SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – In the second-ever meeting between the Union College men's hockey team and Brown University in the ECAC Hockey Conference Tournament, it was Union that emerged victorious with a 6-0 score on Saturday evening at Messa Rink.

The shutout is the sixth playoff shutout in program history. The last playoff shutout was at Yale on March 6, 2020 and the last playoff shutout at home was on March 9, 2019, a 4-0 win over Colgate.

Union scored two short-handed goals in the win and set a new program record with nine. The last time Union scored two short-handed goals was on November 4, 2016, a 5-3 win over Yale.

The Garnet Chargers set a new program record of short-handed goals with nine. The record previously stood at eight and was set in 1994-95 and matched in the 2014-15 season.

Four different skaters found the back of the net with senior Ben Tupker and junior Caden Villegas scoring two goals apiece. Senior Chaz Smedsrud extended his goal streak to five games, one of the longest active goal streaks in men's Division I hockey. First-year DJ Hart scored his first collegiate goal in the victory with one of Union's two short-handed goals.

Union opened the scoring in the first period and never looked back. Nixon won a battle in the corner and kicked the puck out to junior Cullen Ferguson in the high slot. The defender fired a wrister through traffic. Nixon added a shot off the rebound, but Lawton Zacher made a pad save. Villegas picked up the rebound and cashed in on the open net.

The Garnet Chargers added two in the middle frame starting with a short-handed goal from Hart. Senior Ville Immonen made a play behind the net and chipped the puck out to Hart in the slot, who fired the wrister past Zacher. Union pushed the lead to three goals after senior Liam Robertson forced a turnover in the defensive end of the ice and chipped it ahead to Smedsrud. The senior winger sent a one-timer from the top of the left-wing circle for his 14th goal of the year.

Union scored three goals in the final period to put the game out of reach. As a pair of matching penalties expired, senior Nathan Kelly made a pass from behind the net to Tupker in the slot and the captain sent it past Zacher for his first of the night. The Garnet Chargers registered their fifth goal with 8:27 to go in the third period. Immonen won the faceoff directly to Zacher's left and Villegas immediately took a shot for his second goal of the game. After drawing a penalty, Brown pulled Zacher for the extra attacker. Tupker forced a turnover high in the slot in the defensive zone and ripped a shot down the ice for the short-handed empty-netter.

Union outshot the Bears 40-22 and dominated in the faceoff circle with 41 wins to Brown's 26.

Sophomore netminder Kyle Chauvette stopped all 22 shots he faced for his third shutout this season and fourth career clean sheet. Zacher made 34 saves, including 17 in the first period.

Union is on the road next weekend for the best-of-three ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals. Stay tuned to UnionAthletics.com for an opponent and location.