Union at #15/#15 Penn State

Friday, January 5, 2024 • University Park, Pa. • Pegula Ice Arena • 6:00 PM (ET)

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Union at #15/#15 Penn State

Saturday, January 6, 2024 • University Park, Pa. • Pegula Ice Arena • 1:00 PM (ET)

Live Stats • Video Stream ($)

Game Preview

Union Game Notes • Penn State Game Notes

About Union
Union opened 2024 in stellar fashion on New Year's Day, setting the tone for the new year with a dominating 6-0 victory at Saint Michael's. First-year Emma Fulawka scored her first career hat trick in the contest, while senior Kaitlyn Ehmann found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal. Sophomore Riley Walsh had a pair of assists in the game, becoming the first player in Union's Division I era with multiple 20-point seasons, and junior Sophie Matsoukas picked up her 20th career win in the Union net, tying Shenae Lundberg's all-time program record.

About Penn State
Penn State returns to action for the first time in the new year after almost a month off. The Nittany Lions last saw game action on December 8th and 9th, when they split a weekend series with Union's ECACH foe #13 Yale. PSU was on a six-game win streak before dropping that Saturday's contest, and come into the weekend with Union victors in 10 of their last 12.

The Matchup
The weekend set will be the 15th and 16th meetings between the two teams and the first since October 12th-13th, 2018. Penn State holds an 8-4-2 advantage in the all-time series history.

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 new benchmarks. Sophomore Riley Walsh has already 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. Junior Sophie Matsoukas has tied the program's all-time wins record with 20, while senior Emily King is one assist shy of tying the program's all-time record of 37. King also needs one power-play goal to tie the program's all-time record of 10.

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.

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.

Bigger Than A Game
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 the cystic fibrosis, for a ceremonial puck drop. The initiative is one of two by the program this season, with the annual Pink The Rink game later in the season.

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 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 Garnet Chargers.

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, and Kaitlyn Ehmann.

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. King later 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 histroy 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 a career-high four points off a goal and three assists in the home-opener against Robert Morris. Walsh also put up a team-high six shots and finished the game tied for a team-best a +2 rating. 

Scouting the Nittany Lions
After a challenging start to the season that saw Penn State (11-8-1) open the season with just one win in their first eight games- six of those games coming against top-10 teams- and lose their spot in the national rankings, the Nittany Lions have won 10 of their last 12 and have reentered the top-15 heading into 2024.

Reigning HCA National Rookie of the Year and Team USA representative Tessa Janekce  is 10th in the nation with 27 points and fifth in the nation with 19 assists. Eight teammates join her with double-digit points in 23-24, led by freshman Stella Retrum, the HCA National Rookie of the Month for November, with 14 points. All 18 of Penn State's skaters have appeared in at least 10 games this season, and each one has registered a point.

Penn State's all-time goaltending wins and shutouts recordholder Josie Bothun maintains her control of the Penn State net, posting a .910 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average in her 19 starts so far this season. Defensewoman Lyndie Lobdell is the leading returning defense corps point getter this season with 10 points, and four of her five goals have come on the power play, tops on the team.

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 also sees her 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 
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.