About Union:
- Union will hit the road for their final road trip of the 2022-23 regular season as they travel to Princeton and #6 Quinnipiac this weekend. Union sits in 11th place with just a half point lead on Dartmouth. Union enters on a 2 game losing streak with losses to #2 Yale and Brown ver the weekend. Union also looks to correct their power-play struggles as they have failed to convert on their last 25 power-play chances.
- First-year
Riley Walsh leads the team in goals (13) and points (19), while junior
Celeste Beaudoin leads the team in assists with 11. Sophomore
Sophie Matsoukas has appeared in all 30 games this season from Union posting a .907 save percentage and a 3.19 goals against average.
About Princeton:
- The Tigers will host Union on Friday evening and then RPI on Saturday afternoon. Princeton sits in 6th place in the ECAC standings with four games remaining on their schedule. The Tigers are on a three game winning streak with wins against Quinnipiac, Harvard, and Dartmouth.
- Junior Sarah Fillier is having another strong year for Princeton. She leads the team in all scoring categories with 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points on the season. Freshman Taylor Hyland has a .907 save percentage in 14 appearances this season, while sophomore Jennifer Olnowich 2.43 goals against average in 13 games this season.
Historically Speaking:
- Union has a 2-34-1 record all-time against Union with their most recent win coming earlier this season. Union is averaging 0.89 goals a game against Princeton all-time.
Last Time We Met:
- Union was victorious the last time these two teams faced off. The garnet and white were opportunistic when it came to scoring against the Tigers. Union was out shot 57-15 for the game, but managed to find the back of the four times and win 4-1 for the program's first win over a ranked opponent.
About #6 Quinnipiac:
- The Bobcats enter the weekend following a 8-0 win over Dartmouth the previous weekend. Quinnipiac sits third place in the ECAC overall standings with 44 points. They are 5.5 points back of Yale for the top spot and 0.5 points back of Colgate. The Bobcats will hots RPI on Friday, before taking on Union on Saturday afternoon.
- Junior Olivia Molbley is tied for the team lead in goals (15) with sophomore Maya Labad. Mobley leads the team in assists with 23 and points with 38 points on the year. The Bobcats have a pair of net minders that each have appeared in at least 10 games with Logan Angers appearing in 21 games and posting a 1.62 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. The other net minder for the Bobcats is Catie Boudiette who has appeared in 10 games posting a 0.77 goals against average and a .959 save percentage.
Historically Speaking:
- Quinnipiac is 35-1-4 all-time against Union. The garnet and white have not beaten Quinnipiac since 2019-20 and that is their lone win against the Bobcats. Union averages 1.02 goals a game against Quinnipiac.
Last Time We Met:
- The Bobcats beat Union earlier this season in Schenectady by a final of 5-0. Quinnipiac's Maya Labda scored twice in the game.
Record Watch:
- Union earned their 11th win of the season on January 21st against Harvard, which tied the program's all-time single season wins record of 11. In the process of that win, Head Coach
Josh Sciba became the program's all-time winningest coach, as he passed Claudia Asano Barcomb with his 37th win.
- Sophomore
Sophie Matsoukas earned her 11th win of the season, which extended her single season wins record. Matsoukas has 14 total wins in her first two seasons which positions her in second on the career wins list.
- Senior
Emily King scored her fourth game winning goal of the season, which tied her with
Riley Walsh, Cheyenne Harris '20 and Molly Flanagan for the most game winning goals in a single season for Union.
Program Firsts:
- Union's win over #15/T14 Princeton was Union's first ever win over a ranked opponent. The Dutchwomen beat the Tigers 4-1 as Matsoukas made 56 saves in the win. Union won its first game over UNH in program history has well in its first game of the season. 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. Walsh was also the first Union skater to win three games in overtime in the same month as well for Union. Union posted their first series win over Harvard in their program's history, posting a 1-0-1 record against the Crimson this season.
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 10 goals through her first 19 games. She has five multi-point games this season. Walsh's 13 goals is the most goals scored by a rookie in the Division I era.
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.
-
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.
- Bourque earned her second ECAC honor after her four point game that included a goal and three assists. Bourque also scored her first collegiate goal in the game while factoring in on all four Union power-play goals in their 6-1 win over St. Michael's.
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.
