RPI vs. Union

Saturday, January 27, 2024 • Albany, N.Y. • MVP Arena • 3:00 PM (ET)

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Union Game Notes  •  RPI Game Notes

About Union
Union heads into the Mayor's Cup after playing a rare single-game ECAC Hockey weekend, falling to Dartmouth last Friday by a score of 4-2. Union trailed 2-0 after the first 20 minutes before goals from sophomore Stephanie Bourque and senior Celeste Beaudoin tied the game at 2, but the Big Green responded with two more goals to get the victory. Sophomore Riley Walsh picked up assists on each of Union's goals, extending her team lead in the helper (14) and points (23) categories.

About Rensselaer
Rensselaer played both parts of the Harvard-Dartmouth weekend, falling to the Crimson on Friday before defeating the Big Green on Saturday. Graduate Student Marah Wagner, who currently leads the Engineers with 20 points, registered her first career four-point game in RPI's victory, while freshman Aylah Cioffi added her second three-point game in the last five games.

The Matchup
Union swept Rensselaer in their home-and-home in December for their first weekend sweep over their crosstown rival since January 2020. The Garnet Chargers are aiming for their second Mayors Cup victory (January 25th, 2020) and first sweep since the season series moved to three games.

For The Cup
Saturday's Mayor's Cup will be the sixth edition of the game and the 50th overall meeting between the two teams. Union will look to bring the Cup back to Schenectady for the first time since 2020 this year after RPI has won the last two meetings, and will rely on their experience to do so, having 12 players that have played in the last two Cups. Scoring has been tough to come by in the five previous editions of the Cup, with a total of four goals scored in a game just once and no Mayor's Cup being won by more than two goals. 

Milestone Watch
The 2023-24 season has seen a handful of changes to the Union record book, and a number of players are on the cusp of setting, or already have set, new benchmarks. Sophomore Riley Walsh was first to set a new feat, becoming the first player in Union's DI history to have multiple 20-point seasons with her two assists in the win over Saint Michael's on New Year's Day. Junior Sophie Matsoukas followed in Union's next game by setting the program's new all-time wins record with the 21st of her career, while senior Emily King is one assist away from tying the program's all-time record of 37 and one power-play goal from equaling the program's all-time record of 10.

Bigger Than A Game
This past Friday's game was Union's annual "Pink The Rink" game. Union hosted a number of initiatives on the evening, as the program raised funds for the American Cancer Society in the battle against cancer. Union wore special edition pink jerseys for the game, and fans participating in a raffle had the opportunity to win a previous edition of the team's pink jersey. The program also created special "I Skate For" placards for those in attendance to fill out to support those in the fight, and Union dedicated the game to Carolyn Jones, mother of junior Maya Jones, who is currently courageously battling breast cancer. 

Union's home game against St. Lawrence was the program's Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Game. The initiative was spearheaded by junior goaltender Sophie Matsoukas, whose sister has Cystic Fibrosis, and sophomore goaltender Emily Evans, whose father, aunt, and two cousins have the disease. The program raised awareness about the lung and digestive tract disease, took donations for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and wore purple ribbon stickers on their helmets and used purple tape to support those in the fight against CF. The program also welcomed Matsoukas's sister Zoe, who has cystic fibrosis, for a ceremonial puck drop. 

Happy New Year!
Union began 2024 in a big way on New Year's Day, defeating Saint Michael's by a score of 6-0 in a game where the milestones were aplenty for Union. The offense was led by first-year Emma Fulawka, who scored her first collegiate hat trick. Senior Kaitlyn Ehmann added her first collegiate goal, and first-year Megan Ognibene registered her first collegiate point. In Union's net, Sophie Matsoukas scored her 20th career win, moving her into a tie for the program record. The six goals were the team's most in 364 days, when they also notched six against Saint Michael's January 2nd, 2023.

Union went on to win their next game against #15 Penn State, picking up their second ever win over a ranked opponent. First-year Maddie Leaney's winner 66 seconds into overtime clinched the historic victory after senior Emily King tied the game at one, and junior Sophie Matsoukas, who broke the program's all-time wins record with the win, backstopped Union with 34 saves. The win also matched the program's longest winning streak (four) and unbeaten streak (4-0-1) in team history that was first achieved in December 2022.

Got Enough Hats?
Sophomore Riley Walsh and first-year Maddie Leaney each scored hat tricks against Holy Cross, with their third goals to cap off their accomplishments going down as the overtime game-winners. Walsh, who had the first hat trick, gave Union their first three-goal game in almost 10 years (Jessica Kaminsky on November 16th, 2013 at Yale), before Leaney's achievement the next night gave Union hat tricks in consecutive games for the first time in program history. First-year Emma Fulawka scored a hat trick of her own Janaury 1st at Saint Michael's, and the program has now had as many hat tricks this season as they had the previous 19 years combined.

On The National Stage
Head Coach Josh Sciba missed Union's trip to Yale and Brown and spent part of the holiday break with Team USA, as the Garnet Chargers leader was with the U.S. Women's National Team for the first four games of the 2023-24 Rivalry Series against Canada. Sciba, who is an Assistant Coach on Head Coach John Wroblewski's staff, has served with the Women's National Team since the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship after serving as an assistant for the 2018 Under-18 Series vs. Canada and the 2019 and 2020 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championships. The Rivalry Series resumes in February, when the two countries meet for the final three games of the 2023-24 series.

