SCHENECTADY, NY - No. 11/12 Union (16-6-7, 10-3-4 ECAC Hockey) travels to Thompson Arena this weekend seeking its first regular season series sweep of Dartmouth (9-10-4, 6-7-3 ECAC Hockey) since the 1996-97 season. Union scored four power play goals en route to a 7-1 win over the Big Green on Jan. 7 at Messa Rink when the two teams last met. With a win on Friday night, the Dutchmen would also clinch home ice in the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs for the third straight season. Union currently sits atop the ECAC Hockey standings with 23 points, holding a three point lead over Cornell heading into the final three weeks of the regular season. Union's magic number to clinch a first round bye in the conference playoffs is five.

»Pacing the Dutchmen                                                             
Senior forward Kelly Zajac, who leads the Dutchmen in scoring with 31 points (six goals, 25 assists) has a career long 11-game point streak (three goals, 14 assists). Junior forward Wayne Simpeon (four goals, four assists, junior forward Kyle Bodie (two goals, five assists), and freshman defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (seven assists) each have points in the last four games. Junior forward Jeremy Welsh has 13 goals in his last 18 games. Welsh leads the team with 19 goals and enters the weekend as one of six players in the nation with 19 or more goals. 

»Zajac Sets School Assists Mark, Eyes Points Record                                                           
Senior forward Kelly Zajac leads the Dutchmen in scoring with seven goals and 28 assists. With 121 points (36 goals, 85 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 assists record in the DI era with two assists against Cornell on Feb. 3.  He is 10 points shy of the Division I scoring mark, also held by Presizniuk. With an assist against Clarkson on Nov. 5, Zajac became the 20th member of the Union College Century Club (100 career points), and just the seventh Union student-athlete in the Division I era to accomplish that feat.

»Road Warriors                                                                       
Union has established itself as one of college hockey's toughest road teams over the past two seasons. The Dutchmen are 9-4-3 on the road this season. Union is 27-14-6 in road contests over the past two-plus years, including a 13-game stretch in ECAC Hockey road contests (10-1-2) that dates back to the end of the 2010-11 season.  Union's eight-game stretch away from Messa Rink earlier this season which ended at Colorado College on Dec. 31, marked the longest stretch of games away from Schenectady for Union since the 2004-05 season, when the Dutchmen played nine consecutive contests at road/neutral sites from Nov. 19, 2004-Jan. 2, 2005.

»Simpson and Gostisbehere earn ECAC Hockey Weekly Awards                
Junior forward Wayne Simpson earned ECAC Hockey Player of the Week and freshman defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere earned ECAC Hockey Rookie of the week, the league announced Tuesday. Simpson had two multiple-point games this past weekend, scoring twice in a 3-1 win over No. 20 Colgate, and recording a goal and an assist in a 4-4 tie against No. 14 Cornell.

Gostisbehere had a standout weekend for the Dutchmen, with assists on five of Union's eight goals. On Saturday night against Cornell, Gostisbehere matched a school record for assists in a conference game with four on the night, as Union rallied from a two-goal deficit to earn the tie against the Big Red.

»Scouting Dartmouth               
Dartmouth is in the midst of a season-high four game winless streak (0-2-2) falling short against Quinnipiac, 2-1, in its most recent contest on Feb. 4. The streak began on Jan. 29, when the Big Green led 4-1 over Yale, only to see the Bulldogs rally for a 5-4 win at Thompson Arena.

Dartmouth's offense, which struggled at the beginning of the season, is averaging 3.5 goals/game over the past six contests. Dartmouth leading scorer Eric Robinson (10 goals, seven assists) has six points (three goals, three assists) during that span. Freshman Tyler Sikura (nine goals, eight assists), senior Doug Jones (seven goals, 10 assists) and sophomore Matt Lindblad (three goals, 14 assists) also have 17 points for the Big Green.

»The Union-Dartmouth Series           
In a series that dates back to 1977, the Big Green own a 23-16-6 advantage over the Dutchmen and a 20-15 -6 record in the Division I era. Union is 2-5-3 against Dartmouth in its last 10 games, but 2-1-1 in the last four contests. Union is in search of its first win at Thompson Arena since a 5-4 win on Feb. 12, 2019. In that contest, Union rallied back from a four-goal deficit, as Kyle Bodie capped off the comeback with a goal at 17:15 of the third period.

»The Last Meeting                   
On Jan. 7, sophomore forward Daniel Carr scored two of Union's four power play goals, and freshman forward Trevor Mingoia added a pair of scores to lead the No. 14 men's ice hockey to a 7-1 win over Dartmouth in front of 2,404 fans at Messa Rink.

Sophomore forward Josh Jooris matched a season high with three assists, and both Carr and Mingoia added assists to give Union three players with three-point nights. With the win, the Dutchmen snapped a three game winless streak (0-2-1) at Messa Rink, and earned their first home victory over the Big Green since Jan. 5, 2007. Sophomore forward Jeremy Welsh gave Union an early lead at even strength, firing a wrist shot over the blocker of Morris at 7:14 of the first period for his team-leading 14th goal of the season. The Dutchmen then went to work on their power play, which scored on three consecutive opportunities late in the first and early in the second period. Freshman defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere got Union rolling when his shot from the point deflected off Dartmouth's Andy Simpson and into the net at 15:23. With Union on another power play just over a minute later, Carr scored from just outside the goal crease at 17:07 to put the Dutchmen up 3-0 after one period of play.

Early in the second period, Mingoia scored his first of the night at the end of a power play opportunity that carried over from the first period, finishing from a wide angle at :47. Just over a minute later at even-strength, Union increased its lead to 5-0 on Mingoia's second of the night at 1:58 as Dartmouth pulled Morris in favor of Jody O'Neill. Sophomore goaltender Troy Grosenick made 29 saves, losing a shutout bid at 15:59 of the third period when Dartmouth's Jesse Beamish scored shorthanded. Union outshot Dartmouth 41-30 for the night and chased starting goaltender Cab Morris from the net in the second period after the Dutchmen scored their fifth goal of the night.

Union finished the night 4-of-6 with the man advantage while holding Dartmouth scoreless in three power play attempts. The Dutchmen improved to 7-0-3 on the season when scoring two or more power play goals in a game.

Union is 8-13-2 against Dartmouth at Thompson Arena, with a 1-2-2 record in its last five games on the road against the Big Green.

Dartmouth allows 3.09 goals/game (46th NCAA), and have allowed four or more goals in five of the last nine contests. Senior goaltender Jody O'Neill (1-2-2, 2.26 GAA, .927 save pct.) has started the last three games in net. Dartmouth is 14.8% (47th NCAA) on the power play and 75.2% (51st NCAA) on the penalty kill.

»Union in the Rankings
The Union men's ice hockey team moved up one spot to No. 11 in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and remained at No. 11 in the latest USCHO.com poll, both released Monday. Union was ranked in the USCHO.com poll for the 56th consecutive week. Union improved to 8-1-4 in its last 13 ECAC Hockey contests. The Dutchmen have been ranked in the USCHO.com poll since the Dec. 7, 2009 rankings, extending a school record. Union has been ranked in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll in 16 out of a possible 18 weeks this season.

»That's always a Plus                            
Union has three players among the top 10 in ECAC Hockey plus-minus leaders. Sophomore forward Matt Hatch leads the team and is fourth in the league with a plus-14 rating. Junior forward Wayne Simpson is tied for fifth with a plus-13 rating, as is senior forward Kelly Zajac, who also has a plus-13 rating.