Game Notes
CAMBRIDGE, MA – For the second straight weekend, the Dutchmen take to the road, facing Harvard on Friday, Jan. 30 and Dartmouth on Saturday, Jan. 31. Both games begin at 7 p.m. Earlier this season, Union defeated Harvard 3-1 on Nov. 8, but lost to Dartmouth 5-2 on Nov. 7.
Both contests can be caught live on WRUC FM 89.7 and
TEAMLINE.cc with Matt Dubrey and Union College's own Brian Unger with the call. Live stats and video for Friday's game can be seen at
gocrimson.com, while Saturday's outing can be followed on
dartmouthsports.com.
Despite a pair of losses at Clarkson (3-2 overtime) and St. Lawrence (5-2), the Dutchmen got solid performances out of juniors
Mario Valery-Trabuccoand
Jason Walters last weekend. Both student-athletes produced two multi-point games with a pair of assists in one and two goals in the second.
Union erased a 3-1 first period deficit to send Friday's game into overtime. Clarkson senior Shea Guthrie scored at 1:32 of the extra frame. Sophomore forward
Adam Presizniuk registered a goal and two assists against the Golden Knights. Against the Saints, Valery-Trabucco potted two goals with two helpers from Walters.
Walters' two-goal performance was his second of the season and the fourth of his career, while his two-assist outing was his third of the season and seventh of his career. His efforts gave him his fourth and fifth multi-point game of the season and fourth in six games.
Valery-Trabucco was coming off a three-point game entering the weekend and registered his second and third straight multi-point game. His two-goal outing was his second of the season, while his multi-assist effort was his third of the season. Valery-Trabucco is currently riding a career- and team-long seven-game scoring streak.
Presizniuk leads the Dutchmen with a career-high 27 points, 16 assists and 11 goals. This season he is on pace to finish the regular season with 15 goals, 23 assists and 38 points, which would give him the school record for points in a single season. Presizniuk is fourth in the league for points and assists. He is tied for third for goals. Nationally, he is tied for 24th with 1.12 points per game and tied for 38th with 0.46 goals per game. This season he has produced multi-points in six games, including three three-point efforts and one four-point performance. He has scored in six of the last seven games.
Four student-athletes can be credited with the majority of offensive production this season. Walters and Valery-Trabucco, Presizniuk and
Stéphane Boileau have combined for 85 points, 36 goals and 49 assists
They are one, two three and four on the team for points. Combined they have produced 46 percent of the team's scoring. Union is 12-7 when at least one of the four produces a point.
The Dutchmen are 11-5 when Presizniuk has a point, 7-4 when he scores a goal and 8-2 when he has an assist. When Boileau scores a goal, Union is 7-0 and When Walters registers a point, the team is 8-5 and 6-2 when he has an assist. Union is 10-3 when Valery-Trabucco has a point, 6-1 when he scores and 7-1 when he has an assist.
In all but one victory this season, Union has scored at least three goals and is 11-3 when scoring three or more. Union's only win without netting three came during a 2-1 win against UMass-Lowell at the 2009 Shellelagh Tournament on Jan. 3.
Scouting Harvard
The Crimson have not won a game since Nov. 15 when they defeated St. Lawrence, 1-0. Since then the team has gone 0-9-4, including a 5-5 tie at Dartmouth on Sunday. Junior defenseman Alex Biega leads the team with 12 points, including a team-high nine assists. Behind him is junior forward Doug Rogers, who has registered 11 points with three goals and eight assists. Sophomore Michael Biega and freshman Alex Killorn both have 10 points behind three goals and seven assists. Freshman Daniel Moriarty and senior Nick Coskren lead the team with five goals each. Freshman Matt Hoyle has played in 17 games, posting a 4-10-3 record with a 3.23 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage.
The Series
Harvard owns a 27-5-3 record all-time against Union, but the Dutchmen snapped a four-game Crimson winning streak with a 3-1 win at Messa Rink on Nov. 8. Union last win at the Bright Hockey Center came in the form of a 2-1 showing on Jan. 28, 2006. All-time the Dutchmen are 2-14-1 at Harvard. Senior forward
Matt Cook has posted a team-leading seven points (3G-4A) during his career against Harvard, while classmate
Lane Caffaro has registered five points (2G-5A).
Scouting Dartmouth
Dartmouth has only lost one of its last four outings, but have registered ties in its last two. Most recently, it skated to a 5-5 tie against Harvard on Sunday. Sophomore forward Adam Estoclet and freshman forward Doug Jones lead the team with 21 points each. Both have posted six goals and a team-high 15 assists. Sophomore forwards Andrew Owsiak and Scott Fleming are next in line with 13 points each. Owsiak leads the team with eight goals, while Fleming is second with seven. Freshman Jody O'Neill has appeared in 18 games, posting a 10-6-2 record with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage. In conference games, he has posted a 7-4-1 record with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.
The Series
In a series that dates back to 1977, the Big Green owns a 21-15-3 overall record and a 18-14-3 Division I mark. Union's last victory at Thompson Arena came on Jan. 31, 2004 by a score of 7-0. Between Nov. 1995 and Feb. 1997, the Dutchmen enjoyed a four-game winning streak, but the Big Green responded with seven straight of its own between Nov. 1997 and Jan. 2001.
