SCHENECTADY, NY - The Union College men's ice hockey team (22-12-5, 10-8-4 ECAC Hockey) is just one win away from its second straight trip to the Frozen Four after a 5-1 win over No. 2 seed Boston College in the NCAA East Regional Semifinals in Providence, RI. Tonight, the No. 3 seed Dutchmen will face a familiar foe, No. 1 seed Quinnipiac (28-7-5, 17-2-3 ECAC Hockey). The Bobcats earned their first NCAA Tournament win at the Division I level last night, rallying from a two-goal third period deficit to beat No. 4 seed Canisius, 4-3. Union will be playing it's sixth ever NCAA Tournament contest tonight, but its first ever against an ECAC Hockey opponent. Quinnipiac won both games earlier this season, defeating Union 4-0 at Messa Rink on Nov. 30 and 3-2 at home on Jan. 12.
»Scoring First in NCAA Tournament Contests
Since a 2-0 loss to Minnesota-Duluth in the 2011 NCAA East Regional Semifinals, Union has scored first in four straight NCAA Tournament games since, with a record of 3-1 in those contests.
»Jooris and Carr Elevating Their Game In Postseason
Junior forwards Josh Jooris and Daniel Carr have each been two of Union's best postseason players over the past three seasons. In the midst of a seven-game point streak (five goals, three assists), Jooris, who had two goals last night against BC, is Union's active postseason points leader with 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) in 16 career postseason games. Carr, who has two assists last night, owns a six game point streak (four goals, five as- sists), and is right behind Jooris with 14 points (7 goals, 7 assists) in 16 postseason contests.
»Union In The NCAA Tournament
2013 will mark the program's seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history and third straight in the Division I era. Union has earned an automatic bid to the tournament as ECAC Hockey Tournament champi- ons for the past two seasons. In 2012, Union earned a trip to the Frozen Four with wins over UMass-Lowell and Michigan State as the No. 1 seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Ferris State, 3-1, in the national semifinals. In 2011, Union earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament as an at-large se- lection but fell 2-0 to eventual national champion Minnesota-Duluth. The Dutchmen earned a bid to the Division III NCAA Tournament four times, the last coming in 1989, when Union fell to Babson in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
»Grosenick Continues Run of Solid Play in Net
Junior goaltender Troy Grosenick has been at his best during Union's seven game winning streak, allowing just six goals in six starts during that span. Grosenick is 6-0-0 with a 1.03 goals-against average and .966 save % in his last six games.
»Union's Stellar Special Teams
Union is the only team in the nation with a power play and penalty kill unit among the top 7 in the nation. Union's power play is No. 3 in the nation at 23.8% (43-for-181) on the season, while its penalty kill is No. 7 in the nation at 87.3% (137-for-157). Union is 26 for its last 27 on the penalty kill and has scored a PPG in 27 of 39 games this season, with a record of 15-7-5 in those contests.
»The Last Meeting
HAMDEN, CT – On Jan. 12, senior forward Wayne Simpson (goal, assist) recorded his 100th and 101st career points, and senior defenseman Greg Coburn added a goal, but No. 16 Union men's ice hockey fell 3-2 at No. 5/5 Quinnipiac. Union took a 2-0 lead into
the third period, but Quinnipiac answered with three goals in the final frame. Union started the third period with over four minutes of power play time, including 3:00 of 5-on-3 time after two major penalties to Travis St. Denis and Con- nor Jones late in the second period. Quinnipiac goaltender Eric Hartzell (15 saves) made a sliding stop on sophomore forward Max Novak during the Union power play, his best save dur- ing the penalty kill to keep the Bobcats within striking distance. Quinnipiac's Mike Dalhuisen scored on a shot from the left point at 6:23 to pull the Bobcats within a goal. At 11:12, with junior forward Cole Ikkala in the penalty box for interference, Jordan Samuels-Thomas tied the game, jamming in a rebound off a shot by Dalhuisen to knot the game at 2-2. Kellen Jones scored the game winner on another rebound chance off a defensive zone turnover at 13:06.
Union special teams play helped the Dutchmen take a two-goal lead heading into the first break, as the Dutchmen scored twice on the power play in the first period and killed off three Quinnipiac power plays. Simpson struck for his milestone goal after an errant clear by Quinnipiac found him in the slot all alone with the puck. Simpson fired over the right shoul-
der of Hartzell at 5:22 to give the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead. Union struck again on the man advantage after Russell Goodman was sent off for high sticking at 10:27. Simpson set up the goal, firing a shot off the pad of Hartzell. The rebound fell right to sophomore forward Daniel Ciampini, who found Coburn open on the far side, and the senior found the open net to put Union up 2-0 at 11:33. Play got chippy at the end of the second period as Quinnipiac took two major penalties at the end of the frame. Travis St. Denis was sent off for butt-ending Shayne Gostisbehere, who also received a 2:00 penalty on the play. Just 27 seconds later, Con- nor Jones elbowed Daniel Carr as he skated across the blueline in the offensive zone, giving the Dutchmen extended power play time head- ing into the final period of play.
»The Union-Quinnipiac Series
Union and Quinnipiac will meet for the 25th time on Sunday night and Quinnipiac has a slight edge in the all-time series at 10-10-3. The Dutchmen are 5-3-2 in the last 10 meetings, but just 1-2-2 in the last five regular season contests.
»A Memorable Game in ECAC Hockey Postseason Play
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.
»Scouting Quinnipiac
Top Players (2012-13 stats): Sr. F Jeremy Langlois (12 goals, 18 assists), Sr. F Jordan Samuels-Thomas (15 goals, 11 assists), So.
F Matthew Peca (12 goals, 14 assists), Jr. F, Connor Jones (12 goals, 12 assists), Jr. F Kellen Jones (11 goals, 12 assists), Sr. D Loren Barron (3 goals, 13 assists), Sr. D Zach Davies (2 goals, 12 assists), Sr. G Eric Hartzell (39 GP, 28-6-5, 1.56 GAA, .932 Save %)
Synopsis: Since its 21-game unbeaten streak (18-0-3) was snapped on Feb. 15 in a 2-1 loss to St. Lawrence, Quinnipiac had an up-and- down finish to their regular season relative to their early season success. The Bobcats went 2-2-1 in their last five regular season games, then after needing three games to beat Cornell in the ECAC Quarterfinals, fell 4-0 to Brown in the Semifinals. But Hartzell, the ECAC Hockey Player/Goaltender of the Year rebounded with a shutout win against Yale in the ECAC Consolation Game to help Quinnipiac solidify the No. 1 overall seed heading into the NCAA Tournament. Led by Hartzell and Davies, ECAC's Best Defensive Defenseman, Quinnipiac has the nation's No. 1 scoring defense at 1.65 goals allowed/game. Quinnipiac's penalty killing has also been among the nation's best, as the Bobcats are No. 1 in the nation at 91.1% (153-for-168). Union went 2-for-8 on the power play the last time the two teams met.
»How They Got Here
Matthew Peca, Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Kevin Bui scored in a 6:26 span in the third period and top-seeded Quinnipiac overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Canisius 4-3 on Saturday night in the NCAA East Regional semifinals.
Down 3-1, Quinnipiac cut it to one on Peca's goal at 8:02 of the third period. Samuels- Thomas tied it on a power play with 9:18 to go at 10:42, and Bui beat goalie Tony Capobianco off a rebound with 5:32 left. Connor Jones had a goal and an assist for the Bobcats.
