No. 5/7 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Falls To No. 18 Union, 5-2

Saturday, December 3

Hamden, Conn.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

10-5-2, 6-2-1ECAC

Union

10-3-2, 6-1-1ECAC

Union

Quinnipiac

No. 5/7 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Falls To No. 18 Union, 5-2

12/3/2016 9:16:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut - No. 5/7 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey lost to No. 18 Union, 5-2, in an ECAC Hockey match-up at High Point Solutions Arena. The Bobcats drop to 10-5-2 overall and 6-2-1 in ECAC Hockey while Union improves to 10-3-2 overall and 6-1-1 in league play.

A night after picking up his first point at Quinnipiac, Kevin Duane (New Canaan, Connecticut) picked up his first career goal to give the Bobcats a first-period lead. Derek Smith (Apple Valley, Minnesota) held the puck above the face-off circle to the right of Union starting goalie Alex Sakellaraopoulos before sending it to the opposite point to Connor Clifton (Matawan, New Jersey). Clifton ripped a shot from just inside the face-off circle before Duane slid in front of Sakellararopoulos and tipping in his first goal since transferring from Boston University.

The Bobcats lead last under the four-minute-and-twenty-five second mark of the second period when Nick DeSimone's shot from the point was blocked by a Quinnipiac defender but found it's way through traffic and past Quinnipiac starter Chris Truehl (Madison, Wisconsin) to tie the game at 1-1. Several minutes later Jeff Taylor gave Union a 2-1 lead with his fourth of the season while also giving the Dutchmen their second power-play goal in as many opportunities.

With three minutes left DeSimone scored his second of the game to give Union a two-goal lead heading into the second intermission. Cole Maier pushed Union's lead to 4-1 six minutes into the third period. Union's fourth goal of the game ended Truehl's night in favor of freshman Andrew Shortridge (Anchorage, Alaska).

Late in the third, Karlis Cukste (Riga, Latvia) scored his fourth goal of the season and his first since a one-goal, one-assist outing against Dartmouth in a 6-3 win on Nov. 11. Alex Whelan (Ramsey, New Jersey) fired a shot on goal that Sakellarapoulos steered away before the puck settled on Andrew Taverner's (Edmonton, Alberta) stick. Taverner handed it to Cukste who one-time the pass on goal to cut Union's lead to 4-2. The assist was Whelan's second career point while Taverner picked up his fifth assist of the season. Union got the goal back with an empty-netter with 1:52 to go in regulation.

Quinnipiac is back in action when it travels to Princeton on Friday, Dec. 9 before hosting the Tigers on Saturday, Dec. 10. The Bobcats will then be idle until Dec. 29-30 when they travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to compete in the Three Rivers Classic at PPG Arena. The Bobcats will face Boston College in the first game of the tournament with Ferris State and Robert Morris facing off in the nightcap.