This Weekend
After falling last weekend to Cornell and Colgate, the Dutchmen look to bounce back in the first road trip of the 2023 calendar year. Union heads to Brown on Friday before closing out the weekend at Yale on Saturday.
Union's Last Time Out
Union dropped a 6-1 decision to nationally-ranked Cornell on Friday before falling 2-1 to Colgate Saturday evening. On Friday, senior
Owen Farris netted his fourth goal of the season for the Dutchmen, with junior
Nic Petruolo and sophomore
Cullen Ferguson recording assists.
In Saturday's game, first-year
Nate Hanley tallied his fourth goal and team-leading 17th point. Junior
Nathan Kelly registered his first point of the season in his return and sophomore
Josh Nixon added his ninth point.
With the pair of losses, Union falls to 7-3-0 at home this season.
Scouting the Bears
Brown is 5-10-2 overall this season and 1-7-2 in ECAC play. The team is coming off a decisive 6-2 win on the road against #8 Merrimack this past weekend. Eight of Brown's 17 games so far have been decided by a goal or less.
First-year Ryan Bottrill (6-6-12) and senior Cole Quisenberry (5-5-10) lead the Bears in scoring. As a team, the Bears have scored three short-handed goals this season.
Defensively, Luke Krys has blocked 44 shots this season. The senior is tied for fourth in team scoring with eight points (1-7-8).
Sophomore Mathieu Caron has started all 17 games so far. Caron is 5-9-2 with a shutout and a .924 save percentage and a 2.14 GAA.
Scouting the Bulldogs
Yale is 2-10-3 this season with wins coming in the season opener against Brown and on Jan. 2 against Army. The Bulldogs are 2-2-0 at home, but 1-8-1 in conference play. They are 1-0-2 in their last three games, posting back-to-back ties over Vermont and #8 Merrimack this past weekend.
First-year David Chen paces the Bulldogs in scoring, compiling nine points (4-5-9) in 15 games. Sophomore Briggs Gammill has also scored four goals this season, including two of the team's four power-play goals.
The sophomore blueline duo of Kieran O'Hearn and Dylan Herzog combine for 55 blocked shots this season.
In goal, all three netminders have seen time this season. Sophomore Luke Pearson is 1-1-3 so far with a .952 save percentage and a 1.53 GAA. Junior Nathan Reid has made eight starts and is 1-6-0 with a shutout, a .887 save percentage, and a 3.48 GAA.
You're an All-Star
Two Union alumni were recently named to all-star teams. Mike Vecchione '17 was named to the Atlantic Division roster for the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic. Jake Kupsky '19 was named to the 2023 Warrior/ECHL All-Star Classic roster. Kupsky will represent the Idaho Steelheads.
Vecchione earned his first all-star nod in six professional seasons. The Hershey Bears' alternate captain has 30 points (13-17-30) in 34 games this season, including five game-winning goals and four on the player advantage.
In his fourth professional season, Kupsky has posted a 6-1-0 record with the Steelheads, a 1.15 GAA and a .955 save percentage. The Waukesha, Wisc. native made his AHL debut with the Abbotsford Canucks on Dec. 17 and earned his first AHL win on Jan. 6 against the Henderson Silver Knights.
Sanda's Return
Senior
Christian Sanda made his return to the lineup on Dec. 30 against UNH after an injury last February cut his junior year short. The senior winger recorded a shot and blocked a shot in his return.
Chauvette's First Win
First-year
Kyle Chauvette made his first collegiate start on home ice on Dec. 31 and earned his first collegiate win between the pipes. Chauvette turned aside 34 shots, including a big post-to-post kick save in the third period. The 34 saves is tied for the second highest save total by a Union netminder this season.
No Place Like Home
After playing a majority of the season on the road to start the season, Union flips the page to 2023 and the bulk of conference play. So far this season, Union is 7-3 on home ice. The Dutchmen won all three games in October and all three in December. Union's lone loss at home in the first half was against Harvard on Nov. 12.
Lead the Way
Just over two months into the season, 17 of 62 NCAA teams are led in scoring by first-year players. First-year
Nate Hanley leads the team in scoring with 17 points in 21 games.
