Freshman goalie Jake Kupsky made 26 saves in his first collegiate start and senior defenseman Sebastien Gingras broke a scoreless tie 5:36 into the third period as Union College beat the University of Maine Black Bears 2-0 Saturday night at Messa Rink in Schenectady, N.Y.
Mike Vecchione added an insurance goal with five minutes remaining as Union improved to 2-0-2 and extended its unbeaten streak vs. Maine to six games (5-0-1).
Maine fell to 0-1-3.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Kupsky, a seventh-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks, had 22 saves over the final two periods after having to make just four in the first period.
Maine goalie Matt Morris finished with 31 saves.
Gingras, who had verbally committed to Maine before changing his mind in favor of Union, scored with a shot from the point off a Tyler Hynes pass.
The goal was reviewed and it was upheld. Morris felt he was interfered with
The NCAA modified its rules interpretation in cases where players make contact with the goalie because it felt too many goals were nullified in previous years. It gave the referees more leeway to allow goals if the contact is ruled to be incidental and it didn’t impact the goalie’s ability to stop the puck.
“Their guy bumped into me. He made contact with my stick and blocker,” said Morris, who felt he would have made the save if he hadn’t been bumped.
“The referee told me it wouldn’t have counted last season. But, under the new rules, because I was out of my crease, it counted,” he added.
Maine coach Red Gendron said the referee ruled that the butt end of Morris’ stick was outside the plane of the crease and the Union player inadvertently bumped into it so, under the new rules interpretations, it was a good goal.
“It is fun to score anytime but it’s a little bit of a bonus against Maine. I’m really excited about it,” said Gingras whose goal was the eighth of his 105-game career.
Vecchione iced it with a wrist shot from the top of the slot that beat Morris high to the blocker side. Vecchione had made a lengthy dash down the ice before scoring.
“We played great in spurts and not-so-great in other spurts,” said Maine senior center Steven Swavely. “We’re getting our chances but they aren’t falling. Their goalie was good. Hats off to him. But we could have got more traffic in front of him and made it harder for him.”
Union coach Rick Bennett said Kupsky looked “pretty darn good. He was poised, quick with his feet and his pads were everywhere.”
Gendron felt his team got better as the game went along.
“We broke out of our own end so much better than we had been and we made a lot of plays. What we didn’t do is take the goalie’s eyes away. We had opportunities but we didn’t get to rebounds. Hence, we don’t score,” said Gendron. “We also missed quite a few nets.”
Maine has scored just one goal over its last 161:36.
The Black Bears will travel to take on another ECAC school, No. 17 Quinnipiac, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Hamden, Connecticut.