ALBANY, NY – Union College men's ice hockey head coach Nate Leaman has been named the ECAC Hockey 2009-10 Tim Taylor Award Coach of the Year, the conference announced Monday.

 

Under Leaman's direction, Union has posted a school-record 20 victories, including a program-best 12 conference win, and earned a spot in the ECAC Hockey Semifinals for the first time in the team's 19-year Division I history. 

 

Selected to finish sixth in both the coaches' preseason and media polls, the Dutchmen earned a No. 3 seed in the league's postseason tournament. Union's .622 winning percentage overall is twelfth in the country and the highest all-time in school history. 

 

Leaman guided Union to a 10-game unbeaten streak (Nov. 6 - Dec. 9) tied for longest in team history --the 1993-94 team had gone 8-0-2.  Union also opened the conference schedule with a 7-0-3 mark, which was the best start and longest ECAC Hockey unbeaten streak in team history. The Dutchmen were solid at both ends of the ice finishing second in team scoring offense (3.68 G/GM) and third in scoring defense (2.73 G/GM) in conference action.

 

With 10 student-athletes recording double-digit points, the Dutchmen are putting together some of the best offensive numbers in the program's history. A 7-0 win at UConn on Dec. 12 gave Leaman his 100th victory of his career -- all at Union College. Leaman's squad placed three student-athletes on the all-league teams and one on the all-rookie team this season.

 

The other finalists for the award were Keith Allain, Yale, Joe Marsh, St. Lawrence, and Don Vaughan, Colgate.