Union vs Yale

Friday, February 10, 2023 • Schenectady, N.Y. • Messa Rink • 7:00 p.m.

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Union vs Brown

Saturday, February 11, 2023 • Schenectady, N.Y. • Messa Rink • 4:00 p.m.

Live Stats • Live Audio • Video Stream • International Video Stream

Game Preview

Union Game Notes • Brown Game Notes

Coach Hauge Interview • Players Interview

This Weekend
Union returns home for pivotal ECAC Hockey series with Yale and Brown this weekend. Saturday marks the annual Faculty & Staff Appreciation Game for the program. 

Union's Last Time Out
Union went 1-1 last weekend with games at Colgate and #11 Cornell. 

Against the Raiders, Union found the back of the net in each period. Junior Liam Robertson opened the scoring at 14:03 of the first period with his seventh goal of the season. Union extended their lead with 0.3 seconds left in the second period with an empty net goal from first-year Nick Young. Senior Owen Farris won the draw cleanly back to Young, who fired it the length of the ice for the score. Colgate got one back, but junior Ben Tupker tallied his sixth goal of the season with an empty-net tally for the 3-1 victory. 

Saturday was a different story for Union as Cornell came away with the victory. Junior Chaz Smedsrud scored his second powerplay goal of the year from first-year Cal Mell and junior Tyler Watkins. 

Scouting the Bulldogs
Yale snapped a four game skid last weekend, posting back-to-back 4-0 shutouts against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. 

Junior Ian Carpentier (6-6-12) and first-year David Chen (5-7-12) lead the team in points. William Dineen is one of the top centers in the conference with 238 faceoff wins and a 52.8 percent success rate on the draw. Three different skaters have a pair of power-play goals and senior Cole Donhauser has Yale's only short-handed goal on the season.

On the back end, Dylan Herzog has 39 blocked shots in 21 games. 

In 12 starts for the Bulldogs, Luke Pearson has posted a 4-4-4 record with three shutouts, a 1.81 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Pearson, the reigning ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week, currently ranks first in the nation in save percentage and is second in GAA. The Bulldogs have split time between the pipes with Nathan Reid making nine starts and 11 appearances. Reid is 1-7-0 with a shutout and a 3.40 GAA and a .892 save percentage. 

Scouting the Bears
The Bears are coming off six game homestand that saw them go 3-3 in conference play. Last weekend, Brown fell to St. Lawrence, 0-6, and to Clarkson, 2-6. 

First-year Ryan Bottrill continues to lead the Bears with 17 points (6-11-17) in 23 games. On special teams, James Crossman is the one to watch with five of his six goals coming on the powerplay (4) or short-handed (1). 

Senior Luke Krys anchors the blue line while offering an offensive spark, netting 13 points (2-11-13) in 23 games and a team-leading 58 blocked shots. 

Goaltender Mathieu Caron is currently ninth nationally with a .924 save percentage and his 2.33 GAA places him 23rd. Caron is 8-10-2 with a pair of shutouts in 21 games this season. First-year Jacob Zacharewicz made his first two collegiate starts last weekend. On the season, the rookie has appeared in four games and is 0-3-0 with a .797 save percentage and a 6.35 GAA. 

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 28 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. 

Point Streak
Junior Tyler Watkins is currently riding a five-game point streak dating back to the Jan. 20 game against St. Lawrence. Watkins has a point in each game (1-4-5) and is only one point away from tying his career high in points.  

Double Up
Nine of Union's skaters have reached double-digit scoring. First-year Nate Hanley leads the way with 19 points (4-15-19) with classmate John Prokop right behind with 17 (4-13-17). 

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 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.  

Block Party
Union has racked up 403 blocked shots through 28 games, including a season-high 27 blocks at Yale. As a team, they are averaging 14.39 blocks per game. First-year Nick Young leads the way with 44 blocked shots with sophomore Cullen Ferguson (34), and senior Owen Farris (31) 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. Earlier this season, he passed Keith Kinkaid '11 to move into sole possession of tenth place on Union's DI career saves list. He is currently tied with Troy Grosenick '13 for ninth place with 1,648 saves. His fifth shutout at Union ties him with Justin Mrazek '08 for sixth-place in career shutouts.  

Spread the Wealth
Through 28 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.