HANOVER, NH – With only six regular-season games remaining, the 16th-ranked Union College men's ice hockey team finds itself in a fight for the top-spot in ECAC Hockey. The Dutchmen are in a three-way tie with Cornell and Yale for the first-place in the league. They will try and stay in the top spot this weekend when they head to Dartmouth on Friday, Feb. 12 and Harvard on Saturday, Feb. 13. Both contests are at 7 p.m.
In ECAC Hockey play, Union (15-7-6) owns a 9-3-4 record (22 pts.). Dartmouth (6-16-1) is in 11th place with a 4-11-1 mark (9 pts.), while Harvard (6-14-3) is in eighth with a 6-8-3 record (15 pts.).
Union fans can keep tabs on the Dutchmen this weekend by listening to Matt Dubrey and Brian Unger '93 on WRUC 89.7 FM or online at
Teamline.cc. Live stats and video for the Dartmouth contest can be found at
DartmouthSports.com, while both features for the Harvard outing can be seen at
GoCrimson.com. Scoring updates will be provided on Twitter at
@UnionHockey.
Senior forward
Mario Valery-Trabucco and
Jason Walters are both within reach of setting the Union Division I record for points in a season and points in a career. Entering the weekend, Trabucco, who has a team-high 35 points this season and 104 for his career, is four points away from setting the single-season record and 11 points away from breaking the single-career mark. Walters, who has 33 season points and 108 career points, is six points away from the season record and seven away from the career mark.
Junior forward
Adam Presizniuk owns the single-season record with 38 points in 2008-09, while Jordan Webb has the career record with 114 points from 2001-05.
Defensively, junior
Brock Matheson senior
Mike Schreiber have produced some remarkable numbers. Matheson is a plus-15 on the year thanks to a plus-9 showing in the last two games. He posted a plus-6 against Clarkson and a plus-3 against St. Lawrence. Schreiber is only three points away from setting a school record for most points by a defenseman in a single season. His 23 points this season trails
Lane Caffaro, who registered 26 points in 2006-07.
>> About Dartmouth
Entering the weekend, Dartmouth is on a three-game winless streak and is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games. Most recently, the Big Green played to a 5-5 tie at Brown last Saturday. The team's last ECAC Hockey victory came on Jan. 29 with a 4-3 win at Quinnipiac.
Juniors Scott Fleming and Adam Estoclet lead the team with 24 points each. Fleming has netted a team-best 12 goals to go with 12 assists, while Estoclet is first on the team with 12 assists. The duo has combined for seven of Dartmouth's 15 power-play goals.
Between the pipes, sophomore Jody O'Neill has posted a 5-13-0 record with a 3.82 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage. Last season, he gave Union fits, making 48 stops in a 2-2 tie on Jan. 31. Sophomore James Mello has played in nine games, registering a 1-3-1 record, a 2.68 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
>> Union-Dartmouth Series
In a series that dates back to 1977, the Big Green own a 22-14-5 advantage over the Dutchmen and an 19-13-5 record in the Division I era. Union is 1-6-3 against Dartmouth in its last 10 games with its last win (4-1) coming on Feb. 5, 2007 at Union.
Union is 7-13-1 all-time at Dartmouth with a 0-4-1 record in its last five trips to Thompson Arena.
>> About Harvard
Harvard is coming off a 4-1 loss to Northeastern during the third-place game of the Bean Pot on Monday. In its last five outings, the Crimson has gone 1-2-2 with its win coming against Brown (5-2) on Feb. 5.
Freshman forward Louis Leblanc, a Montreal Canadians prospect, leads the team with 10 goals and 19 points. He has registered three power-play goals and three game-winning goals.
Junior forward Michael Biega is second on the team with 17 points and he has posted a team-high 12 assists. Sophomore forward Alex Killorn is third with 16 points behind seven goals and nine assists.
In goal, juniors Kyle Richter and Ryan Carroll have split time in goal. Richter is 2-9-2 with a 3.74 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Carroll is 4-5-1 with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
>> Union-Harvard Series
Union head coach Nate Leaman was an assistant at Harvard before arriving at Union seven years ago. Last season, the Dutchmen registered its first home victory (3-1) against the Crimson since the 2000-01 season. Harvard has controlled the series, posting a 29-5-3 record, including a 7-2-1 record in the last 10 meetings.
Union is 2-15-1 all-time at Harvard with its last win (2-1) coming on Jan. 28, 2006.
>> Up Next for Union College
The Dutchmen return to Messa Rink for their final regular-season home games next weekend. Union hosts Princeton (10-11-2, 6-9-1) on Friday, Feb. 19 in “Whiteout Night”. The team then welcomes Quinnipiac (14-12-2, 8-8-0) on Saturday, Feb. 20, which is “Senior Night”. Both outings begin at 7 p.m.
