DIFFERENT STARTS: On Friday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m., the
Union College men's hockey team and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute open their ECAC Hockey schedules against each other for the 11th season in a row, but with the two programs experiencing much different starts to the year. Union (4-0-1) is undefeated and riding its best start of a campaign since 2018-19. RPI on the other hand is 0-6-0 and winless through six games for the first time since starting 0-5-1 in 2008-09.
WHILE WE WERE AWAY: The Garnet Chargers' four-game winning streak remained active during an off week in Week 4 of the men's Division I season. Miami (Ohio) owns the longest active winning streak in the country at the moment with six consecutive victories. During Union's bye, RPI dropped a pair of games to Minnesota State.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: The only thing so far that could keep a Union player from winning one of ECAC Hockey's weekly awards was a bye week. Through the first three weeks of the season, Union had at least one player per week win an award from the conference for a grand total of four winners. While Quinnipiac paces the league with five total awards, Union is the only school so far to have won each of the four weekly awards (Forward, Goaltender, Defender, Rookie).
FLEDGLING ENGINEERS: Rensselaer head men's hockey coach Eric Lang begins his first season at the helm for the Engineers. Lang arrived in Troy after serving as the head coach at American International College since 2016. Lang won 155 games with AIC and captured an Atlantic Hockey regular season championship or postseason title seven times in his nine seasons. A former player at American International, Lang led his alma mater to the NCAA Division I Men's Hockey tournament on three occasions. The Engineers feature eight first years, and only eight players who registered ice time for RPI last season are back on the squad.
KEEP THE SKATES IN SCHENECTADY!
The weekend series between Union and RPI will mark the 119th and 120th meetings of the storied rivals. Whichever team earns the most points during the regular-season series earns the Capital Skates Trophy. Union is currently in possession of the hardware after sweeping the 2024-25 series and winning the Capital Skates Trophy for the first time in six years.
BEAT THE STREAK
Union is on a four-game winning streak, which began with a 5-2 win over Mercyhurst on Friday, Oct. 10. During the streak, Union is outscoring opponents by three goals a game (19-7). The four-game streak matches Union's longest winning streak from a season ago, and if Union is able to extend their string of W's to five games, it'll be the Garnet Chargers' longest winning streak since March of the 2018-19 season.
UNBEATEN IS BEST
Union is one of three unbeaten teams in the country, joining Miami (Ohio) (6-0-0) and Wisconsin (4-0-2). Union's 4-0-1 start to the season is the team's best in seven years. If the Garnet Chargers are able to extend their unbeaten streak to seven with any combination of wins and ties this weekend, they'll be on their longest unbeaten streak since the 2017-18 campaign (Feb. 3 - Feb. 24, 2018; 6-0-1).
SLIM MARGINS
The last two games between the Garnet Chargers and the Engineers have been decided by one goal each, with Union winning both. Union and RPI hadn't played back-to-back one-goal games since the 2019-20 season, when the rivals split the weekend series in late October.
ENGINEERING SOME SUCCESS
Colby MacArthur led Union with five points in three games last season against RPI.
Ben Muthersbaugh led the team with three goals against the Engineers, and
Parker Lindauer was the leading passer with four assists.
RANKINGS SUMMARY
The Garnet Chargers are in the top-10 of six team categories tracked on NCAA.org. Their 54% faceoff percentage (10th), 93.8% penalty kill percentage (4th), 1.60 goals allowed per game (5th), 2.40 scoring margin (third), 4.00 goals per game (fourth), and .900 winning percentage (2nd) are all among the tops of NCAA Division I men's hockey.
SHUT PIECE
Cameron Korpi recorded his first-career shutout in the 6-0 victory over Niagara on Oct. 18. He made 24 saves against the Purple Eagles and has not allowed a goal in 98:22 of time in net. If Korpi can keep RPI off the scoreboard for the first 42:18 of the game on Friday, he'll tie Colin Stevens' shutout streak from the 2013-14 season.
