Game Notes
HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL – The Union College men's ice hockey team (8-7-1) returns from its winter break for a pair of games at the 2009 Shillelagh Tournament hosted by top-ranked Notre Dame from Jan. 2-3. The Dutchmen kick off the two-day tournament with a 9 p.m. (EST) contest against the Fighting Irish on Friday. They will then play UMass-Lowell (8-8-0) or Minnesota-Duluth (8-4-6) on Saturday at 5 p.m. (EST).
Union fans can follow the outings with
live stats. The games can be heard by tuning into WRUC 89.7 or on the opponents websites'. Friday's game will not be broadcast on TEAMLINE.CC but can be heard by
clicking here.
The Dutchmen will try and repeat its success from a year ago when they won a school record seven games to begin the 2008 calendar year. Union defeated UConn (4-1), Army (3-2), Colgate (5-4), RPI (2-1 and 4-1) and St. Lawrence (3-1). The Dutchmen is 3-0-1 in calendar-opening games since the 2004-05 season.
Six-year head coach Nate Leaman will be absent from the Shillelagh Tournament because he is serving as an assistant coach for team USA at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Tournament. The Americans have already posted an 8-2 win against Germany and a 4-3 win against the Czech Republic. The quarterfinals are on Jan. 2, semifinals on Jan. 3 and medal games on Jan. 5.
Before Union's extended break, the team dropped two games at Maine on Dec. 12-13 with 3-1 and 5-1 losses. Sophomore forward
Stéphane Boileau led the team with two assists, while sophomore forward
Adam Presizniuk and junior defender
Mike Wakita each scored a goal.
Boileau is riding a four game point streak, totaling one goal and four assists during that span. He is second on the team with 14 points and first with nine assists. In ECAC Hockey, he is sixth for points and fourth for assists.
Presizniuk leads the team with a career-high eight goals and 16 points. He is on pace to finish the regular season with 17 goals, 17 assists and 34 points. He is currently second in the conference in points and tied for second for goals. His plus-nine rating ranks tied for second and he is tied for sixth with three power-play goals.
The Fighting Irish sit atop both the USA Today and the USCHO.com rankings. This season they have outscored opponents 69-32 and have not lost in their last 14 outings. Senior Christian Hanson leads the team with 13 goals and 23 points. He has tallied six power-play goals and 10 assists. In goal senior Jordan Pearce has posted a 13-3-2 record with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.
Union continues ECAC Hockey play at No. 8 Princeton on Friday, Jan. 9 and at Quinnipiac on Saturday, Jan. 10. Both games are at 7 p.m.
