This Weekend
Union is hosting Brown University in the ECAC Hockey Opening Round. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Messa Rink. Union earned the six seed in the tournament while Brown is the 11th seed.
Last Time Out
Union was on the road for the final weekend of the regular season, earning a split. Union defeated #13 Cornell on Friday night, 3-2, but dropped a tough 4-3 decision at Colgate on Saturday.
In Friday's win at Cornell, senior
Chaz Smedsrud tied the game on the powerplay in the first period before classmate
Liam Robertson also struck on the player advantage to give the visitor's a 2-1 lead. Cornell struck back in the second period on the powerplay to knot the game. A goal in the final minutes of the middle frame from sophomore
Colby MacArthur served as the game winner.
Saturday was a different story. Colgate jumped out to a 1-0 lead early and senior
Ville Immonen tied it on the powerplay. The Raiders struck twice in the second period. Smedsrud scored early in the third, but Colgate took a 4-2 lead. Junior
Caden Villegas scored on the extra attacker, but the team ultimately fell 4-3.
Scouting Brown
The Bears are coming off of a shootout win over Harvard on Saturday to jump into the 11th place spot in the conference standings. Brown is 1-7-2 in their last 10 games, with the win coming at Clarkson on January 20.
The Bears are one of the least-penalized teams in the nation. They average 7.00 penalty minutes per game and only have one major penalty this season.
Five skaters are in double-digit scoring for the Bears. Former Northeastern forward Ryan St. Louis leads the team with 24 points (13-11-24). Ryan Bottrill leads the team with 16 assists in his 19 point (3-16-19) season. Alex Pineau is on to watch on the powerplay with four goals on the advantage.
Lawton Zacher has manned the crease for a majority of the season with a 6-13-3 record in 25 starts. Zacher has a .911 save percentage and a 2.81 GAA. Tyler Shea has made four starts for the Bears and 10 overall appearances on the way to a 2-5-0 record. Shea has a .901 save percentage and a 3.27 GAA.
Got Your Number
Senior
Ville Immonen has seen the most success against Brown in his career. In six games, Immonen has four goals and two assists for six points. Other players to watch on Saturday are junior
Caden Villegas, who has three goals, and senior
Liam Robertson, who has two goals. Sophomore
John Prokop has four assists in four games.
Lucky 13
Senior
Chaz Smedsrud scored his 13th goal on Saturday, making him the first to score that many since classmate
Liam Robertson put up 13 in the 2021-22 season.
Four Scorers and Five Years Ago
For the first time since the 2018-19 season, Union has four skaters in double-digit goals. Senior
Chaz Smedsrud leads the way with 13 with sophomore
Brandon Buhr with 11. Senior
Liam Robertson and sophomore
Carter Korpi each have 10 goals this season.
Don't Let Him Get Hot
Senior
Chaz Smedsrud is currently on a four-game goal streak, dating back to February 23 against Harvard. Smedsrud currently has one of the longest active goal streaks, only one back from RIT's Matthew Wilde. The senior has six points (4-2-6) in the last four games.
It's Been a Minute
Friday night saw Union defeat #13 Cornell in Ithaca, 3-2. The last win against the Big Red was on March 15, 2019 in the second round of the ECAC Hockey tournament. The last win in the regular season was on February 24, 2018, a 4-3 win in Schenectady.
Prokop for Hobey
Sophomore
John Prokop was named a 2024 Hobey Baker Award nominee. Prokop leads the team in points (35) and assists (27) and is the first defenseman in the league in scoring. Fans can vote once a day for Prokop between January 26 and March 10 at hobeybaker.com/vote.
Depth Scoring
Union is averaging 3.35 goals a game with eight skaters over 20 points this season and 13 skaters in double-digit scoring. This is the first team to have eight 20+ point scorers since the 2018-19 season and the first team to have 13 skaters in double-digits since the 2018-19 season that boasted 13.
Leading the Charge
Sophomore
John Prokop is having a stellar sophomore campaign with 35 points (8-27-35). Among Union defenders, he is second in single season points, four back from ties Mat Bodie '14, who had 39 in the 2013-14 season. He is currently tied for second in single-season assists with Jeff Taylor '17 who had 27 in the 2014-15 season.
Three-Peat
Union won their third straight Mayor's Cup with a 5-3 victory over RPI last weekend. The win is Union's 8th in the 11 years of the rivalry game.
It's Been A While
The road weekend at Dartmouth and Harvard saw several firsts for the program in several years. Saturday's win at Harvard was the first since January 30, 2015, a 5-4 victory. The ECAC Hockey weekend sweep on the road was the first in exactly six years, when Union swept Brown and Yale January 19-20, 2018 .
Forward of the Week
After a five-point weekend, senior
Liam Robertson was named the ECAC Hockey Forward of the week. Robertson scored the game-winning goal Friday night at Dartmouth before turning in a career-high four-point night (2-2-4) against the Crimson on Saturday.
