam.
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