This Weekend
Union bounced back last weekend with a pair of overtime games, going 1-0-1 against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Union won against Clarkson 4-3 in overtime, before tying St. Lawrence, 2-2, but lost the extra point in a four-round shootout. The Dutchmen travel to conference foes Cornell and Colgate this weekend for a pair of games.
Media Coverage
Fans can watch this weekend's games on ESPN+. Live stats for both games will be available through UnionAthletics.com.
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.
vs. Cornell
Union and Cornell have met 70 times in Union's Division I era, with the Big Red holding a 39-22-9 advantage in the series. The last meeting came in February 2020, with Union dropping a 5-2 decision in Ithaca.
vs. Colgate
Saturday's meeting between Union and Colgate will mark the 66th meeting with the Raiders in Union's Division I era. The Raiders hold a 38-24-4 edge in the series. The last time the two teams met was in February 2020, with Colgate shutting out the visiting Dutchmen 4-0.
Scouting the Big Red
Cornell is 3-1-0 and 1-1-0 in ECAC Hockey play to start the season, opening the season with a pair of overtime wins over Alaska-Fairbanks. Last weekend, Cornell dropped a 3-2 decision at Harvard on Friday before taking a 5-4 win over Dartmouth.
Junior Ben Berard is the reigning ECAC Hockey Player of the Week after scoring a hat trick against Dartmouth and adding an assist in the loss to Harvard. Berard is Cornell's leading scorer with four points.
Cornell was predicted to finish fourth in both the ECAC Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll and the Media Poll, while also earning a first place vote in the coaches poll.
The Big Red did not play in the 2020-21 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2019-20 team went 23-3-4, winning their third straight Cleary Cup, before the pandemic ended the season.
Goaltending duties has been split between freshman Joe Howe and senior Nate McDonald, both making their collegiate debuts this year. Cornell is 1-1 with Howe in net and 2-0 with McDonald between the pipes. Howe recorded a shutout in his collegiate debut with 20 saves over Alaska-Fairbanks.
Scouting the Raiders
Colgate opened the season on a four-game win streak, downing RIT and sweeping Vermont on the road, before splitting a series with Merrimack. Colgate opened ECAC Hockey play by dropping a pair of road decisions, 3-2 at Dartmouth and 5-1 at #9/13 Harvard, extending the Raiders' losing streak to five.
Colgate was one of four teams to play in the ECAC last year, going 6-11-5 before losing to St. Lawrence in overtime in the ECAC semifinal. The Raiders returned 22 players from last season, including their top five goal scorers.
Colgate was predicted to finish sixth in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll, while the media was more optimistic, placing the Raiders at fifth.
Junior Colton Young is the leading scorer for the Raiders, registering 14 points through 11 games this season (7-7-14), including a hat trick against Arizona State. Graduate student Josh McKechney is second with 10 points (4-6-10), including three multi-point games.
Sophomore Carter Gylander leads the way between the pipes with seven starts, amassing a 4-3 record on the way to a 3.14 goals against average and .906 save percentage.
First-year defenseman Tommy Bergsland earned Rookie of the Week honors the first week of the season with a pair of assists at Vermont. Bergsland now has seven points on the season.
Steady Seger
Junior assistant captain
Gabriel Seger has been a steady presence in the faceoff circle for the Dutchmen. Seger is ranked 15th nationally with 107 faceoff wins, which is good for third in the conference. The junior is winning 53.5 percent of faceoffs.
Lighting The Lamp Fast
Union scored the first goal in seven out of its first ten games played this season, including three games in which the Dutchmen scored within the first 2:01 of the game. Despite that advantage, Union was only 2-3-2 in those seven contests.
First-Year Force
First-year
Michael Hodge has established himself as a steady offensive presence in the first ten games. The forward started the season on a five-game point streak, registering three goals and three assists during that time. Hodge is tied for first on the team with eight points.
How Sweep It Is
On Monday, October 18, the ECAC announced a clean sweep of their weekly awards by the Dutchmen. Senior
Brandon Estes earned Player of the Week honors, scoring one goal and adding three assists from the blue line. Junior
Connor Murphy garnered Goalie of the Week recognition, posting a 1.92 goals against average and a .945 save percentage with 69 saves in two contests. First-year
Collin Graf played a role in both Union goals in Friday's 2-1 win over the Tigers, scoring his first collegiate goal on the power play and then picking up the primary assist on Estes' game-winning goal.
This marked the first time that Union swept the weekly awards since March 2014 when Daniel Carr '14 (Player), Colin Stevens '15 (Goalie), and Mike Vecchione '17 (Rookie) were all recognized.
Oh Captains, My Captains
Senior
Josh Kosack will wear the captains' "C" this season while juniors
Dylan Anhorn and
Gabriel Seger will don the "A" for the Dutchmen in 2021-22. Kosack is captaining the team for the second straight season, after serving as a team leader during the 2020-21 pandemic year.
Looking to Surprise
Union was picked to finish in a tie for eighth in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll, earning 40 points to tie with Rensselaer. The local media were even more pessimistic about Union's chances, voting the Dutchmen 11th out of 12 teams (26 points) in the preseason media poll.
Welcome to the Show
Heading into the 2021-22 season, more than half (16 of 31) of Union's players have never played in a collegiate game. Seven sophomores were with the team last year but did not compete, as Union did not play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also welcomed eight first-year players to the team this season as well.
