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Game Notes

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SCHENECTADY, NY – As if Pink at the Rink and Senior Night celebrations weren't enough, the Dutchmen now face their most important weekend of the season as they face fourth-place and No. 17 St. Lawrence on Friday, Feb. 27. The following night, Union squares off with Clarkson, which it is currently tied with for the final home-ice playoff spot, on Saturday, Feb. 28. Both contests are at Messa Rink and begin at 7 p.m.

 

Union fans can follow both games online with live stats, live video, live audio. They can also catch action by tuning into WRUC FM 89.7 or by turning to Time Warner Sports (channel 3) on Saturday.

 

The Dutchmen have 15 wins for the fourth time in program history and for the second consecutive year. The program record for wins in a season is 16, which was accomplished during the 1996-97 and 2005-06 seasons. Union's fastest to 15 wins came in 29 games during the 1996-97 season. This year it took 30 games. It took the 1996-97 squad 32 games to registered its 16th victory.

 

Last weekend, Union played Colgate for the third time this season and skated out of Starr Rink on Friday with a 2-2 tie. The following night Union lost against Cornell at Lynah Rink, 5-2. Three of Union's five goals came with the man advantage. The Dutchmen went 3-for-11 on the power play. Junior forward Jason Walters scored on the power play in the first period of both games. Freshman forward Kelly Zajac scored late in the third at Colgate and senior defenseman Lane Caffaro added a goal in the second period, while on the power play, at Cornell.

 

Union's power play has picked up as of late. With the man advantage, the Dutchmen have scored 10 power-play goals in seven games. During that span they have scored two or more PP goals three times.

 

Walters is currently riding a career-long four-game goal streak and is a game away from matching a season-best five game point scoring streak. He leads the team in conference-only games with 10 goals and 20 points and is second with 10 assists. Walters is the only ECAC Hockey student-athlete to have hit double digits in conference only games in both goals and assists. He has registered a point in 12 of the last 16 outings and has registered two or more points in five of those contests. For the season, he has a career-high 12 goals to go along with 14 assists. He is second on the team with 26 points.

 

ECAC Hockey and the American Cancer Society announced recently that they have teamed up to help fight cancer for the second consecutive season with an expanded Pink At The Rink program. The variation of a traditional Coaches vs. Cancer program will provide critical outreach, while raising funds in support of the American Cancer Society's lifesaving cancer research, education, advocacy, and community service efforts. This year's program will also benefit Hockey Coaches Care, which helps members of the amateur hockey community in times of need. Last year's event raised more than $55,000 and the Union College women's ice hockey team alone raised $11,700. This season the Dutchmen will be involved, wearing black and pink jerseys during their Feb. 27 contest against St. Lawrence. The women, who wore pink jersey's last season, used pink sticks during their Feb. 20 game against Colgate and their Feb. 21 outing against Cornell. Both the jerseys and sticks will be auctioned online at ecachockeycoachesvscancer.com.

St. Lawrence has only lost two of its last 14 games, going 9-2-3 during that span. After tying Harvard 2-2 on Friday, they defeated Dartmouth 7-2 on Saturday. Junior forward Mike McKenzie leads the team with 30 point and 14 goals. He is second with16 assists. Senior forward Kevin DeVergilio is next with 27 points and a team-high 18 assists, while senior forward Brock McBride is third with 26 points, including 12 goals and 14 assists. He leads the team with six power-play goals. Senior forward Casey Parenteau is fourth with 23 points in 26 games. He has totalled eight goals and 15 assists. Junior Alex Petizian has posted a 13-8-4 record with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. In conference games, his goals-against average dips to 2.18 and his record is 8-6-4.

Since Feb. 22, 1929, the Saints have posted a 31-17-2 record against the Dutchmen with a 27-13-0 Division I mark. However, Union took both games last season by the score of 3-1. Prior to the two victories during the 2007-08 season, St. Lawrence was riding a six game series winning streak. Just before that, however, Union owned a five game winning streak. The two teams have only played one overtime game, which came on Mar. 11, 2000 in the ECACH playoffs. The Saints prevailed, 4-3.

Despite two goals from junior forward Mario Valery-Trabucco, Union experienced a 5-2 loss at the hands of St. Lawrence on Feb. 24. His first goal, which came at 8:03 of the second, was setup by juniors Mike Schreiber and Walters. His second goal at 14:21 of the same period added Walters and Caffaro to the score sheet. Walters posted his team-high tying fifth multi-point game of the season. Sophomore goaltender Corey Milan posted 29 saves on 34 shots.

The Golden Knights are coming off a 3-3 tie against Harvard on Saturday. The draw came a day after a 6-3 victory against Dartmouth Clarkson is 2-2-3 in its last seven games. The team has not won on the road since a 4-3 overtime win at Brown on Jan. 17. This season, sophomore forward Scott Freeman leads the team with 26 points behind four goals and a team-best 22 assists. Senior forward Chris D'Alvise leads the team with 12 goals and is third with 21 points. In the second spot is senior Shea Guthrie with 22 points, including 11 goals and 11 assists. In goal, freshman Paul Karpowich, a St. Louis Blues prospect, has played 23 games, posting a 6-12-4 record with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.

These two teams first met on Jan. 23, 1923 and Union skated away with a 5-1 win. However, Clarkson owns a 26-11-5 overall record and a 25-10-5 Division I mark. Six out of the last 10 outings have gone into overtime, including three straight during the first round of the 2004-05 playoffs. The Dutchmen last won at home against Clarkson on Jan. 20, 2007 (2-1 OT).

Sophomore forward Adam Presizniuk had a goal and two assists and Walters tallied two goals in Union's 4-3 overtime loss at Clarkson on Jan. 23. The game-winner was scored by senior Shea Guthrie at 1:32 of the extra frame. Presizniuk enjoyed his fifth multi-point game of the season and his third in four contests. Between the pipes, Milan registered 19 saves. The Dutchmen outshot the Golden Knights 30-23, marking the 11th time during the season they had outshot its opponent.