WELCOME HOME: The Union College men's hockey team opens up the 2025-26 season in its new home, M&T Bank Center, on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m against Army West Point.
EASING INTO THINGS: Both teams will play one exhibition game and one regular-season game during the opening weekend of the season. Army hosts Long Island University on Friday, Oct. 3, and Union travels to Clinton, N.Y. for a scrimmage against ECAC Hockey-foe Colgate on Sunday, Oct. 4.
ABOUT ARMY: Zach McKelvie enters his first season as head coach of the Army West Point hockey program and 12th season on staff at Army. McKelvie has made a key impact on the Army hockey program since returning to Army West Point in 2014 and was promoted to associate head coach in July of 2016 where he served in that role for nine seasons.Â
EARLY EXPECTATIONS: Both Union and Army West Point were ranked fifth in their respective preseason polls to open the season. It's the highest Union has been tabbed in ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll under fourth-year head coach
Josh Hauge.Â
HOME SWEET HOME
Once the Garnet Chargers shake off most of the excitement of making their home debut in their brand-new home arena, they'll look to ride the momentum of their past home-opener successes. Union has won four consecutive home openers and eight of the last 10. Union is also 6-3-1 in its last 10 season debuts, regardless of location.Â
M&T BANK CENTER
This season, the men's and women's Union hockey teams will call the state-of-the-art M&T Bank Center its home, becoming the primary tenant of the 100,000-square-foot multi-purpose venue. The arena boasts a capacity of 2,200 for hockey games and expands to 3,600 for other sporting events, trade shows, special events, and conventions. Highlights include seven luxury suites, a spacious hospitality suite, two full-service concession stands, and an elegant bar overlooking the Mohawk River. M&T Bank Center is the 16th hockey venue in the NCAA to open in the last 10 years.Â
AGAINST ARMY
Union and Army have squared off 39 times since 1924. Army dominated the rivalry early on, winning the first nine matchups. But since Union earned its first win against the Black Knights in 1941, Union has won 66.1% of its games against Army (19-9-3).
NEED TO RECHARGE?
The Garnet Chargers lost 12 players from its 2024-25 roster to graduation, the transfer portal, and the pros. Those departures accounted for 101 points last season, but Union still kept its top goal scorer in
Brandon Buhr (19) and point scorer in
Colby MacArthur (29). Not to mention, four of Union's 20-point scorers from last season are still on the squad, and Union's 78 "returning" goals are the seventh-most in Division I.
FRESH FACES
Hauge and his staff brought in two of each positional group to round out their recruiting class.
Alex Laurenza (F),
Troy Pelton (F),
Etienne Lessard (D),
Ollie Chessler (D)
Brayden Gillespie (G), and
Brendan Holahan (G) will all get their first taste of college hockey this season.
TRANSFER POWER
Will Felicio (D, Michigan),
Carter Rose (D, Clarkson),
Tyler Dunbar (D, Colorado College),
Cameron Korpi (G, Michigan), and
Luke Buss (F, Wisconsin) end up in Schenectady after earlier stops around the Division I hockey landscape. Â
WHAT'S UP BROTHER?
They say your teammates are like your brothers. For Carter and
Cameron Korpi, one of their teammates actually is their brother. Carter is three years older than Cameron, and this will be the first time they've played hockey on the same team together (other than knee hockey games in the basement of their childhood home).
PROFESSIONAL PROKOP
It's no secret
John Prokop was a massive part of the Union defense last year. In three seasons, Prokop notched 65 assists and registered 85 points. Now, the AHCA East Second Team All-American is skating professionally for the Toronto Marlies in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. He's looking to join the likes of Nick DeSimone and Shayne Gostisbehere as former Union hockey players in the NHL.
BLUE LINE BOOST
The Union defenseman room is composed of two first-years, three transfers, and four returners. It could take some time to see who pairs well with whom defensively throughout the season, but at least they'll be grounded by having the captain of the team,
Nick Young, leading the way for the defensemen group.Â
FRESH CREASE
Regardless of who makes the first save of the year for the Garnet Chargers, it'll be that goaltender's first save in a Garnet Charger uniform.
