This Weekend
Union takes to the road for the last regular season road trip of the year with a matchup with #9/10 Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday.
Union's Last Time Out
Union is coming off a big weekend that saw the team sweep Yale and Brown for the first regular season ECAC Hockey home sweep since Feb. 25-26, when Union defeated Harvard and Dartmouth.
Union came out firing on Friday against Yale, outshooting the Bulldogs 38-16 in the 3-1 win. First-year
Nate Hanley scored the eventual game winner before adding an assist later in the game. First-year
Cal Mell and sophomore
Josh Nixon both found the back of the net in the win.
On Saturday, Union scored a goal in each of the three periods to come away with a 3-1 win over Brown. Junior
Liam Robertson tallied his eighth goal of the season while sophomore
Caden Villegas and senior
Owen Farris also found the back of the net.
Senior
Merek Pipes made his season debut in net in the final minute against Brown.
Scouting the Crimson
Harvard is coming off of a tie in the Beanpot Championship to Northeastern. Matthew Coronato scored two goals for the Crimson, but Northeastern won the shootout for the trophy. Harvard also played Friday, taking a 6-3 victory at Darmouth.
One of the top teams in the conference, Harvard has a very talented line of Sean Farrell, Alex Laferriere and Joe Miller, who have combined for 93 points (40-53-93) in 25 games. Farrell leads the team with 42 points (14-28-42) and averages 1.68 points per game, which ranks second in the country. Coronato leads the team in goals with 18 and is third in the team in scoring with 30 points (18-12-30).
On the blue line, Henry Thrun leads the defense with 24 points (5-19-24) in 24 games alongside a team-leading 30 blocked shots.
Three goaltenders have seen time in net this season with Mitchell Gibson leading the way with 18 starts. Gibson has posted a 11-5-2 record and one shutout with a .919 save percentage and a 2.29 GAA.
Scouting the Big Green
Dartmouth is coming off a 6-3 loss to Harvard on Friday night. The Big Green jumped out to a 1-0 lead, before adding two power-play goals later in the game.
Dartmouth has one of the top penalty kill units in the country with an 85.6% success rate, which ranks sixth nationally.
Senior defenseman Tanner Palocsik leads Dartmouth with 21 points (4-17-21). First-year Luke Haymes has scored a team-leading 10 goals and is tied for second on the team with 15 points (10-5-15). Four of those goals have come on the powerplay. Braiden Dorfman (6-9-15) and Matt Hubbarde (5-10-15) are also tied for second in team scoring.
First-year netminder Cooper Black has started all 25 games this season for Dartmouth. Black is 4-19-1 with a pair of shutouts. The 6'8" netminder has a .901 save percentage and a 3.10 GAA. First-year Mikey Roberts is 0-1-0 in his lone appearance this season.
Hot Streak
Union has turned a corner going into the stretch run, posting a 5-2-1 record in the last eight games. In that time, Union has held opponents to two goals or fewer in six of those games and outscored opponents 22-19. Seven of those games saw Union score three goals or more.
Reigning Rookies
Union's first-year class has seen a lot of success this season. First-year
Nate Hanley is the latest to earn ECAC Rookie of the Week honors after his efforts last weekend. He joins
Nick Young,
John Prokop, and
Cal Mell who were all recognized in October. Hanley was also previously honored as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month.
Rookie Watch
First-year
John Prokop was named to the Hockey Commissioner's Association Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Watch List, the association announced Thursday afternoon. Prokop has played in all 30 games for Union this season and leads the blueline in points. The first-year was the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on Oct. 17 after putting together five points in two games against Bentley and RIT.
Double Up
Ten of Union's skaters have reached double-digit scoring. First-year
Nate Hanley leads the way with 21 points (5-16-21) with classmate
John Prokop right behind with 19 (4-15-19).
Murphy Blanks Engineers, Again
Senior
Connor Murphy blanked the Engineers for the third time in six meetings, with two those meetings happening in the Mayor's Cup. The shutout on Jan. 28 marks his fifth shutout at Union, and seventh overall.
Chauvette with the Shutout
First-year
Kyle Chauvette was stellar in his first ECAC Hockey start on Saturday at Yale, recording his first collegiate shutout. Chauvette made 30 saves and came up clutch in the shootout, stopping all four shots to anchor Union in the shootout win over the Bulldogs.
Pipes Earns National Engineering Scholarship
Senior
Merek Pipes was named a recipient of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Aerospace and Electronic Systems (IEEE AESS) Engineering Scholarship for his research on controlled chaotic signals for dual functional bistatic radar-communication systems.
Chauvette's First Win
First-year
Kyle Chauvette made his first collegiate start on home ice on Dec. 31 and earned his first win.Chauvette turned aside 34 shots, which 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 10-4 on home ice. Union won all three games in October and all three in December. Union's lone home loss in the first half was against Harvard on Nov. 12.
Block Party
Union has racked up 421 blocked shots through 30 games, including a season-high 27 blocks at Yale. As a team, they are averaging 14.03 blocks per game. First-year
Nick Young leads the way with 47 blocked shots with sophomore
Cullen Ferguson (35), and senior
Owen Farris (33) right behind. To date, 10 student-athletes have 20 or more blocked shots this season.
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).
Murph Keeps Climbing
Senior
Connor Murphy continues his climb up the Union record books. Last weekend, he moved into ninth place in career saves, surpassing Troy Grosenick '13. His fifth shutout at Union ties him with Justin Mrazek '08 for sixth-place in career shutouts.
Spread the Wealth
Through 30 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 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.
