Union vs. #12 Penn State

Friday, October 11, 2024 • Schenectady, N.Y. • Messa Rink at Achilles Center • 6:00 PM

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Union vs. #12 Penn State

Saturday, October 12, 2024 • Schenectady, N.Y. • Messa Rink at Achilles Center • 3:00 PM

Live Stats • Video Stream

Game Preview

Union Game Notes • Penn State Game Notes

BACK AT HOME: The Union College women's hockey team remains at home and remains in non-conference play with a two-game weekend series against Penn State University at Messa Rink on October 11 and 12.

LAST WEEKEND: Union settled for a weekend split against Rochester Institute of Technology last weekend, starting off with a 4-0 win on Friday night before suffering a 4-3 (OT) loss on Saturday afternoon. Senior Maddie Suitor led the team with two goals on the weekend, while first-year Jill Willis also had a two-point game and both junior Stephanie Bourque and sophomore Danica Mark added two-point weekends. In total, 16 of Union's 19 skaters had at least one point on the weekend as part of a well-balanced offensive attack. Senior Sophie Matsoukas recorded her fourth career shutout on Friday, moving her into second place all-time at Union.

ABOUT THE NITTANY LIONS: Penn State has started the year with two splits against nationally ranked opposition, including a 3-2 loss and a 4-2 win against #9 Connecticut last weekend in Storrs. The visitors led 2-0 early in the third period on Friday on goals by Stella Retrum and Mya Vaslet before giving up three unanswered goals, while Saturday saw PSU score four of the game's final five tallies to pick up the win. Tessa Janecke and Maddy Christian led the team with three points each on the weekend. Janecke leads the team in scoring overall with six points (2-4-6) through the first four games of the year. Katie DeSa has played every minute in goal, boasting a 2.01 goals against average and .904 save percentage.

Suiting Up
Senior Maddie Suitor recorded the first multi-goal game of her collegiate career with a pair of goals on October 4 against RIT. She netted the first and last goals of the game in the shutout victory, moving her into a tie for eighth place on the school's career game-winning goals list with three.

Bourque is Honored
Junior Stephanie Bourque was recognized as the ECAC Hockey Defensive Player of the Week after recording two points, five shots and a pair of blocked shots in a weekend split with RIT. It marks her third career weekly ECAC honor and her second Defensive Player of the Week award.

A Decisive Win
Friday's 4-0 shutout of RIT is tied for the third-largest shutout victory in the program's Division I history, trailing only a pair of 6-0 wins over St. Michael's (1/1/2024) and Sacred Heart (10/16/2009).

You Get a Puck, You Get a Puck...
Last weekend against RIT, junior Greta Kropp and first-year Klara Kenttälä scored the first goals of their collegiate careers in Friday's 4-0 win, while sophomore Danica Mark recorded her first collegiate point. First-year Jill Willis recorded both her first point and her first goal with a multi-point outing in Saturday's 4-3 (OT) loss.

Adding to Her Total
Every win for senior netminder Sophie Matsoukas this season extends her own program career record after setting the program standard with her 21st victory in 2023-24. She also moved into second place all-time in career saves against RIT with 2,229 stops, ranking behind only Shenae Lundberg '15 and her 3,023 career saves.

Going Streaking
Senior Emma Hebert enters the weekend having played in all 107 games during her Union career. Junior Stephanie Bourque (73 games) and sophomore Maddie Leaney (39 games) also are currently riding multi-year games-played streaks, having played in every game of their three- and two-year careers, respectively.

TGIF (Top Goalscorer Is Friday)
With her first goal of the season and 13th of her career on September 27 at Robert Morris, senior Maren Friday became the all-time leading goal scorer among blueliners in program D-I history, breaking a tie with Cheyenne Harris '20 and Megan Ryan '20. Her three-point weekend also moved her into third place in career points among defensemen with 35, behind only Harris (49 points) and Alex Tancrell-Fontaine '15 (42 points).