Back in November
Union and RPI both won on the road in the home-and-home series in November. The 14 combined goals at Messa Rink were the most in the series in Union's Division I era. Union went on to win at Houston Field House, marking the first victory at RPI since October 26, 2019.
Shorty Watch
Union's special teams have been a big factor in the team's success so far this season. The Garnet Chargers have seven short-handed goals this season, which is the most for the program since the team put up seven in the 2016-17 season. The team record is eight short-handed goals, set in 1994-95 and tied in the 2014-15 season.
Shorty for Korpi
Sophomore
Carter Korpi has scored three shorthanded goals this season, the most for a Union skater since Mike Vecchione '17 potted four in the 2016-17 season. Korpi is one goal away from tying Union's single-season record.
At the Top
Union boasts one of the top-ranked penalty kill in NCAA Division I men's hockey with a 86.2% success rate through 34 games. Union has ranked in the top three since November 9.
On the Dot
Union's centers have been excellent on the faceoff dot, ranking 18th with a 51.8% win percentage. Seniors
Liam Robertson and
Ville Immonen are second and seventh, respectively in ECAC Hockey in win percentage. Robertson has won 59.7% of draws while Immonen has a 55.8% win rate.
Sharib with the Win
Junior
Joe Sharib earned his first collegiate win on Dec. 8 in Union's 5-4 win at Vermont. Sharib went on to make his first collegiate start the following night against the Catamounts.
Alumni Watch
Connor Murphy '23 earned his first AHL win last month for the Calgary Wranglers. Murphy made 32 saves in the 4-2 win over the Manitoba Moose.
Awards Keep Coming
Sophomore
John Prokop has been honored three times in the last two weeks by ECAC Hockey. The blueliner earned back-to-back Defender of the Week honors. Prokop was named the ECAC Hockey Defender of the Month for the month of November.
Gone Streaking
Sophomore
John Prokop went on a seven-game point streak from Nov. 3 to Dec. 1, recording 12 points (2-10-12) in that span. The seven-game point streak is tied for the longest in ECAC Hockey this season.
Double Up
The sophomore duo of
John Prokop and
Carter Korpi both earned ECAC Hockey weekly honors after the weekend sweep of Stonehill. Prokop was named the Defender of the Week and Korpi was honored as the Forward of the Week presented by Bluebird by Lark Hotels.
He'd Be Honored
Sophomore goaltender
Kyle Chauvette was honored for a second time this season as ECAC Hockey's MAC Goaltending Goaltender of the Week after his performance against UConn. In the 4-1 win, Chauvette made a career-high 36 saves before turning in a 62-save performance the following night to set Union's single-game save record.
Set Records, Take Names
Sophomore goaltender
Kyle Chauvette made 62 saves in the October 21 loss to UConn. The 62 stops is the most for a Union player in a single game.
Season Opening Shutout
Sophomore
Kyle Chauvette was stellar in Union's 6-0 victory over Army West Point on Sunday. The shutout to open the season is the first for Union in exactly 13 years. The last season opening shutout was on October 8, 2010, a 9-0 shutout of Sacred Heart.
Captaining the Ship
Senior
Ben Tupker returns as captain for the second season in a row. Fellow seniors
Tyler Watkins and
Chaz Smedsrud will each don the "A" for the 2023-24 season.
Nice to Meet You
Union welcomes eight newcomers to the program for the 2023-24 season, including two transfers and six first-years. They hail from six states and two Canadian provinces and consist of four forwards, three defenders, and one goaltender.
Transfer Commits
Union added two out of the transfer portal in the offseason. Junior
Cole Kodsi joins the team from Bentley University (AHA) and sophomore
Brandon Buhr comes from ECAC Hockey foe Clarkson University. Kodsi, a former captain with the Falcons, skated in 83 career games and scored 41 points (18-23-41). Buhr left Clarkson last December to return to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (BCHL) where he registered 18 points (12-6-18) before leading the team in playoff scoring with 24 points (8-16-24) in 19 playoff games.
Looking to Surprise
Union was picked to finish eighth in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll, earning 45 points.
Defense First
Sophomore defender
John Prokop earned a spot on the ECAC All-Rookie team last season after a stellar first-year campaign. Prokop is the first rookie defenseman in Union's Division I history to lead the team in scoring. The last defenseman to lead the team in scoring was Brandon Estes in the 2021-22 season and the last rookie to lead in points was Adam Presizniuk in the 2007-08 season.
New Year, New Name
Union's teams will be playing under a new name this season, as the College rebranded as the Garnet Chargers over the summer. Garnet has been Union's official school color for more than 150 years, while Chargers harkens to Schenectady's legacy as a hub of electrical innovation and invention. With the rebrand comes an additional Union "U" logo, which will be used alongside the traditional "Block U" logo that has been in place for many years.
