SCHENECTADY, NY - With four games to play in the regular season Union (17-6-7. 11-3-4 ECAC Hockey) sits alone atop the ECAC Hockey standings with 26 points, one head of Cornell and three ahead of Colgate in the race for the Cleary Cup. The Dutchmen have already clinched home ice in their opening series of the ECAC Hockey playoffs, and need just one point to clinch a first round bye. Union hosts Princeton (7-12-6, 5-10-3 ECAC Hockey) Friday night before taking on Quinnipiac (15-10-5, 7-7-4 ECAC Hockey) Saturday night, a game that will be followed by Senior Night ceremonies. Both games will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports.
 
»Pacing the Dutchmen                                                            
Senior forward Kelly Zajac, who leads the Dutchmen in scoring with 37 points (eight goals, 29 assists) has a career long 12-game point streak (four goals, 15 assists) and is tied for third in the nation with 29 assists. Junior forward Wayne Simpeon (four goals, six assists) and junior forward Kyle Bodie (two goals, six assists) each have points in the last five games. Junior forward Jeremy Welsh has 13 goals in his last 19 games. Welsh leads the team with 19 goals and enters the weekend as one of eight players in the nation with 19 or more goals. 
 
»Zajac Seeking More History                                                             
Senior forward Kelly Zajac leads the Dutchmen in scoring with eight goals and 29 assists. Zajac needs one assist to establish the school single-season assists record in the Division I era, previously set by current volunteer assistant coach Joel Beal ('05) in 2001-02. With 123 points (37 goals, 86 assists), Zajac is currently in sole possession of second place on the Union scoring list in the Division I era and passed Adam Presizniuk '11 for the career assists record in the DI era with an assist against Cornell on Feb. 4.  He is eight points shy of the Division I scoring mark (131 points), also held by Presizniuk.
 
»Home Is Where The Heart Is
Dating back to the beginning of last season, the Dutchmen have an impressive record (22-4-5) in their last 31 regular season home games at Messa Rink. Not including exhibition contests, the Dutchmen are 146-137-45 all-time at home in the Division I era.
 
»A Closing Mentality in January and February                                                                      
Over the past two seasons, Union has made a habit of playing their best hockey in January and February. Union finished the month of January with a 6-1-1 record in eight games, the team's best month since finishing February 2011 with a record of 7-0-1. Union is 8-1-2 in its last 11 games, all ECAC Hockey contests, since the calendar turned to 2012. In 2010-11 and 2009-10 combined, the Dutchmen compiled a 13-3-1 record in January and February at Messa Rink in ECAC Hockey contests.
 
»Scouting Princeton
The Tigers have proven to be a dangerous team in ECAC Hockey, earning points in games against each of the top four teams in the league this season. While Princeton suffered a North Country sweep last weekend, they continue to be a dangerous third period team, outscoring opponents 30-26 in the final period of regulation this season.

Leading Princeton on offense is Andrew Calof, who has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 25 games played. Marc Hagel has points in four straight games. Jack Berger is second on the team with 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) and defenseman Michael Sdao, a draft pick of the Ottawa Senators, has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists). Sdao is fifth among ECAC Hockey defenseman in points per game.
 
Sophomore goaltender Sean Bonar (4-8-3, 3.02 GAA, .898 save pct.) has seen the last two starts in net and started against Union on Dec. 3 in a 3-3 tie the last time the two teams met. Bonar has split time with Mike Condon (3-4-3, 2.92 GAA, .911 save pct.). Princeton is tied for 44th in the country in scoring offense (2.60 goals/game) and tied for 47th in scoring defense (3.12 goals allowed/game).
 
»The Union-Princeton Series           
Union is 6-3-1 in the last 10 meetings with Princeton and 12-6-2 in the last 20.
 
Friday's contest will be the 50th all-time between the two schools and the 47th in Union's Division I history. The all-time series between the two schools is even at 22-22-5. Union holds a 21-20-5 advantage in the DI era. Union is 11-8-3 against Princeton at Messa Rink.
 
»The Last Meeting                  
On Dec. 3, freshman forward Trevor Mingoia scored his first collegiate goal, and junior forward Jeremy Welsh and sophomore forward Kevin Sullivan each had a goal and an assist as No. 9 Union men's ice hockey skated to a 3-3 tie at Princeton in front of 1,896 fans at Hobey Baker Rink.
 