Career Firsts
First-years Karianne Engelbert and Klara Kenttälä both recorded their first collegiate points in the season-opening weekend at Robert Morris, with Kenttälä earning the primary assist on Engelbert's first-period tally in September 28's 4-2 win. 

Charged Up Power Play
Union went 4-for-9 on the power play against Robert Morris to start the season, led by two player-advantage goals by Maren Friday and one each from Karianne Engelbert and Stephanie Bourque. The three power-play goals on Saturday are the most for the team in a game since netting a program-record four in a 6-1 win over St. Michael's on January 2, 2023.

Oh Captains, Our Captains
Senior blueliners Maren Friday and Emma Hebert will wear the "C" on the sweater for Union this season, the first season with a letter for both players. Senior Sophie Matsoukas, junior Stephanie Bourque and sophomore Megan Ognibene will wear the "A" as assistant captains for the Garnet Chargers this season.

Someone to Lean On
Sophomore Maddie Leaney will look for more success after registering one of the most productive rookie seasons in program history in 2023-24, scoring 12 goals with seven assists for 19 points while playing in all 35 games as a first-year. Her 12 goals tied for third on the school's rookie goals list (and tied for second in the D-I era), while her 19 points were seventh-best all-time and third among D-I players at the school. Her 12 goals and three game-winning goals both ranked fourth all-time overall in the program's Division I record books.

Anchoring the Blueline
Union returns four top-six defensemen from last season. Seniors Maren Friday and Emma Hebert and junior Stephanie Bourque played in all 35 games last season, while sophomore Kendal Davidson played in 33 games. Sophomore Quinn Dunkle also brings a year of collegiate experience after appearing in 36-of-39 games for the University of Minnesota Duluth last season.

New Blood
Union welcomes six first-year players and four transfers to the program for the 2024-25 school year. The class is made up of student-athletes from three countries, two provinces and five states, and includes five forwards, four blueliners and one goaltender, all of whom will look to make an immediate impact on the program. This year's class is the largest incoming class for the program since 2017.

A New Leader
Tony Maci was named the fifth head coach in the history of Union women's hockey on July 31 and begins his first season behind the bench for the Garnet Chargers in 2024-25. Maci comes to Union from Clarkson University, spending the last eight years as the top assistant for Matt Desrosiers. During his time on the bench, the Golden Knights blossomed into a perennial title contender, winning a pair of Division I national championships in 2017 and 2018, reaching four Frozen Fours and making the NCAA Tournament seven times. A 2005 graduate of St. Lawrence University, he got his coaching start at Division III Adrian College for three years before one season at Princeton University.

Here To Assist
Joining Maci is an entirely new set of assistant coaches as well. Shawn Skelly spent the last six years as the head women's hockey coach at Division III Adrian College, leading the Bulldogs to a 140-22-7 record, a pair of Frozen Four appearances, and four NCAA Tournament berths in five years. Tina Ciraulo worked with the USPHL's Metro Jets since 2020, including directing the Metro Jr. Jets girls program, and was the first woman to win a junior hockey game as head coach. Courtney Hall played four years at St. Cloud State University from 2019-23 and spent her graduate year at Robert Morris University in 2023-24, while also working the U18 National Women's Development Camp, as well as with the Detroit Little Caesars and Selects Hockey.

Preseason Predictions
Union will look to surprise the ECAC Hockey landscape in head coach Tony Maci's first season, as the Garnet Chargers were picked to finish 12th in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll. The team received 12 points, finishing five points behind Dartmouth College in 11th place and nine points behind Harvard University in 10th.

Goodbye to Messa Rink
The 2024-25 season will be the final one for Union men's and women's hockey at Messa Rink at Achilles Center, as the team prepares to move into the brand-new Mohawk Harbor Event Center across the street from campus for the 2025-26 season. 

All-Messa Rink Fan Voting
Fans can cast their vote for the best players in Union women's hockey history (both Division I and III) at all home games this season or by going to UnionAthletics.com/AllMessaTeams.