Maddie's Month
Following an impressive first month of her collegiate hockey career, first-year Maddie Leaney was honored as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month for the end of September/month of October. Leaney led all ECACH first-years with five goals and eight points through the first month plus, which was good for second and third, respectively, on the team. Leaney's start to her time in garnet was highlighted by her three-goal performance that included the overtime winner October 7th against Holy Cross. The Maple Ridge, British Columbia native was also selected as a Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) runner-up for their National Rookie of the Month.

Let's Get It Started In Here
Union kicked off their ECAC Hockey schedule in a big way, returning to Schenectady from their conference-opening road trip with four and a half points, the most they've ever picked up on conference opening weekend. The Garnet Chargers defeated Harvard on Friday, 4-3, to win their ECAC Opener for the first time since 2017, on the backs of sophomore Amanda Quan, who picked up her first two points of the season on a goal and assist, and first-year Maddie Leaney, who recorded her second game-winner of the year with her first period power play goal. Senior Emily King's third period goal on Saturday at Dartmouth would make it a 1-1 game, and the two teams would play to a tie of that score to finish off a successful weekend for the program.

Season Of Firsts
Union has seen a number of players achieve their first collegiate milestones in 2023-24. First-years Kendal Davidson, Emma Fulawka, Maddie Leaney, Iliana Smith, and Megan Ognibene have all registered their first collegiate points, while Fulawka and Leaney have also registered their first collegiate goals and hat tricks. Sophomore Riley Walsh also got her first career hat trick, and first-year Monja Wagner notched her first win. Also getting their first goals this season are Davidson, Iliana Smith, Allison Smith, Kaitlyn Ehmann, and Ella Chiarelli.

It's Her Honor
After scoring her first collegiate goal and picking up an assist in Union's 5-2 home-opening victory over Robert Morris on 9/29, first-year Kendal Davidson was named the ECAC Hockey Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending on October 1, 2023. The award is Davidson's first selection of her career. Davidson's nomination makes her the first Garnet Charger to be named Defensive Player of the Week since d-partner Stephanie Bourque was tabbed October 4th, 2022. 

First-year Maddie Leaney was honored the next week, as the first-year picked up ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors after her hat trick that included the overtime winner in that Saturday's win over Holy Cross. The award is Leaney's first selection of her career and Union's first Rookie of the Week selection since now-sophomore Stephanie Bourque was selected this past January 5th.

Junior Sophie Matsoukas was the next Garnet Charger to pick up a weekly award, after Leaney also garnered ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month honors to wrap up October, being selected as the ECAC Hockey MAC Goaltending Goaltender of the Week December 12th. The selection followed Matsoukas' 53-save weekend in Union's weekend sweep of crosstown rival Rensselaer, her third career Goalie of the Week honor.

100/50 = 13
In Union's 9/30 contest with Robert Morris, senior Emily King played in her 100th collegiate game. The captain celebrated the milestone in eloquent fashion, scoring a goal and going 20-29 from the faceoff dot in her landmark contest. Later in the season, King picked up the 50th point of her career with an assist on first-year Maddie Leaney's goal on 10/27 against Cornell.

Have A (Career) Night
Riley Walsh picked up where she left off after one of the best seasons in program history in 2022-23. After scoring Union's first goal of the season for the second straight year in the season opener at St. Cloud State, the sophomore put up a career-high four points off a goal and three assists in the home-opener against Robert Morris. Walsh also had a team-high six shots and finished the game tied for a team-best +2 rating. 

Scouting the Engineers
After being swept by Union in early December, Rensselaer (10-14-3) has gone 3-3 and reached the double-digit win mark for the first time since 2018-19 with their victory over Dartmouth last Saturday. The Engineers are four wins shy of tying the best season in the Bryan Vines era with seven games left to go in the regular season.

All three wins in their recent stretch came by a score of 5-1, and the Engineers have scored five or more goals in eight of their 10 wins in 2023-24. Graduate Student Marah Wagner and freshman Aylah Cioffi have led the offense the past half dozen games, with Wagner tallying seven points, Cioffi six, and each scoring three goals. Wagner currently paces the Engineers with 20 points- one shy of her career-high set in 2021-22- while last year's leading goal scorer, Ellie Kaiser, currently leads RPI with eight.

Graduate Student Amanda Rampado continues to anchor the Engineers defense, as their two-year captain has started 24 of the team's 27 games in net en route to bypassing the 100 career game mark. Rampado's current goals against average of 2.37 would be a career-best, while her nine wins in the cage has tied the season-high she set a year ago. Freshman Andrea Trnková has been a force from the back end, with her 14 points third on the team and her +7 rating tied for team lead.

On Garnet Alert
2023-24 is set to be a year that provides many changes to the Garnet Chargers record books. Senior Emily King already has her fingerprints all over it, and will look to continue to rise up the ranks. Junior Sophie Matsoukas and senior Celeste Beaudoin also see their name in the books, and sophomore Riley Walsh is set to enter her name in multiple categories. 

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, Olivia Soares, and 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. 

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 of over 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.

Captaining the Ship
Union has looked to two alternate captains from 2022-23 to lead the way, as Meredith Killian, and Allison Smith have each been elevated to Captain status 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.