Murphy’s starting streak ends; Union men's hockey loses in overtime

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Union freshman goalie Kyle Chauvette got his first career collegiate start Saturday against UConn.

UNION COLLEGE – It was a cramp in Friday night’s non-conference men’s college hockey game against UConn that knocked Union goalie Connor Murphy out of the game.

It also ended the Hudson Falls native’s 61-game consecutive starts streak Saturday in the rematch with the Huskies at XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Murphy was on the bench and watched freshman Kyle Chauvette make his first start for the Dutchmen. Chauvette made 28 saves, but the Huskies pulled out a 4-3 victory on Chase Bradley’s goal 1:49 into overtime.

Chauvette replaced Murphy early in the third period of Friday’s 4-1 loss. He stopped all 11 shots he faced. UConn did score an empty-net goal late in the game.

In a postgame Zoom call, Union head coach Josh Hauge said he made the decision to give Chauvette the start early Saturday morning.

“[Murphy] had some tightness from the cramping,” Hauge said. “We just didn’t feel like it was a safe time [to start Murphy].”

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Hauge was pleased with Chauvette’s performance.

“Really excited about his start,” Hauge said. “He did a great job for us and definitely gave us a chance to win.”

Hauge expects Murphy to be ready for practice on Monday as the Dutchmen prepare to host Bentley on Thursday.

“He’ll be full-go on Monday, I would assume, [just] as long as the doctors give him the OK, which I fully expect,” Hauge said. “Obviously I’m not a doctor, and I don’t make those calls. We’ll just trust the good people there at Union.”

Union (1-2-1) almost took a 1-0 lead early in the game. But a video review showed that Liam Robertson interfered with UConn goalie Arsenii Sergeev, negating Caden Villegas’ goal.

Robertson did give the Dutchmen the lead with 11:21 left in the first period when he fired a wrist shot from the slot past Sergeev.

Union’s power play, which has yet to score, struggled for a fourth straight game. Those struggles were magnified when Jake Flynn scored a shorthanded goal 4:41 into the second period.

The Dutchmen’s penalty kill, which had been perfect through the first three games, gave up their first power-play goal when Nick Capone scored with 7:37 left in the second.

Union tied it late in the period when defenseman Cal Mell tipped in a shot by fellow defenseman Cullen Ferguson.

Union took the lead 48 seconds into the third period when Ben Tupker put in the rebound of a John Prokop shot. But UConn (4-0) tied it at 7:23 on a Jake Percival goal.

Union 1 1 1 0 — 3
UConn 0 2 1 1 — 4
First Period — 1, Union, Robertson, 8:39. Penalties — Capone, UConn (cross-checking), 18:59.
Second Period — 2, UConn, Flynn (Tverberg), 4:41 (sh). 3, UConn, Bradley, Amonte), 12:23 (pp). 4, Union, Mell (Ferguson, Hamley), 19:17. Penalties — Kinal, UConn (cross-checking), 3:32; Snell, Uni (tripping), 12:00.
Third Period — 5, Union, Tupker (Prokop, Petruolo), :48. 6, UConn, Perceval (Spetz), 7:23. Penalties — Amonte, UConn (slashing), 1:57; Bradley, UConn (interference), 16:44.
Overtime — 7, UConn, Bradley (Wood), 1:49. Penalties — None.
Shots on Goal — Union 12-10-8-0 — 30. UConn 10-9-12-1 — 32.
Power-play opportunities — Union 0 of 4; UConn 1 of 2.
Goalies — Union, Chauvette (32 shots-28 saves). UConn, Sergeev (30-27).
A — 2,422.
Referees — Bobby Esposito, Peter Schlittenhardt. Linesmen — Trevor Disbennett, Kyle Richetelle.

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RPI 3, MERCYHURST 2 (OT)

Jack Brackett scored 41 seconds into overtime to give the Engineers a sweep of their two-game non-conference series against the Lakers at Houston Field House in Troy.

Altti Nykanen gave RPI a 1-0 lead with 2:16 left in the first period. As he was starting to celebrate, Nykanen collided with referee Anthony Dapuzzo and fell awkwardly. Nykanen had to be helped off the ice and appeared to be favoring his right knee. He did not return.

Mercyhurst tied it 59 seconds later on a Cade Townend goal. Nick Strom regained the lead for RPI with 7:57 remaining in the second period. Keanan Stewart tied it late in the third period.

