SCHENECTADY, NY -- After 12 days without a game, the 17
th-ranked and third-seeded Union College men's ice hockey team returns to the ice, welcoming seventh-seeded Quinnipiac to Messa Rink for the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey playoffs. The action will take place on Friday (Mar. 12), Saturday (Mar. 13) and – if necessary – Sunday (Mar. 14). Puck drop for each outings is slated for 7 p.m.
The Dutchmen (18-10-6) enter the weekend after finishing third in the conference standings with a program-best 12-6-4 record. The Bobcats (19-16-2) posted an 11-11-0 league mark and defeated 10th-seeded Dartmouth in three games to advance to the second round.
Friday and Saturday's games will be televised locally on Time Warner Sports (Ch. 3) with Matt Dubrey and Dan Fridgen providing the coverage. Brian Unger '93 will have the call on WRUC 89.7 FM and online at
Teamline.cc. Dubrey and Unger will reunite on radio for a potential game three call on Sunday.
Live stats will be available at UnionAthletics.com and live video will be provided by
B2TV.com. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter at
@UnionHockey.
The Dutchmen are hosting a playoff series for the seventh time in eight years and are hosting a quarterfinal round for the second time in three seasons. They have advanced to the second round in each of the past three seasons. In 2008-09, Union earned the program's first postseason series win with a two game sweep of Clarkson, advancing to the quarterfinals at Princeton. In 2007-08, the garnet and white finished fourth in the regular season and hosted Cornell in the second round.
Leading Union into the postseason is senior forward
Jason Walters, who only two points away from becoming Union's all-time Division I points leader. Entering the weekend, he has 113 points, trailing Jordan Webb's 114 points between 2001-05. Walters is also four assists away from taking over the top spot for career assists. His 71 helpers trail Joel Beal's 74 from 2001-05.
>> Scouting Quinnipiac
10th-seeded Dartmouth took seventh-seeded Quinnipiac to the limit in the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs. After the Bobcats claimed a 3-2 win during game one, the Big Green responded with a 6-3 victory in game two. Quinnipiac took the deciding game, 2-1, thanks to an early second period, game-winning goal by sophomore Ben Ketchum.
Senior Brandon Wong is the team's top scorers with 39 points behind a team-best 18 goals, including 13 power-play and four game-winning tallies. Senior Eric Lampe is next with 35 points, including a team-high 23 assists. In all, Quinnipiac has five players with 20-or-more points and 11 players with 10-or-more points.
>> The Series
Friday's game will only be the 16th all-time meeting between Union and Quinnipiac and the Bobcats own a 8-6-1 series mark. However, last year Union went 2-1-0, including a 6-5 season-opening victory at the 2009 Omaha Stampede.
In the last five outings, Union is 4-1-0, and in the last 10 they are 5-4-1.
Union is 2-3-1 all-time against Quinnipiac at Messa Rink.
>> Playoff Action
These two teams met in the first round of the 2006-07 ECAC Hockey playoffs. As a five seed, Quinnipiac knocked off 12th-seeded Union in two games. The first outing was a 3-1 decision, while the second was determined in overtime, 5-4.
