CANTON, NY - No. 18 Union men's hockey (13-9-5, 6-5-4 ECAC Hockey) returns to action tonight against St. Law- rence (12-11-4, 5-6-4 ECAC Hockey), with both teams looking to rebound from one-goal losses on Friday night. Last night, the Saints fell 4-3 in overtime to RPI on CJ Lee's goal at 2:31 of the extra frame, snapping a six-game unbeaten streak for St. Lawrence (4-0-2). Junior forward Greg Carey (goal, two assists) and senior forward Kyle Flanagan (goal, assist) each have six game point streaks heading into tonight's contest. Union has won seven straight games against St. Lawrence dating back to the 2008-09 season.
»Last Night's Contest
Junior forward Josh Jooris scored his seventh goal of the season, but Union fell, 2-1, to Clarkson (7-13-7, 6-6-3 ECAC Hockey) in front of 2,226 fans at Cheel Arena. For the game, Union outshot Clarkson 28-18, including a 12-4 advantage in the third period. But Clarkson goaltender Greg Lewis (27 saves) was solid in net for the Golden Knights, who snapped a nine-game losing streak to Union dating back to Jan. 23, 2009. Sam Labrecque scored a first period goal, and Allan McPherson tacked on the deciding score on a Clarkson power play in the second period. Sopho- more goaltender Colin Stevens made 11 saves in relief of junior Troy Grosenick (five saves), who was pulled after McPherson's goal at 6:38 of the second period.
»Union In ECAC Hockey Play
At 6-5-4 in conference play, Union, the defending Cleary Cup and Whitelaw Cup champions, has continued a run of success in league play over the past three seasons. Union is 18-7-8 in its last 33 league games dating back to Nov. 12, 2011, when the Dutchmen fell 4-0 at home against Yale last season.
»Mat Bodie Nears Career Points Record
After notching a goal against Dartmouth last Friday, junior defenseman Mat Bodie (77 points) is just 2 points shy of the Union career points record by a defenseman in the Division I era record held by Lane Caffaro '09 (79 points).
»Union's Stellar Special Teams
The Dutchmen are off to a solid start in special teams play, bettering impressive numbers from a season ago. Through 27 games, Union is 95-for-107 (88.8%, 6th NCAA) on the penalty kill and 32-for-126 (25.4%, 1st NCAA) on the power play. Union is the only team in the nation to have top- 6 power play and penalty kill units.
»Power Play Parity
With 32 power play goals on the season, Union has scored more goals on the man advantage than any team in the country, and has nine different players with two or more power play goals.
»The Union-St. Lawrence Series
Since Feb. 22, 1929, the Saints have posted a 33-23-2 record against the Dutchmen with a 29-19-0 Division I mark.
Saturday's game will be the 59th meeting all-time between the two teams. Union has won the last seven games against St. Lawrence, including a 6-0 win at Messa Rink last January. Union is 10-18-0 all time against St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena, but has won the last three meetings there.
»Scouting St. Lawrence
Top Players (2012-13 stats): Jr. F Greg Carey (18 goals, 19 assists), Sr. F Kyle Flanagan (12 goals, 24 assists), Sr. D George Hughes (4 goals, 20 assists), Jr. F Jeremy Wick (10 goals, 8 assists), So. F Gunnar Hughes (5 goals, 13 assists), Jr. G Matt Weninger (12-10-4, 2.76 GAA, .912 Save %)
Synopsis: The Saints continue to be a streaky team in 2012-13, but are on the upswing currently, with a 4-0-2 record in their last six games. Junior forward Greg Carey and senior forward Kyle Flanagan are No. 1 and 2 in ECAC Hockey in scoring and both legitimate Hobey Baker Award candidates. Each have points in each of their last five games and form one of the top forward lines in the nation with junior Jeremy Wick. Carey has been even better in league play, leading the league in scoring and goals (10) in conference play. St. Lawrence has improved defensively from a season ago, allowing 2.85 goals/game, down nearly a half goal from last season. The Saints are tied for 18th in the nation in scoring at 3.00 goals/game. The Saints are 23rd in the nation on the PP at 17.7%, and 38th on the PK at 82.1%.
»The Last Meeting
On Jan. 28, 2012, Matt Hatch had two goals and an assist, and Wayne Simpson added three assists to help Union earn a 6-0 win over St. Lawrence.
Union earned its seventh straight win over St. Lawrence and swept the season series against the North Country travel partners (St. Lawrence, Clarkson) for the third straight year. Troy Grosenick stopped all 26 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, as Union outshot St. Lawrence 41-26 for the game. Kelly Zajac, Jeremy Welsh, Mat Bodie, and Max Novak all scored for the Dutchmen, who netted all of their goals at even-strength.
Zajac gave Union an early lead at 10:30 of the first period, stuffing in shot at the near post off a feed from Simpson for his sixth goal of the season. Welsh followed with his team leading 18th goal of the season on a similar play just over two minutes later. With time winding down in the frame, Mat Bodie pounced on a rebound, skating from the point to put in a Zajac rebound with just 3.8 seconds remaining in the period.
Hatch scored the first of his pair of goals early in the third period, beating Weninger over the shoulder on a rush up the wing at 3:39.
Junior forward Kyle Bodie took a pass from freshman forward Daniel Ciampini and set up a tap in goal for Novak at 9:52, helping Union increase its lead to 5-0. Hatch scored his second goal of the night at 18:23, carrying the puck in from the neutral zone and beating Weninger over the shoulder to give Union its sixth goal of the night.
