The same word kept coming up over and over again during the postgame interviews with Union coach Nate Leaman and two of his players following Saturday's 6-3 ECAC Hockey victory over Colgate at Messa Rink.
Character.
As in "showing a lot of character," and "a character-building win."
The Dutchmen did show a lot of character and strength. While their effort against the Raiders was fair, it didn't match what they put forth Friday against fifth-ranked Cornell. But the Big Red took a 4-1 victory.
Putting a great amount effort against a team that appears headed for greatness this season will take a lot out of a team. But Union couldn't afford a major letdown against a Colgate team that has been struggling this season.
But even though the Dutchmen had a 3-1 lead in the second period, you had a sense that the lead wasn't safe. They didn't seem to playing aggressively, and didn't have a sense of urgency to put Colgate away. They were trying to be a little too fancy with the puck.
And the Raiders were able to tie it. Jason Williams got a power-play goal late in the second, and David McIntyre scored his second goal of the game just over five minutes into the third. Even after that goal, Colgate had two more great chances.
"A big key for us is when we kept it simple, we were more successful," Union forward Luke Cain said. "[When] we were trying to make a lot of passes cute plays, that's when we ran into trouble. We turn it over to them, and they have some highly skilled forwards who would make plays."
But the Dutchmen came alive. Cain broke the tie at 8:44 of the third. Mario Valery-Trabucco scored his second goal of the game just under five minutes later. John Simpson sealed it with an empty-net goal with 46 seconds left.
"I guess you can this a character win for us, especially being up two goals and [Colgate] tying it up" said Valery-Trabucco, who is on a five-game point-scoring streak. "Coming back and scoring three is huge. It showed the character of the boys in the room."
Leaman agreed.
"We fought ourselves tonight," Leaman said. "It's one's one of those things that I expected because I knew how much energy we spent [Friday] night. I thought the guys showed a lot of character and found a way to win a game."
Frustrating loss
Meanwhile, Colgate coach Don Vaughan was frustrated by another tough loss. The previous night, the Raiders dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to RPI. The game-winner came on the power play, the result of Colgate having too many men on the ice.
Vaughan thought his club had the momentum after McIntyre's goal tied the score. But Cain's goal, set up by Simpson, changed things. Simpson kept control of the puck after losing an opportunity to shoot as he was coming down the left wing. He skated behind the net, spotted Cain coming down the right wing. Simpson got him the puck, and Cain fired it home.
"When we did tie it up, I thought we had the better part of the play," Vaughan said. "The same thing happens. We work so hard to get back in games, we look like we're shifting momentum and we end up with a terrible mistake with five guys just watching the puck behind the net. [Simpson] made a great play, but we had him surrounded."
Multipoint players
Led by Valery-Trabucco's two goals and one assist, six Dutchmen had a multipoint effort.
Simpson and Matt Cook each had a goal and an assist. Brendan Milnamow, Adam Presizniuk and Kelly Zajac had two assists apiece.
Three-star selections
1) Mario Valery-Trabucco
2) David McIntyre
3) John Simpson
That's all for tonight. Look for my Monday college hockey Slap Schotts blog at www.dailygazette.com.
Good Night! Good Hockey!
