This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate
SCHENECTADY — The allure of playing one more home game as Messa Rink in next week’s opening round of the ECAC playoffs was a big motivator for the Union College hockey team.
The Dutchmen took the ice Saturday knowing a regulation win over Princeton would vault themselves over the Tigers based on a tiebreaker and Union delivered with a 3-1 win over Princeton in the regular-season finale.
Union (14-18-2, 8-13-1) finishes the conference season tied with RPI and Princeton for seventh in the league but will be the No. 8 seed and host ninth-seeded Princeton (12-17-0, 8-14-0) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
“I’m excited for the seniors that they get this opportunity and our guys get to experience playoff hockey at home,” Union coach Josh Hauge said. “There has been some ups and downs but I’m excited we get this chance.”
The win improves Union’s record at home this season to 12-5-0 while Princeton lost its third straight game.
“It is no secret that we’ve been really good at home this year so getting the home game with the way the fans have been lately, I think it is an advantage for us,” senior Chris Theodore said.
Union wasted little time in pouncing on the Tigers, taking the lead 66 seconds into the game when Josh Nixon knocked in a rebound past Princeton goaltender Aidan Porter for his ninth goal of the season.
Caden Villegas set up the play with a centering pass to defenseman John Prokop, who redirected the puck into Porter’s left pad with the rebound bouncing right to Nixon.
“It actually hit my skate,” Nixon said. “It was a three-on-two and…
Read the full article here