| Union at Robert Morris |
| Friday, September 27, 2024 • Moon Township, Pa. • Clearview Arena • 7:00 PM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream ($) |
| Union at Robert Morris |
| Saturday, September 28, 2024 • Moon Township, Pa. • Clearview Arena • 3:00 PM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream ($) |
ABOUT UNION: Union begins a new era this weekend, as
Tony Maci begins his tenure as head coach of the Garnet Chargers. Union is coming off an 8-25-2 (3-17-2 ECAC Hockey) season a year ago under former head coach Josh Sciba, which ended with a loss to #14 Yale in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament. The team returns 17 players from a year ago, including leading goal scorer
Maddie Leaney (12 goals, seven assists) and starting goaltender
Sophie Matsoukas (3.15 GAA, .892 save pct.), and welcomes 10 newcomers to the program, including four transfers.
ABOUT ROBERT MORRIS: In its first season back as a varsity program, Robert Morris posted a 15-19-1 (11-8-1 CHA) record and reached the CHA semifinals before falling to Mercyhurst in three games. CHA Rookie of the Year Alaina Giampietro returns to lead the offense after scoring a team-best 19 goals with 12 assists for 31 points, while Maggie Hatch (3.07 GAA, .922 save pct.) is back in goal.
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.
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.
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.
Anchoring the Blueline
Union will return 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.
Going Streaking
Senior
Emma Hebert enters her fourth season having played in all 103 games during her Union career. Juniors
Stephanie Bourque and
Amanda Quan (69 games) and sophomore
Maddie Leaney (35 games) also enter the 2024-25 season having played in every game of their two- and one-year careers, respectively.
Every Day is Friday
Senior
Maren Friday enters her senior season with 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 career points from the Union blueline. She currently is tied for first in career goals by a defenseman (with Cheyenne Harris '20 and Megan Ryan '20) and also sits fourth in career points and seventh in points among Union blueliners all time.
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
Along with Maci comes 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. The women's team enters 2024-25 having played 380 games in Messa Rink since the start of the program in 1999-00, including 335 contests since moving up to Division I in 2003-04.
