SCHENECTADY, NY - No. 9/9 Union (7-3-4, 3-2-1 ECAC Hockey) will take on Princeton (4-7-1, 3-5-0 ECAC Hockey) this afternoon in the final league contest of 2011 for the Dutchmen. Union plays their fourth straight contest on the road, in the midst of a season long eight-game stretch away from Messa Rink. Last night, Union rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie Quinnipiac 2-2 on goals in the second and third periods by senior forward Brian Yanovitch and junior forward Jeremy Welsh. Freshman goaltender Colin Stevens made 31 saves in his third start of the season.
Princeton earned a 5-3 win over Rennselaer last night and have now won two straight games for the first time this season. Sophomore forward Andrew Calof scored twice for the Tigers, including the game-winner at 7:06 of the third period.
»Road Warriors
Union has established itself as one of college hockey's toughest road teams over the past two seasons. The Dutchmen, 6-1-2 on the road this season, are 24-11-5 in road contests over the past two-plus years, including a current 16-game stretch (13-1-2) that includes the final seven (7-0-0) road games of the 2010-11 season.
»Starting Off Strong
Union has scored in the first period of 11 of its first 14 games this season and has a 7-1-3 record in those contests. The Dutchmen have scored their opposition 21-11 in the opening frame. Union has scored a goal in the first 10:00 of the first period in seven contests this season (4-1-2) and have twice scored in the first minute of games this season (10/22 vs. RIT and 11/11 vs. Brown).
»Union Dominant on Faceoffs
Over the past two seasons, Union has established itself as a dominant faceoff team. Dating back to the beginning of last season, Union has won the faceoff battle in 48 of the last 54 contests, includ- ing 12 of the first 14 games of 2011-12. This season, Union has a combined faceoff record of 543-429 (.559), with junior forward Jeremy Welsh (113-64, .638) leading the way.
»Union Taking Advantage of the Man Advantage
The Dutchmen have gotten off to another hot start on the power play, which ranks sixth the nation at 25.4% (18-for-71). Union has scored two or more power play goals in seven contests this season (5-0-2). The Dutchmen have scored a power play goal in nine of 14 games this season and are unbeaten (7-0-2) in those contests.
»The Union-Princeton Series
Union is 7-3-0 in the last 10 meetings with Princeton and 13-6-1 in the last 20.
Saturday's contest will be the 49th all-time between the two schools and the 45th in Union's Division I history. The all-time series between the two schools is even at 22-22-4. Union holds a 21-20-4 advantage in the DI era. Union is 11- 14-1 all time at Hobey Baker Rink.
»Scouting Princeton
Princeton (4-7-1, 3-5-0 ECAC Hockey) lost three of its top four goal scorers to graduation and has struggled to put the puck in the net in the early stages of the 2011-12 season. The Tigers ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Providence in the second game of the Denver Cup on Nov. 26 and picked up a 5-3 win over RPI last night.
The Tigers are 49th in the country in scoring offense with 27 goals in their first 12 games (2.25 goals per game) this season, while allowing 3.00 goals per game. Leading the way up front for the Tigers are junior forward Rob Kleebaum (six goals, one assist), sophomore forward Jack Berger (four goals, three assists) and sophomore forward Andrew Calof (three goals, five assists). Calof, who had two goals last night, was Princeton's leading scorer with 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists) in 32 games as a freshman in 2010-11.Sophomore Sean Bonar (4-5-1, .906 save%, 2.85 GAA) has seen the majority of starts in net and made 28 saves in the win against RPI. Princeton is T-28th in the country on the power play at 19.1% and 20th on the penalty kill at 84.8%
