This Weekend
The No. 15 Union College Dutchmen return to conference action this weekend, Jan. 11-12, heading up north to take on No. 16 Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Both games on Friday and Saturday are set to begin at 7 p.m. (ET).
Media Coverage
Matt Dubrey and Brian Unger will have the call this weekend at Cheel Arena and Appleton Arena. Both games will be streamed on ESPN Plus in the United States and through StretchInternet internationally. Live audio streams will also be available for free on UnionAthletics.com. Live stats for the games will be available through the host teams' websites.
Social Media
Receive real-time updates during all Union men's hockey games by following the team's official Twitter account @UnionMHockey. Additional behind-the-scenes looks are also available through the team's official Instagram account, UnionMHockey.
Union Partners with ESPN+ For Hockey Streams
Union fans across the country will be able to stream all Union home and select ECAC Hockey games through ESPN.com and the redesigned ESPN App, for just $4.99 a month. Fans can sign up for the service by visiting Plus.ESPN.com
For fans living outside the United States, Union and many other ECAC Hockey schools have partnered with Stretch Internet to provide coverage for games this season, giving all fans the same opportunity to watch ECAC Hockey games for $4.99 a month or $2.99 per game. International fans can access the ECAC Hockey video portal at Portal.StretchInternet.com/ECACHockey
Last Time Out
Union College began the new year with a huge 7-2 win over No. 1 St. Cloud State in the opening game of the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh. The seven goals was a season-high for the Dutchmen, besting their five-goal outings against Omaha, Quinnipiac and Canisius. The following night, Union dropped a 6-3 decision to Brown in the championship game at PPG Paints Arena.
Union vs #1 St. Cloud State - Jan. 4 - UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex
Union Goals:
Ryan Walker (2x),
Brandon Estes (2x),
Parker Foo,
Sebastian Vidmar,
Brett Supinski
St. Cloud State Goalie: Dávid Hrenák (L) - 13 saves, 6 goals against
Jeff Smith - 5 saves, 1 goal against
Union Goalie:
Darion Hanson (W) - 36 saves, 2 goals against
Power Play: Union 0-2, St. Cloud State 1-2
Noteworthy:
Cole Maier had a four-point outing, a career-high for the senior, recording four assists on the night. Both
Liam Morgan and
Brandon Estes also both had career-best three-point nights. Estes scored two goals and assisted on one, while Morgan picked up three assists.
Sebastian Vidmar and
Ryan Walker both had two-point nights, as Walker scored twice and Vidmar scored one and earned one assist. Union scored two goals in both the first and second periods, then scored three in the third. The Dutchmen were unable to convert on two power-play chances in the game, which included a five-minute major. Sophomore
Darion Hanson made 36 saves in net for Union, and only conceded one even-strength goal to the Huskies. Of his 36 saves, 17 came in the third period alone.
Union vs Brown - Jan. 5 - PPG Paints Arena
Union Goals:
Jack Adams,
Anthony Rinaldi (PP),
Lucas Breault (PP)
Brown Goalie: Gavin Nieto (W) - 37 saves, 3 goals against
Union Goalie:
Darion Hanson - 4 saves, 3 goals against
Jake Kupsky (L) - 16 saves, 2 goals against
Power Play: Union 2-4, Brown 1-1
Noteworthy: Union scored three-straight goals, but never got closer than 5-3.
Lucas Breault scored his first collegiate goal while on the power play to bring Union within one goal midway through the second period. The Dutchmen out-shot the Bears, 40-26, including 14-4 in the third period, but were unable to recover from the four-goal deficit suffered during the first period. Brown was 1-for-1 on the power play, while Union was 2-for-4 on the man advantage.
vs Clarkson
Union defeated Clarkson, 3-2, earlier this season at Messa Rink on Nov. 3. The Golden Knights scored first in the contest and held a 1-0 lead at the first intermission, but power-play goals from
Ryan Walker and
Brett Supinski gave Union the lead to start the third. A goal from Clarkson's Nico Sturm tied the game up early in the third, but the first collegiate goal from
Michael Ryan minutes later proved to be the game-winner.
Despite the win on Nov. 3, and Union holding a 6-4-0 record against the Golden Knights in the past 10 meetings, Clarkson holds an all-time record of 16-10-1 against the Dutchmen at Cheel Arena.
