| Union vs. Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Tuesday, November 26, 2024 • Troy, NY • Houston Fieldhouse • 11:00 AM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream |
ON THE ROAD: The Union College women's hockey team travels to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a conference matchup on Tuesday, November 26.
LAST WEEKEND: Union won 1-0 against the University of Vermont on Wednedsay, November 20.
Karianne Engelbert scored the lone goal for the Garnet Chargers with 2:20 left in regulation while
Monja Wagner picked up her first career shutout making 28 saves in the Garnet Chargers victory.
ABOUT THE ENGINEERS: Rensselaer swept Merrimack College on November 22 and 23 with a 3-2 win on Friday night followed by 2-1 win on Saturday. Kyley Toye tallied two points with a goal and assist on Friday while Georgia Bailey and Gracyn Mackay also recorded a goal a piece in the win. On Saturday, Sophia Jones and Audrey McCutcheon scored in the Engineers second win against the Warriors. Goaltenders Reese Keating and Maelee Ambrass split the weekend with Keating making 25 saves on Friday night and Ambrass recording 27 saves on Saturday afternoon.
WAGNER WINS IT: Sophomore goaltender
Monja Wagner registered her first collegiate shut out in the 1-0 victory against the University of Vermont on November 20. Wagner made 28 saves in the Garnet Chargers win. The game marked Wagner's second and third appearance this season. Through 10 career games played, Wagner holds a 2.70 GAA and a .921 SV%.
ENGELBERT'S EXCELLENCE: First-year
Karianne Engelbert extended her points per game with a goal on Nov. 20 in the 1-0 against the University of Vermont. Engelbert has tallied at least one point in 11 out of 15 games played this season. Engelbert currently ranks first in points on the team with 10 goals and four assists for 14 points.
SOPHIE'S SAVES: Senior goaltender
Sophie Matsoukas stood tall for Union and stopped 25 shots in the 3-2 victory over #9 Cornell on Nov. 1. Through 93 games played, Matsoukas has made 2,500 saves with a 3.25 GAA and a .900 SV%.
UNCHARTED TERRITORY: With the victory over Cornell on Nov. 1, Union improved to 3-0-0 in ECAC Hockey play for the first time in program history and also won three straight conference games for the first time as a Division I program. The team's previous best conference start came in 2017-18, when the squad started off with three wins in its first six ECAC Hockey games.
TOP-10 TRIUMPH: The win over #9 Cornell marked the first time that Union had ever defeated a team ranked in the top-10 nationally. The Garnet Chargers have now beaten a nationally ranked squad in three straight seasons, following last year's 2-1 (OT) win at #15 Penn State and a 4-1 triumph over #15 Princeton on December 3, 2022. Including last weekend, Union is in the midst of a stretch that sees 10-of-14 opponents with current national rankings.
BACK-TO-BACK WINS: First-year
Jill Willis netted the game-winning goal for the second game in the row in November 1's 3-2 win against Cornell University. Willis first netted the game winning goal with four minutes left in regulation versus Dartmouth College on Oct. 26. With her two game-winners, the first-year already is tied for sixth on the school's single-season GWG list.
SOPHIE'S SHUTOUTS: Senior goaltender
Sophie Matsoukas recorded her fifth career shutout by stopping all 24 shots she faced in a victory over Harvard on Oct. 25. She is one shutout away from tying the all-time record of six held by Shenae Lundberg '15.
BOURQUE'S BRILLIANCE: Junior
Stephanie Bourque tied the game versus Dartmouth six minutes in the third period after overcoming a 1-0 deficit through two periods on Oct. 26. The goal marks the second time this season that Bourque has tied a game in the third period. Bouque scored with two minutes left in regulation on Oct. 5 against RIT to overcome a 3-2 deficit and send the game to overtime. Bourque currently has four goals and five assists for 9 points in 12 games played this season.
LEANEY LEADS: After scoring two goals on Oct. 12 versus Penn State, sophomore
Maddie Leaney became Union's active goal-scoring leader and moved into 14th place all-time in goals (15). Leaney passed senior
Maren Friday, who recorded her 14th career goal on Sept. 27 versus Robert Morris.
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 115 games during her Union career. Junior
Stephanie Bourque (81 games) and sophomore
Maddie Leaney (47 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 Kenttala 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 against RMU 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.
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.
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.
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 in Potsdam, 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: 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: All season long, Union 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 voting online at UnionAthletics.com/AllMessaTeams. The All-Messa Teams will be announced and recognized on the team's annual Alumnae Day on Saturday, February 8.
