ITHACA, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Special teams was the difference maker for the Union College men’s hockey team as they fell 8-1 to #11 Cornell University on Saturday night at Lynah Rink.
Union falls to 11-15-2 and 5-10-1 in ECAC Hockey play.
Junior Chaz Smedsrud was the lone goal scorer for Union with classmate Tyler Watkins and first-year Cal Mell earning assists. Watkins extends his point streak to a career-high five games (1-4-5).
The Big Red showcased their top-ranked power-play unit with five power-play goals in the opening frame. After Smedsrud was called for hooking at 2:30 of the game, the home team cashed in 12 seconds later with a tip by Jack Malone. Union ran into penalty trouble again, and Cornell added four power-play goals on a five-minute major, prompting a goalie change at 12:02 of the period. The Big Red added one more tally right after the penalty expired to give the hosts a 6-0 lead.
Cornell added a goal at 6:35 of the second period to extend the lead. Union finally broke through at 15:30 of the period. Mell sent a pass from the end boards to Smedsrud in the slot. The junior took an initial shot, which bounced off of a Cornell defender before cashing in on the rebound for the score. Cornell added one more in the period to make it 8-1.
Sam Malinski scored Cornell’s sixth power-play goal of the night at 11:42 of the third period and the Big Red tallied one final goal with 58 seconds to go in the game.
Senior Connor Murphy made three saves in 7:58 minutes of play. First-year Kyle Chauvette entered the game in relief in the first period and made 22 saves in 47:58 minute of game action. Shane allowed one goal and made eight saves in 52:00 minutes before Ryan McInchak entered the game for the remainder of the game.
Union returns home for a game against Yale University on Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Messa Rink.