Scouting the Golden Knights
Clarkson enters the weekend as the No. 16 team in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, and also as the No. 16 team in the PairWise rankings. The Golden Knights have a 12-6-0 overall record and are coming off a 3-2 overtime win at Vermont on Jan. 6. Prior to that, Clarkson defeated nationally-ranked Arizona State and Minnesota Duluth to win the Desert Hockey Classic, Dec. 28-29.
Junior forwards Nico Sturm and Haralds Egle lead Clarkson in scoring this season. Sturm has totaled 21 points off of nine goals and 12 assists, while Egle has 19 points from eight goals and 11 assists. In net, junior Jake Kielly holds a 12-6-0 record with a .927 save percentage and a 1.95 goals-against average.
vs St. Lawrence
Union skated to a 4-1 win against St. Lawrence back on Nov. 2 at Messa Rink.
Jack Adams scored twice in the contest, while
Brandon Estes and
Ryan Walker added goals to help propel the Dutchmen to their first conference win of the season.
Just like with Clarkson, Union trails in the all-time series against the Saints in games played at Appleton Arena. Union holds a 10-21-0 record against the Saints at Appleton, but most recently won there last season by a score of 4-2 on Nov. 3, 2017.
Scouting the Saints
St. Lawrence enters the weekend with a 3-14-1 overall record and a 1-4-1 record in conference play, their lone conference win coming against Clarkson on Dec. 7. The Saints are coming off two losses this past weekend, 7-1 vs Air Force and 6-3 vs UConn, during the Ice Vegas Tournament, Jan. 4-5.
Junior forward Carson Gicewicz currently leads the Saints in scoring with eight points, stemming from two goals and six assists. A total of 20 skaters for St. Lawrence have recorded at least a point so far this season. In net, the Saints have split the majority of time between senior Arthur Brey and junior Daniel Mannella. Freshman Emil Zetterquist has also seen 22 percent of the team's minutes in net, and recorded his first collegiate win against Minnesota on Nov. 16.
Best of the Month
Cole Maier was named ECAC Hockey's Player of the Month for October. The senior forward led all conference skaters with 10 points in the month, scoring four goals, including two game winners, and picking up six assists. He was also named the league's first Player of the Week this season, after a five-point weekend against Omaha, Oct. 12-13.
Leading the nation with a .972 save percentage and a 0.97 goals-against average during the month of November,
Darion Hanson was named ECAC Hockey's Goalie of the Month and the Hockey Commissioners Association Goalie of the Month. He finished the month with 104 saves (34.6 per game), posting a 2-0-1 record. After a 34-save performance against Quinnipiac on Nov. 10, the sophomore posted back-to-back 30+ save games against Yale and Boston University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, leading the Dutchmen to the 2018 Friendship Four title while earning MVP honors. He was also named Goalie of the Week twice during the month of November.
Best of the Week
After a five-point weekend,
Cole Maier was named ECAC Hockey's first Player of the Week for the 2017-18 season. Maier had a hand in all three Union goals in the Oct. 12 game against Omaha, scoring once and tallying two assists. He followed that up with two assists in the finale against the Mavericks.
With a big road sweep against then-No. 12 Northeastern, Union's
Brett Supinski and
Darion Hanson both earned ECAC Hockey weekly honors. Supinski had a stellar four-point weekend leading all skaters in the league. He, had a hand in all three regulation goals in Friday's 4-3 overtime win. In that game, he scored twice in the first period against the Huskies, including potting Union's first shorthanded goal of the season. In net, Hanson was also stellar, leading all goalies in the nation with 68 saves over the Oct. 18-20 weekend, and being one of only four goalies to record two wins that weekend as well. Despite conceding four goals over the weekend, only one was even strength, as the other three were all scored on Northeastern power plays. Hanson ended the weekend with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage.
Darion Hanson earned his second Goaltender of the Week award after posting 34 saves to help Union defeat No. 13 Quinnipiac, 5-1. A total of 16 of his 34 saves were made in the second period alone, as Quinnipiac out-shot the Dutchmen 35-23 in the contest. His efforts in net also helped the Union penalty kill go a perfect three-for-three on the night.
Hanson earned his third Goalie of the Week honor after leading Union to a 2018 Friendship Four championship. The sophomore only conceded one even-strength goal all weekend and made a career-high 39 saves against Boston University in the championship game. Hanson was also named the tournament's MVP for his efforts.
