SCHENECTADY, NY - The Union College men's ice hockey team (1-1-0) hopes to close out a two-game series at Bowling Green (0-1-1) with its second win of the season after picking up a 5-3 victory at BGSU Ice Arena last night. In that contest Union scored all of its goals on special teams (three PPGs, two SHGs), and were led by junior defenseman Mat Bodie (SHG, two assists) and freshman defenseman Sebastien Gingras (two PPGs). The Dutchmen finished the night 3-for-3 on the man advantage, and scored two shorthanded goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 14, 2012 in a 5-1 win over RPI at Messa Rink.
Over the past two seasons, the Dutchmen are 15-8-5 in regular season non-conference play, includ- ing a 8-7-2 mark in road/neutral site contests.
Union's last trip to BGSU Ice Arena was during the 2003-04 season, as Union went 1-0-1 in a two- game series on Oct. 24-25, 2003. In the first game of that series, current volunteer assistant coach Joel Beal '05 assisted on the game-winning goal in the first period of a 3-1 Union victory.
»Special Teams Success
The Dutchmen are off to a solid start in special teams play, one year fielding a power play which ranked fourth in the nation with a 24.2% efficiency rate and penalty kill unit which finished the season 12th in the nation at 84.5%. Last night against Bowling Green, the Dutchmen went 3-for-3 on the man advantage and scored two shorthanded goals on the penalty kill. Through two games, Union is 8-for-9 (88.9%) on the penaly kill and 3-for-8 (37.5%) on the power play.
»Road Warriors
Union has established itself as one of college hockey's toughest road teams over the past two seasons. Union is 30-15-6 in true road contests over the past two-plus years, including a 16-game stretch in ECAC Hockey road contests (12-2-2) that dates back to the end of the 2010-11 season.
Union will play 20 contests away from Messa Rink during the 2012-13 regular season, including a stretch of five straight road games starting with an Oct. 12-13 two-game series against Bowling Green this weekend as well as a season-long eight game stretch from Dec. 7-Jan. 12.
»Union Against the CCHA
Union played five contests against CCHA opponents in 2011-12, finishing the season 2-1-2 in those games, with the lone loss to Ferris State (3-1) in the Frozen Four. Union will play four games against CCHA opponents this season, including a two game series at Lake Superior St. on Jan. 4-5. The 2012-13 campaign will mark the CCHA's final season of existence before the conference disbands. Union is 10-11-5 all-time against CCHA teams.
»Scouting Bowling Green
Top Returning Players: So. F Ryan Carpenter (11 goals, 19 assists), So. F Dan DeSalvo (14 goals, 11 assists), Jr. F Camden Wojtala (10 goals, 13 assists), So. F Adam Berkle (7 goals, 14 assists), Sr. G Andrew Hammond (14-24-5, 2.73 GAA, .903 Save %)
Top Departing Players: Sr. F Cameron Sinclair (6 goals, 6 assists) Sr. F James McIntosh (2 goals, 0 assists)
Synopsis: While Bowling Green has not enjoyed a winning season since 1996-97, the Falcons closed the 2011-12 campaign on a high note, making the CCHA Semifinals with series wins over Northern Michigan and Ferris State, before falling 3-2 in double overtime to Michigan at Joe Louis Arena.
The Falcons return virtually everyone from a team that also took out Western Michigan and Michigan in the regular season.
»The Union-Bowling Green Series
The Union-Bowling Green series dates back to 1999, as the two teams first met in the consolation game of the Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Hockey Tournament on Dec. 30, 1999.
Bowling Green owns a 3-2-1 record in the all-time series, earning a 1-0 win at Messa Rink the last time these two teams met on Oct. 23, 2004, prior to this weekend
Union's last trip to BGSU Ice Arena was during the 2003-04 season.
The Dutchmen earned three of four points in a two game series, defeating the Falcons, 3-1, on Oct. 24, 2003 and earning a 1-1 tie the following night.
»Last Time Out
Bowling Green opened the season on the road with a 2-2 tie at Niagara on Oct. 6. Junior Cam Wojtala and senior Bobby Shea scored the Falcon goals, while senior goaltender Andrew Hammond stopped 28-of-30 shots faced. Bowling Green held a 2-1 lead late in the third period, but Niagara's Chris Lochner scored with under a minute left to help the Purple Eagles earn the tie.
On Sunday, Bowling Green defeated the Ontario Institute of Technology, 9-1 in an exhibition contest at BGSU Ice Arena.
»Last Meeting
On October 23, 2004 at Messa Rink, the Union College hockey team fell 1-0 to Bowling Green.
The loss dropped the Dutchmen to 0-4 on the season, marking Union's worst start since 1999 when the team lost its first five games.
Freshman Justin Mrazek got his first college start in goal for Union, making 29 saves.
Bowling Green came out firing with a 25-11 advantage in shots through the first two periods. Penalties proved to be a problem for both teams in the second period, as a total of 11 were handed out adding up to 22 minutes.
It was the Falcons who capitalized on the opportunity when Jonathan Matsumoto scored on the power play at 11:33 off an assist from Brett Pilkington. It was the second goal in as many games for the freshman who snuck the puck just inside the right post, past Mrazek.
Union was unable to crack Bowling Green goaltender Jordan Sigalet, who made 23 saves in the game. Their best scoring opportunity on Sigalet came with just under three minutes in the second period.
Union's Sam Bowles collected a pass right in front of the Falcons net and had the entire top half of the goal open, as Sigalet went down to prevent a low shot. Bowles sent his shot just over the crossbar though and it would be cleared out safely.
Bowling Green held a slight 30-23 advantage in shots as they swept just the second two-game series between the two teams in the history of both programs.
»Milestones in the Making
Early on in the 2012-13 season, Union has a number of players closing in on career milestones. Senior forward Wayne Simpson has nine game-winning goals for his career and is just one shy of the school record held by Scott Seney '06. Junior forward Daniel Carr is two goals shy of Seney's record.
Simpson (81 points) and Carr (78 points) could also become the ninth and tenth players to join the Union College Century Club in the Division I era this season. Carr is one power play goal shy of the school record held by Jordan Webb '05 (22 power play goals), while Simpson is two goals shy of the record.
After a goal and two assists last night, junior defenseman Mat Bodie (65 points) is just 14 points shy of the career points record by a defenseman in the Division I record held by Lane Caffaro '09 (79 points).
»Union Remains in Top 10
Union fell to No. 9 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and dropped to No. 10 in the USCHO.com Poll, both released on Monday. Union has appeared in the USCHO.com poll for 65 consecutive weeks since the Dec. 7, 2009 rankings, extending a school record.
The Dutchmen earned 581 points in the poll, and were the second-highest ranked ECAC Hockey team, below No. 5 Cornell (704 points). In the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, Union earned 227 points in the poll, and fell below No. 5 Cornell (284 points).
