About the Dutchwomen:
- The Dutchwomen hit the road after a seven game home stand that saw them post a 5-1-1 record from Messa Rink. The Dutchwomen are continuing on with ECAC play this week as they face off against Brown on Friday before taking on #3/4 Yale on Saturday. Union split the past week with #4 Quinnipiac and #15/14 Princeton. Union fell 5-0 to the Bobcats before responding well and upsetting the Tigers by a 4-1 final. Sophomore
Sophie Matsoukas stopped 56 of 57 shots in the win over the Tigers.
- First-year
Riley Walsh was named Hockey Commissioner's Association and ECAC Rookie of the Month for her performance in the month of November. Walsh leads Union in goals (9) and is tied for the team lead in points (13). Senior
Emily King is tied with Walsh for points (13) and is tied for the lead in assists (6) with sophomore
Maren Friday. Matsoukas has appeared in all 15 games for Union this season, including making 98 saves over the weekend and posting a 1-1 record. She has a 2.64 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.
About the Bears:
- The Bears welcome Union to Meehan Auditorium for the first matchup of the season with the Dutchwomen. The Bears enter the weekend with a three game losing streak with loses to #11 Providence, #6 Colgate and #10 Cornell. The Bears are also 1-4 at home this season.
- Freshmen Jade Iginla is the teams leading scorer with seven goals and 10 points. She ranks second on the team in assists (3). Sophomore Cameron Sikich leads the team with four assists. Junior Kaley Doyle has made 10 of the 12 starts this season for Union. She has posted a 2.54 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.
Last Time They Played:
- The Bears topped Union 6-1 last time these teams met.
Cassidy Michalicka '22 scored Union's lone goal in the loss.
Historically Speaking:
- Union is 9-21-6 all time against the Bears. Union has lost its last two meetings. Before last season Union has won 5 of the last 6 meetings against Brown.
About the #3/4 Bulldogs:
- Yale opens the weekend with a game against RPI before hosting Union on Saturday. The Bulldogs went 0-1-1 last weekend with a tie against #10 Cornell and a loss to #6 Colgate the following night. Yale was 8-0-0 entering that weekend.
- First-year Jordan Ray and sophomore Anna Bargman ate tied atop of the team in all scoring categories with six goals and six assists for 12 points. Sophomore Pia Dukaric has appeared in all 10 games for the Bulldogs. She has a 1.58 goals against average and a .942 save percentage, while also posting three shut outs.
Last Time They Played:
- Union pushed Yale to the brink last time these teams faced off. The Dutchwomen lead 2-1 after two periods, thanks to goals from
Cassidy Michalicka '22 and senior
Emily King. The Bulldogs scored two goals in the final frame including one wth 24 seconds left to beat Union 3-2.
Historically Speaking:
- Yale holds a 33-3-2 record all time against Union. The last Dutchwomen win came in 2017-18 when Union won 3-1 in Schenectady.
Program Firsts:
- This past weekend's win over #15/T14 Princeton was Union's first ever win over a collegiate opponent. The Dutchwomen beat the Tigers 4-1 as Matsoukas made 56 saves in the win. Earlier this season Union topped Boston University 3-1, which was the program's first win over the Terriers.
Riley Walsh has also added some first's for Union this season. She is the first skater to win three rookie of the week honors and the first skater to win HCA National Rookie of the Month for the month of November. Walsh was also the first Union skater to win three games in overtime in the same month as well for Union.
Riley Walsh Chronicles:
- Walsh has been Union's stand out first-year this season. She has won three ECAC Rookie of the Week awards, while also winning ECAC Rookie of the Month (November) and HCA National Rookie of the Month (November). Walsh has three game winning goals in the month of November, with all of them coming in overtime. She was the first Union skater since 2006 to score both a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game. Walsh is also leading the team in goals with nine goals through her first 15 games. She is just shy of a point per game player with 13 points in 15 games. She had four multi point games this season.
ECAC Awards:
-
Riley Walsh was named ECAC Rookie of the Week after scoring three goals in her first weekend series and helping Union to a 1-1 record over the weekend. Walsh scored twice in her collegiate debut, with goals coming on the power play and the shorthanded. She is the first player to do this for Union since 2006. She added her third goal of the season on Saturday afternoon against UNH.
- Senior
Emily King found the back of the net three times over the weekend and first-year
Stephanie Bourque tallied three helpers to help the Union College women's ice hockey team post a 1-1-0 record against the College of Holy Cross. King was named ECAC Hockey Forward of the Week and Bourque earned ECAC Hockey Defensive Player of the Week.
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Riley Walsh earned her second ECAC Rookie of the Week honor for her five point weekend (1g, 4a) including the overtime goal in Union's 5-4 win over Dartmouth. Walsh becomes the first player in program history to win Rookie of the week multiple times.
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Sophie Matsoukas was named ECAC MAC Goaltender of the Week with her performance against RIT. Following a 57 save weekend by Matsoukas in which she posted a .950 save percentage and 1.45 goals against average in Union's 2-0-0 weekend sweep against the Tigers of RIT
- Walsh earned her third ECAC Rookie of the Week honor this past weekend for her performance against RPI, with a two-goal effort including the game winning goal on Tuesday evening in a 2-1 win. Walsh is the Union's first ever three-time Rookie of the Week winner.
- Walsh was named ECAC Rookie of the Month (November). She posted a four goals and four assists for eight points, while also scoring three overtime winning goals as Union went 4-0-1 in that span. She is the first Rookie of the Month, since teammate
Sophie Matsoukas was both Goalie of the Month and Rookie of the Month in December last season.
Captains:
- Senior
Emily King will serve as the lone captain for Union, while
Allison Smith,
Meredith Killian, and
Celeste Beaudoin will all serve as assistant captains for the upcoming season.
U.S. National Team Assistant Coach Josh Sciba:
- Union College head women's hockey coach
Josh Sciba served as an assistant coach for the 2022 U.S. Women's National Team. The United States returned home from the 2022 IIHF Women's Hockey World Championships with a Silver Medal, following a 2-1 loss to Canada in the gold medal game.
- Sciba will get back behind the bench again in November for a three game Rival Series against Team Canada. Sciba will also be with the team in December for another two game Rival Series against Team Canada.