Princeton's Jack Berger scored twice in the third period to help the Tigers rally from a three-goal deficit in the third period. Princeton's Andrew Ammon started the rally by jamming in a rebound at 2:21 to cut Union's lead to 3-1. The Tigers would pull to within a goal on Berger's goal from the high slot at 9:54 of the third period. Berger scored at 18:46 on a wrist shot over Stevens' glove to cap the rally. Each team had two shots in overtime. Princeton outshot Union 14-2 in the third period and held a 31-17 shot advantage for the game. The Dutchmen scored two first period goals, continuing a trend of strong opening periods. Freshman forward Trevor Mingoia recorded his first collegiate goal set up by his linemates Jeremy Welsh and Kevin Sullivan.

Welsh kept a fluttering puck in at the blue line and fed to Sullivan, who found Mingoia alone in the slot. Mingoia finished over the shoulder of Bonar to give the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead at 10:37 of the first period. Just over two minutes later, Yanovitch cut to his backhand and beat Bonar between the pads at 13:00 to put Union up 2-0. Welsh gave Union a 3-0 lead at 10:07 of the second period. Sullivan skated into the Union zone and found Welsh all alone near the circle after a Princeton defenseman fell down. Welsh fired into the top corner over the glove of Bonar to move into 10th on the school's all-time scoring list with 37 career goals.
 
Union finished the game 0-for-2 with the man advantage while holding Princeton scoreless on five power play chances.
 
»Scouting Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac enters the weekend with an opportunity to wrap up home ice in the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs. The Bobcats can still finish as high as second place in the ECAC Hockey standings. Quinnipiac is 8-4-3 in its last 15 games, and is averaging 3.27 goals/game over that span.
 
Sophomore forward Connor Jones leads Quinnipiac with 31 points (seven goals, 24 assists) and is third in ECAC Hockey in assists. Jeremy Langlois (16 goals, nine assists) leads Quinnipiac in goal scoring and Kellen Jones (10 goals, 15 assists), who did not play against Union the first time the two teams met on Dec. 2, has also been a steady contributor on offense. Junior goaltender Eric Hartzell (8-7-5, 2.19 GAA, .909 save pct.) and senior goaltender Dan Clarke (7-3-0, 2.50 GAA, .889 save pct.) have split time in net. Both were pulled in their last starts entering the weekend, Clarke in a 4-3 loss at St. Lawrence, and Hartzell in a 7-6 win at Clarkson, though Hartzell re-entered against the Golden Knights to earn the victory.
 
Quinnipiac averages 3.23 goals/game (13th NCAA) and allows 2.43 goals/game (13th NCAA).
 
»The Union-Quinnipiac Series           
Union and Quinnipiac will meet for the 22nd time on Saturday night and the teams are even with a 9-9-3 series mark. The Dutchmen are 6-2-2 in the last 10 meetings, and are 3-0-2 in the last five regular season contests. On March 12, 2010 and into March 13, 2010, Union and Quinnipiac played the longest game in NCAA history, timing in at 150:22. The Bobcats' Greg Holt netted the game-winner at 1:03 a.m. in the fifth overtime, giving his team a 3-2 victory in the opening game of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, a series that the Dutchmen would go onto win in three games.
 
»The Last Meeting                        
On Dec. 2, junior forward Jeremy Welsh scored early in the third period to help No. 9/9 Union earn a 2-2 tie against Quinnipiac in front of 2,477 fans at TD Bank Sports Center. Welsh fired a pass towards the slot that deflected off Quinnipiac's Connor Jones and into the net at 2:27 of the third period to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Senior forward Brian Yanovitch added a goal for the Dutchmen in the second period. Union went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 midway through the third period.
 
Freshman goaltender Colin Stevens stopped 31 shots for Union in his third career start. The Bobcats, who finished 2-for-7 with the man advantage, built a 2-0 lead in the second period on two power play goals. The Dutchmen killed of the first three penalties of the game, but were unable to keep the Bobcats off the scoreboard on their fourth power play opportunity of the game early in the second period. With freshman defenseman Charlie Vasaturo in the penalty box for tripping, Quinnipiac's Zach Tolkinen fired a wrist shot through traffic that beat Stevens over the shoulder at 4:23.
 
Quinnipiac would add to its lead just over a minute later, with Union's Kevin Sullivan in the penalty box for tripping. Quinnipiac defenseman Zach Davies put in his own rebound at 6:16 to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. Union cut into the lead at even strength on a strong effort behind the net by Sullivan. After a minute of sustained pressure in the Quinnipiac zone, junior defenseman Greg Coburn fed Sullivan behind the net. Sullivan created space and fed Yanovitch in the slot, who fired over the shoulder of Hartzell at 10:26.
 
The game remained scoreless after the first period, with the scoring chances few for both teams.