This Weekend
The Dutchmen close out the regular season on the road taking on Dartmouth and Harvard this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-29.
Media Coverage
Fans inside the United Stats can watch on the ESPN Plus platform, while international fans can watch through StretchInternet. Live stats for both games will be available through the host institutions' athletics websites. A free audio stream for Friday's game can be accessed on Dartmouth Sports.com, while there will not be an audio-only option for Saturday.
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.
Career Firsts
Nine of the 10 first-year skaters have recorded their first collegiate points, with six of them doing so in the first weekend of competition.
Gabriel Seger leads the freshman class in scoring, with 18 points, stemming from six goals and 12 assists.
vs Dartmouth
Union leads in the all-time series against Dartmouth, 31-23-7. In games played in Hanover, the series is tied at 13-13-2. However, the Dutchmen have had a lot of recent success against Dartmouth as Union enters the weekend with a nine-game winning streak against the Big Green. Union has not lost to Dartmouth since Jan. 31, 2015, when the Big Green won in Hanover by a score of 2-3.
Earlier this month on Feb. 1, Union defeated Dartmouth, 4-3, at Messa Rink. In that contest, Union used a three-goal second period to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Dartmouth's Quin Foreman scored twice in the third period to make it a one-goal game, but the Dutchmen held on for the win. The game also featured
Josh Graziano's first start in net for the Dutchmen, as the first year posted 19 saves for his first collegiate win.
Scouting the Big Green
Dartmouth holds a 12-11-4 overall record and sits tied for sixth place in the league with a conference record of 9-9-2. Last weekend saw the Big Green earn a 5-2 win at St. Lawrence before dropping a 4-0 decision at Clarkson.
Sophomore forward Drew O'Connor leads Dartmouth in scoring with 17 goals and 11 assists. In net, Adrian Clark has posted a 12-10-4 record with a 3.03 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
vs Harvard
Union trails in the all-time series with Harvard, 17-35-6, which includes a 7-20-1 mark in games played in Cambridge. The Dutchmen have had moderate success against the Crimson in recent years, posting a 4-5-1 record in the last 10 meetings. However, the last win for the Dutchmen in Cambridge was on Jan. 30, 2015. That game saw Union defeat Harvard by a score of 5-4.
Back on Jan. 31, Union hosted Harvard at Messa Rink and dropped an 8-5 decision to the Crimson. Despite Union out-scoring Harvard in the first and third periods, the second period saw Harvard score six-straight goals.
Scouting the Crimson
Harvard enters the weekend with the nation's best power-play unit, averaging 31.2 percent on the man advantage. The Crimson are coming off a split with Clarkson and St. Lawrence last weekend, and enter the weekend sitting in fourth place in the league with a conference record of 10-5-5. Despite the Crimson having the nation's fifth-best scoring offense, their 2.96 goals-against average ranks 38th.
Freshman forward Nick Abruzzese leads the Crimson in scoring with 37 points off of 13 goals and 24 assists. Two other Crimson forwards have also eclipsed 30 points this season; Casey Dornbach (11g, 22a) and Jack Drury (17g, 15a). Freshman Mitchell Gibson has played the majority of time in net for Harvard and enters the weekend with a 9-7-3 record, a 2.75 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
Doing it the Hard Way
Freshman forward
Christian Sanda was one of five players to score a shorthanded goal during the opening weekend of play, Oct. 5-6. His shorthanded goal came during the second period at Army West Point on Oct. 6.
Last Time Out
The Dutchmen played in back-to-back overtime games in their final home games of the season. Friday's contest saw Union battle back from a 2-0 deficit against Princeton to force a 2-2 draw. Unfortunately on Saturday, Union held a 2-0 lead against Quinnipiac, but the Bobcats came back to win 3-2 in overtime.
Union vs Princeton - T, 2-2 - Feb. 21 - Messa Rink
Union Goals:
Anthony Rinaldi,
Gabriel Seger
Princeton Goalie:Â Jeremie Forget (T) - 25 saves, 2 goals against
Union Goalie:
Darion Hanson (T) - 31 saves, 2 goals against
Power Play: Union 0-6, Princeton 1-5
Summary:
Anthony Rinaldi and
Gabriel Seger both scored and tallied an assist in the contest.
Taylor Brierley blocked a total of six shots in the contest.
Darion Hanson made 31 saves and helped Union's penalty kill go 5-for-6 on the night. Both of Union's goals were scored even strength, while Princeton's were both special-teams goals.
Union vs #14/16 Quinnipiac - L, 3-2 (OT) - Feb. 22 - Messa Rink
Union Goals:
Chaz Smedsrud, Anthony Rinadli.
Quinnipiac Goalie: Keith Petruzzelli (W) - 25 saves, 2 goals against
Union Goalie:
Darion Hanson (L) - 50 saves, 3 goals against
Power Play: Union 0-0, Quinnipiac 1-4
Summary: Junior netminder
Darion Hanson had a career-best night, stopping 50 shots in net. Hanson also stopped a penalty shot, which came in the first five minutes of the third period. Forwards
Josh Kosack and
Chaz Smedsrud both blocked five shots each in the game, as the Dutchmen blocked a total of 32 Quinnipiac shots. Quinnipiac was assessed two minor penalties in the game, but they were paired with matching minors against the Dutchmen, resulting in Union not receiving a power play during the game. Union went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill during regulation, and Hanson made a total of six saves while shorthanded.
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