Block Party
The Dutchmen have racked up 286 blocked shots through 19 games, averaging just over 15 blocks per game. First-year
Nick Young leads the way with 26 blocked shots with senior
Owen Farris (25) and first-year
John Prokop (24) right behind. Six student-athletes have 20 or more blocked shots so far this season. Compared to the 2021-22 season, Union made 258 blocked shots in the same time frame.
Oh Captains, My Captains
On Nov. 3, head coach
Josh Hauge named seniors
Owen Farris and
Connor Murphy and junior
Ben Tupker as the captains for the 2022-23 season.
He'd Be Honored
First-year
Nate Hanley was named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month for October. The last time a Dutchman earned Rookie of the Month honors was on January 5, 2016 when Sebastian Vidmar was recognized. Hanley leads all Union skaters in points (4-13-17).
Shut 'Em Out
Senior
Connor Murphy posted his first shutout of the season and fourth since transferring to Union in the Oct. 29 6-0 win over the Engineers. In Union's Division I era, they had not blanked RPI at home. The lone shutout was back on February 23, 1924, a 7-0 win.
Murph Keeps Climbing
Senior
Connor Murphy continues his climb up the Union record books. Last weekend, he passed Keith Kinkaid '11 to move into sole possession of tenth place on Union's DI career saves list. He is currently 108 saves away from tying Troy Grosenick '13 for ninth place. His fourth shutout at Union ties him with Keith Kinkaid '11 for sixth place in career shutouts. Murphy needs one more shutout to move into a tie for fifth place with Justin Mrazek '08.
Scheerer Scores
Junior
Bram Scheerer scored his first collegiate goal against UMass. After losing his freshman season to the pandemic, he saw his sophomore season cut short only eight games in with a season-ending injury against Clarkson. To date, Scheerer has appeared in 20 career games and has six points (1-5-6).
Reigning Rookies
Union's first-year defenders are off to a hot start.
Nick Young was named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on Oct. 10 after scoring his first collegiate goal and blocking five shots against nationally-ranked UConn.
John Prokop earned the honor the following week after tallying an assist on five of Union's 10 goals between Oct. 13 and 15.
Cal Mell picked up his first weekly honor on Oct. 31.
Nate Hanley was named the Rookie of the Month after scoring a conference-leading nine points in 10 games.
Spread the Wealth
Through 21 games, Union has seen 23 of 27 skaters score at least one point. Seven of the eight first-year skaters all have at least one point.
New Kids on the Block
First-years
Nate Hanley,
Carter Korpi,
John Prokop, and
Cal Mell, as well as sophomore
Josh Nixon and senior
Chris Theodore all tallied their first points for Union in the opening weekend. In total, newcomers accounted for 12 of the 15 points scored (4-8-12).
New Bench Boss
Josh Hauge was named the 22nd head coach in Union hockey's history on April 15, 2022. Hauge was previously the Associate Head Coach at ECAC Hockey rival Clarkson University. Hauge earned his first coaching victory in Union's home opener, a 4-3 win over RIT on Oct. 1, 2022.
Fresh Faces
Union welcomes 13 new students to the team in 2022-23 comprising of four transfers and nine first-years representing eight states and three Canadian provinces.
Transfer Commits
The coaching staff was active in the transfer portal this offseason, committing four student-athletes:
Chris Theodore (AIC),
Mason Snell (Penn State),
Josh Nixon (Lake Superior State) and
Ben Tupker (Cornell).
Rounding Out the Staff
Joining
Josh Hauge and Assistant Coach
John Ronan behind the bench is
Lennie Childs, who previously served as an assistant coach with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL.
Set Records
Senior
Connor Murphy made an immediate impact for Union in his first season. He set the program's new single-season save records with 1,060.
Looking to Surprise
Union was picked to finished eighth in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll, earning 45 points. Local media were more optimistic, picking the Dutchmen to finish sixth in the preseason media poll.
NHL Bloodlines
Sophomore
Thomas Richter and junior
Mason Snell are sons of retired NHLers Mike Richter (New York Rangers 1989-2002) and Chris Snell (Toronto, Los Angeles 1993-95), respectively.