20 Goalies To Watch
Senior goaltender
Jake Kupsky has been named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List for the 2018-19 season. The award annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey. The winner of the sixth annual award will be announced at the 2019 NCAA Men's Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y.
Kupsky returns for his senior year after being named to the All-ECAC Hockey Third Team last season. During the 2017-18 campaign he posted the third-best winning percentage in the league (10-2-1) with a .917 save percentage and 2.43 goals-against average in conference action.
Returning Offense
The Dutchmen return 92 goals from last season, which ranks 10th most in the nation. Union scored a total of 115 goals last year, 20 of which were scored by
Ryan Scarfo, and 14 of the top 15 goal scorers from last season return this year.
Senior Leadership
Union's current senior class ranked 10th in the country last year for class scoring, having produced 48 goals and 87 assists. Six of the senior skaters recored at least eight points during the year, and
Cole Maier led the class last year with 11 goals and 23 assists.
Overall,
Brett Supinski leads the group in career points with 26 goals and 59 assists, while
Sebastian Vidmar leads the class in career goals with 30 goals, in addition to his 51 assists.
Look Who's Back: Forwards
Union returns 14 forwards from the 2017-18 season.
Cole Maier is the top returning offensive producer, having totaled 11 goals and 23 assists last season. Fellow senior
Sebastian Vidmar was third on the team in scoring, producing 10 goals and 20 assists.
Anthony Rinaldi was fourth-overall but second on the team in goals, totaling 17 goals and 11 assists last season.
Brett Supinski rounded out the top-five scorers for the Dutchmen last year, scoring nine goals and tallying 19 assists.
Also returning up top for the Dutchmen includes:
Ryan Walker (38gp, 11g, 6a);
Greg Campbell (35gp, 3g, 14a);
Liam Morgan (29gp, 6g, 10a);
Jack Adams (28gp, 4g, 9a);
Brendan Taylor (31gp, 4g, 4a);
Luc Brown (25gp, 3g, 5a);
Parker Foo (33gp, 1g, 5a);
Sean Harrison (30gp, 3g, 1a);
Zachary Emelifeonwu (31gp, 2g, 2a);
Josh Kosack (25gp, 1g, 3a); and
Mark Dufour (2gp, 0g, 0a).
Look Who's Back: Defense
The Dutchmen return six defensemen from the 2017-18 season.
Greg Campbell and
Vas Kolias both totaled three goals and 14 assists each last season, as they are Union's top returning offensive producers on the blue line.
Also returning on the blue line for Union includes:
Joseph Campolieto (33gp, 3g, 4a);
Brandon Estes (33gp, 1g, 5a); and
Taylor Brierley (3gp, 0g, 0a).
Look Who's Back: Goaltenders
Union returns all three goaltenders from last season. Senior
Jake Kupsky led the trio last season with 25 games played, securing a 11-11-2 record (10-2-1 in ECAC Hockey), with a .917 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average.
Sophomore
Darion Hanson had a stellar freshman season, posting a 10-4-0 record with a .908 save percentage and a 2.32 goals-against average. Hanson began his career winning six of his first seven games.
Senior
Joe Young returns as Union's third goalie. Young has played a total of 61:35 during his career and holds a perfect 1.000 save percentage having stopped all 26 shots he's faced in his time at Union.
Welcome to Union College
The Dutchmen welcome six new student-athletes to their ranks this season, including three forwards, and three defensemen.
| # |
Name |
Pos. |
S/C |
Hometown / Previous Team |
| 9 |
Blake Hayward |
F |
L |
Vancouver, B.C. / Prince George Spruce Kings (BCHL) |
| 10 |
Ryan Sidorski |
D |
R |
Williamsville, N.Y. / Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJHL) |
| 12 |
Fletcher Fineman |
D |
R |
Lake Worth, Fla. / Springfield Jr. Blues (NAHL) |
| 14 |
Lucas Breault |
F |
R |
Toronto, Ontario / Central Illinois Flying Aces (USHL) |
| 21 |
Michael Ryan |
D |
R |
Marion, Mass. / West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL) |
| 28 |
Sam Morton |
F |
R |
Benicia, Calif. / Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) |
Already Spoken For
The Union College hockey team features three student-athletes who have been drafted by NHL teams.
