About Union
Union begins their 20th season of Division I hockey coming off their most successful season in their Division IÂ era, while returning their seven highest point scorers from a season ago. A veteran leadership group headlined by returning captain
Emily King, mixed in with eight first-year - the largest class on the Union roster- lead the Garnet Chargers into the season looking to build off their 11 win 2022-23 campaign.
About St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State enters the 2023-24 campaign with high hopes of their own, after they tied a program record 18 wins a season ago and finished the season ranked 12th in the country. Head Coach Brian Idalski was tabbed USCHO National Coach of the Year following his first season behind the Huskies bench, and senior goaltender Jojo Chobak received votes to the preseason All-WCHA team.
The Matchup
This is the second ever meeting between Union and St. Cloud State, and the first in almost a dozen years. The Huskies won the first matchup by a score of 4-1 on October 1st, 2011. Union great Christine Valente would score her first of 20 career goals that evening.
Behind the Garnet
Union begins the 2023-24 season coming off the most successful season in program history and returns 19 players from a season ago.
Head Coach
Josh Sciba brings in eight freshmen for the third consecutive year. The freshmen class is the largest class on the 2023-24 roster.
Emily King returns for her fifth year in the program. The second-year captain currently sits 10th all-time in Union's Division I era record book with 41 points.
Junior
Sophie Matsoukas comes back as Union's starting goaltender for the second consecutive year.
Leading The Way
The winningest coach in Union Women's Hockey program history,
Josh Sciba, returns for his eighth season behind the Garnet Chargers bench in 2023-24. Union will look to build off their 11 wins from 2022-23, the most in the program's Division 1 history.
Here To Assist
Joining Sciba behind the bench are Assistant Coaches
Chris Ardito and
Olivia Soares andÂ
Lora Ardoin. Ardito commences his third season with the program in 2023-24, while the current campaign with be Soares's second with Union. Ardoin joins the staff for her first season with the program.
New Blood
For the third straight year, Sciba and his staff have brought in eight student-athletes as their recruiting class. The Class of 2027 traverses three countries, three Canadian provinces, and four states, and includes four forwards, three blueliners, and one goaltender.
O-Zone Experience
Union returns 19 players from a season ago, including their seven highest leading point scorers. Sophomore
Riley Walsh tallied team-highs with 15 goals and 22 points in her first year at Union, good for third- and seventh-most in a single season in program history, while Senior
Emily King, who's 41 points are good for 10th most in Union's Division 1 era, returns for one last ride.
Anchoring the Blueline
Also apart of those 19 returnees are four blueliners that appeared in every game a season ago-
Stephanie Bourque,
Emma Hebert,
Meredith Killian, and
Allison Smith- and Union's starting- and second-winningest all-time- goaltender,
Sophie Matsoukas.Â
Charging Forward
Union's teams will be playing with a new name this season, as the College rebranded to the Garnet Chargers in August. The Garnet Chargers nickname was selected from a field over of 400 names submitted, and references the school's official color of over 150 years, Garnet, and Schenectady's legacy as a hub for electrical innovation and invention. Union also added a new "U" logo as part of the rebrand.
Scouting the Huskies
St. Cloud State finished the 2022-23 season with a 18-18-1 record, ending their season with a loss in the WCHA Quarterfinal to national #7 Minnesota Duluth. Their fifth place finish in the WCHA was their best finish since 2015-16, while their 18 wins were their most since 2007-08. The Huskies completed their season ranked 12th in the country,
While St. Cloud State graduated leading point getter Jenniina Nylund, they do return the next four top point getters from a year ago. Leading goalscorer Klára Hymlárová returns for her fifth year in the program, and the Huskies also bring back their goaltending tandem of Jojo Chobak and Sanni Ahola, who each appeared in 20 games last season.
Not long after their season ended, the Huskies had seven representatives at the IIHF Women's World Championship, including five players from the 2023-24 roster. Hymlárová helped Czechia to their second consecutive bronze medal, while Ahola won each of her three starts in net for Finland.
Captaining the Ship
2022-23 Captain
Emily King returns for her second season wearing the "C" for the Garnet Chargers, and her three Assistant Captains a season ago-
Celeste Beaudoin,
Meredith Killian, and
Allison Smith- have all been elevated to Captain for 2023-24.
Shock Warning
Union was picked to finish 12th in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll after their finish in that position last year. The Garnet Chargers will look to build off their 11 wins from last season to surprise in 2023-24.