RPI goalie Jack Watson made 37 saves.
Mercyhurst 1 0 1 0 — 2
RPI 1 1 0 1 — 3
First Period — 1, RPI, Nykanen (Herman, Hellbauer), 17:44. 2, Mercyhurst, Townend (Briere, Norton), 18:43. Penalties — Gaulin, Mer (cross-checking), 18:01; Smolinski, RPI (interference), 18:31.
Second Period — 3, RPI, Strom, 12:03. Penalties — Muzzatti, RPI (high-sticking), 3:51; Hunter, Mer (slashing), 14:59.
Third Period — 4, Mercyhurst, Stewart (Waugh), 14:08. Penalties — Hunter, Mer (interference), 4:12; Gaulin, Mer (slashing), 7:14.
Overtime — 5, RPI, Brackett (Hallbauer, Lee), :41. Penalties — None.
Shots on Goal — Mercyhurst 11-20-8-0 — 39. RPI 12-12-9-3 — 36.
Power-play opportunities — Mercyhurst 0 of 2; RPI 0 of 4.
Goalies — Mercyhurst, Lenz (36 shots-33 saves). RPI, Watson (39-37).
A — 1,732.
Referees — William Brennan III, Anthony Dapuzzo. Linesmen — Nicholas Gauvin, Brendan Wormley.

Women

UNION 3, BOSTON U. 1

Goalie Sophie Matsoukas made 37 saves, and Carmen Melo had a goal and an assist as the Dutchwomen earned their first-ever victory against the Terriers in a non-conference game played at Agganis Arena in Boston.

It was the 13th meeting between the two teams. BU (1-1) was 12-0.

Union improved to 3-3, its best six-game start since 2004-05 when it was 3-2-1 in its second Division I season. Union was 3-3 in 2013-14.

Merlo gave Union a 1-0 lead 6:33 into the game. Nadia Mattivi tied it 2:21 later.

Merlo assisted on Emma Hebert’s power-play goal with 7:18 left in the first.

Matsoukas made 17 saves in the third period to preserve the lead. Ashley Adams gave Union some insurance when she scored with 4:35 left in the game.

Union 2 0 1 — 3
Boston U. 1 0 0 — 1
First Period — 1, Union, Merlo (Kropp, King), 6:33. 2, Boston U., Mattivi (Healey, Nearis), 8:54. 3, Union, Hebert (Friday, Merlo), 12:42 (pp). Penalties — Roberts, BU (slashing), 10:55.
Second Period — None. Penalties — Roberts, BU (tripping), 5:48; King, Uni (hooking), 13:02.
Third Period — 4, Union, Adams (Greco), 15:25. Penalties — Nearis, BU (hooking), 5:12; Cardaci, BU (holding), 16:18.
Shots on Goal — Union 15-8-12 — 35. Boston U. 9-12-17 — 38.
Power-play opportunities — Union 1 of 4; Boston U. 0 of 1.
Goalies — Union, Matsoukas (38 shots-37 saves). Boston U., Shanahan (35-32).
A — 400.
Referees — Courney Drennan, Ben Lord. Linesmen — Russell Tedford, Andrew Medeiros.

PROVIDENCE 2, RPI 0

Reichen Kirchmair’s goal midway through the second period snapped a scoreless tie and gave the Friars a non-conference win over the Engineers.

KC Brooks added a goal for Providence (3-1) midway through the third period.

Goalie Amanda Rampado made 36 saves for the Engineers (0-4), which has been shutout in three of their first four games.

RPI 0 0 0 — 0
Providence 0 1 1 — 2
First Period — None. Penalties — Hendrikson, Pro (holding), 9:19; McCuthcoen, RPI (interference), 11:22; Barnett, Pro (tripping), 18:20.
Second Period — 1, Providence, Kirchmair, 10:52. Penalties — Bochna, Pro (tripping), 4:04; Kutes, Pro (boarding), 14:03; Becker, Pro (holding), 14:55.
Third Period — 2, Providence, Brooks (Hjalmarsson, Becker), 9:40. Penalties — Bukvic, RPI (roughing), 5:05; Peterson, Pro (holding), 5:05.
Shots on Goal — RPI 11-5-1 — 17. Providence 11-14-38 — 38.
Power-play opportunities — RPI 0 of 5; Providence 0 of 1.
Goalies — RPI, Rampado (38 shots-36 saves). Providence, Abstreiter (17-17).
A — 127.
Referees — Bob Hawkes, Andrew Thompson. Linesmen — Danika Korpacz, Matt Berg.