TROY, NY -- Freshman goaltender
Keith Kinkaid made 30 saves for his first career shutout, leading the Union College men's ice hockey team (5-3-4) to a 0-0 tie against Lake Superior State on Friday afternoon in the first game of the 59th RPI Invitational Tournament at Houston Field House. The Dutchmen advanced to Saturday's championship game, winning a shootout 1-0. Senior forward
Mario Valery-Trabucco had the lone goal.
The Dutchmen will face host-school RPI at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Valery-Trabucco went five-hole after a left-to-right deke as Union's second shooter. Kinkaid made the first two saves and just outlasted Lake Superior's last shooter.
Kinkaid extended his unbeaten streak to three games with Union's first shutout since junior goaltender
Corey Milan led the Dutchmen to a 3-0 win on Feb. 6, 2009 at RPI.
Kinkaid and Lake Superior netminder Brian Mahoney-Wilson had very different first period despite seeing roughly the same amount of shots. Kinkaid, who was making his third-consecutive start, turned away 11 shots, mostly routine. At the other end, Mahoney-Wilson kept the Dutchmen off the board with 12 stops, including four saves on odd man rushes.
Valery-Trabucco caused fits for the Lakers in the opening stanza. He blocked a shot in the defensive end, fought off a defender in the neutral zone and fired a wrist shot, which was turned away by the blocker of the Lake State goaltender. Moments later, Trabucco's outlet pass to freshman forward
Jeremy Welsh led to a shot from just inside the right face-off dot by junior forward
Adam Presizniuk. The try was also turned away by the blocker of Mahoney-Wilson.
The second period mirrored the first, with both goaltenders keeping the game scoreless. Kinkaid came up big by denying a breakaway try and the rebound at 11:16. The Laker opportunity came moments after the Dutchmen threatened with three scoring chances down low.
Sophomore
Brian Yanovitch, junior
John Simpson and freshman
Wayne Simpson were responsible for the opportunities and the trio nearly stuck on its next shift. Quick puck movement by the Simpson brothers led to a Yanovitch try, which was kicked away by the right pad of Mahoney-Wilson at the last second.
In the third period, the line of freshman #Kyle Bodie, sophomore
Kelly Zajac and junior Stephane Boileau threatened with less than five minutes remaining with two opportunities below the circles thanks in large park to a aggressive cycle.
In the overtime period, the Dutchmen seemed to control the action until the final 40 seconds when Lake Sate's Domenic Monardo's wrist shot found the right pad of Kinkaid. The rebound bounced to the right where a Laker whiffed on a wide-open net.
The final shot total stood at 30-30. Union killed off four power-play chances for Lake State, who denied Union's two chances.