Cameron Korpi does have 18 collegiate games under his belt after a BIG 10 All-Freshman Team season at Michigan in 2024-25. First-years
Brayden Gillespie (OHL) and
Brendan Holahan (NAHL) will both be looking for their first-collegiate save this year. Â
BUHR GETS THE NOD
For the second season in a row, Union was represented on the ECAC Hockey Preseason All-League team, selected by the conference's coaches. The senior forward was one of only six players in the ECAC to receive this recognition, and half of the 12 teams in the league were represented. Buhr is coming off a 28-point campaign in which he led the Garnet Chargers with 19 goals and was named to the All-ECAC Hockey third team.
(GOOD) SCORING QUESTIONS TO ASK
Over the course of head coach
Josh Hauge's first three seasons at Union, he's produced a different leading goal and point scorer each year. With four 20+ point scorer's returning to the squad, will this be the first time Hauge's leading scorer repeats? That'll be up to
Colby MacArthur to continue leading the team in points after seven goals and 22 assists, or up to
Brandon Buhr to back up his preseason All-ECAC selection. A follow-up question: will anyone get 20? Union has not produced a 20-goal scorer since Ryan Scarfo '18 in 2017-18.
Brandon Buhr came close a season ago after lighting the lamp 19 times.
YOU LOVE TO "C" IT
Nick Young earned captain honors in his senior season. He's been along for the ride for all of head coach
Josh Hauge's tenure so far. The alternate captains on the team are
Parker Lindauer and
Brandon Buhr.Â
HIGH HOPES IN SCHENECTADY
Head coach
Josh Hauge told the media on Tuesday, Sept. 30 that if his team equals its No. 5 preseason ranking, then the season will be a disappointment. Union did finish fourth in the standings last year before an early exit at home to Dartmouth in the ECAC playoffs. That fourth-place finish was Union's best since placing second in 2017-18. The Garnet Chargers' most recent regular-season title came in 2013-14, the same season Union won its first national championship.
RECEIVING VOTES
Union appeared on both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls released ahead of the 2025-26 season. Union is one of seven ECAC Hockey teams to be ranked or receive votes on the national polls. Quinnipiac is the highest-ranked ECAC Hockey member in the polls, ringing in at No. 13 in both.
ACROSS THE POND
Union will be joined by RIT, Miami (Ohio), and Sacred Heart in Northern Ireland at the end of November for the Friendship Four.
SPECIAL TEAMS SPOTLIGHT
Union took advantage of 22.3% of its power-play opportunities last season, good for the 23rd-best power-play unit in the nation. A trio of Garnet Chargers led the team with five power-play goals each last season, and two of them,
Colby MacArthur and
Ben Muthersbaugh, are still on the team. On the penalty kill,
Carter Korpi has scored five short-handed goals in his career and is back in the lineup after his 2024-25 campaign ended due to injury. Korpi is tied with RIT's Tyler Mahan for the active lead in short-handed goals across all of Division I men's hockey.
SENIORITY PRIORITY
Union hits the ice with eight seniors, tied with Niagara and St. Thomas for the seventh-largest senior class across Division I. The Garnet Chargers' average age as a team is 22.5, making them tied for the seventh-oldest team in the country.
THE STATE OF COLLEGE HOCKEY
More than half of the nation's teams (33/63) have reached the NCAA Tournament over the last five years. 258 NHL draft picks will play college hockey this season, including 17 first-round selections. More college hockey alumni than ever before are playing in the National Hockey League, and a record 42% of all NHL debuts last season were made by college hockey alumni. 93% of NCAA Division I men's hockey players earn a degree, among the top graduation rates of all men's sports.
GO BIG BLUE?
Three Garnet Chargers previously played college hockey at the University of Michigan.
Cameron Korpi and
Will Felicio both played for Michigan last season, and
Brendan Miles transferred to Union after theÂ
2023-24 campaign.
Tyler Dunbar, Miles, and Cameron and
Carter Korpi all hail from Michigan as well. There are 91 Division I men's hockey players from Michigan this season.Â
ACTIVE LEADERS
Carter Korpi is tied for the national lead with five short-handed goals.
Brandon Buhr's seven game-winning goals are tied for the sixth most in Division I, and
Nate Hanley has the fifth-most assists with 56.
GOING FOR 50
Head coach
Josh Hauge is sitting on 49 wins at the helm of the Garnet Chargers. Once he gets to 50, he'll become the sixth head coach in the program's history to win 50+ games.