AN APPLE A DAY...
Etienne Lessard and
Parker Lindauer both have five assists through Union's first five games. They are two of just 25 players in NCAA Division I men's hockey to average an assist per game so far this season.
ON THE POWER PLAY
Brandon Buhr and
Parker Lindauer are tied for the team lead with two power-play goals each. Union has scored on the power play in three straight games and netted three goals on the man advantage in the 6-0 win over Niagara on Oct. 18. Union strung together three straight games with a power-play goal once last season.
SHORT-HANDED SUCCESS
The Garnet Chargers have successfully killed off 14 penalties in a row, last allowing a power-play goal in the first period of their season-opener against Army on Oct. 4. Their 93.8% penalty kill percentage is the best in ECAC Hockey and the fourth-best across NCAA Division I men's hockey.
THE LINDAUER HOUR
With seven points so far this season,
Parker Lindauer leads his team and is already halfway to matching his season high in points. He had three goals and 11 assists in 2024-25 and currently is tied with
Etienne Lessard for the team lead in assists with five.
BLOCK PARTY
Ollie Chessler made his collegiate debut on Saturday, Oct. 18 and led the team with three blocked shots, becoming the fifth different Garnet Charger to lead the team in blocks in a game.
WAY-TOO-EARLY-NPI-RANKINGS
The NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) is the official system for selecting and seeding teams for the NCAA Tournament in March. It replaced the old Pairwise rankings at the outset of the 2025-26 season. Union is currently ranked 10th in NPI, however, college hockey writers have warned that there is not enough data or results yet this early in the season to look at the NPI rankings too closely.
LOTS OF SHOTS
Union leads all of NCAA Division I men's hockey with 46.6 shots per game. Denver, the team with the second-most shots, is averaging over six shots less than Union at 40.2. The Garnet Chargers have posted at least 40 shots in four straight games and in the 6-0 win over Niagara on Oct. 18, the Garnet Chargers recorded 55 shots, marking their most in a game since Feb. 17, 2012 (60 vs Princeton).
SETTING THE DUN(BAR) HIGH
Tyler Dunbar joined the team this season as a junior transfer from Colorado College. He leads the team with nine blocked shots and a +7 rating. After scoring three goals with four points during the weekend sweep of Niagara, Dunbar was named the ECAC Hockey Defender of the Week on Oct. 20. He also has a 15.9 CHIP (college hockey individual point) rating. This metric is College Hockey News' attempt at an objective Hobey Baker Tracker. The junior's 15.9 CHIP rating is the highest in ECAC Hockey and the 13th-best in the country.
SHARING THE GLORY
Four different Garnet Chargers have been the hero for each of Union's four wins this season.
Connor Smith,
Parker Lindauer,
Lucas Buzziol, and
Brandon Buhr have all recorded a game-winning goal thus far.
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
Ben Muthersbaugh's 28 shots are tied for the 20th most in NCAA Division I men's hockey.
Connor Smith is in a tie for eighth nationally with a 50% shot percentage, and his three goals are the second-most for any player with at least a 25% shot percentage.
Tyler Dunbar's +7 rating is tied for the 19th-best in men's college hockey.
WELL THAT'S A FIRST
Union has six first years on its roster, with defensemen
Troy Pelton and
Etienne Lessard notching their first-career points on assists earlier in the season. The Garnet Chargers are still looking to celebrate a first year's first-career goal, however.
Ollie Chessler and
Alex Laurenza have both already made their collegiate debuts, while goaltenders
Brayden Gillespie and
Brendan Holahan await to make their collegiate debuts.
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 holds 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.
DON'T COUNT THESE GUYS OUT
Union stormed back from a 3-0 deficit and scored five unanswered goals in a 5-3 win over Mercyhurst on Oct. 11. It marked the Garnet Chargers' first victory after trailing by three goals since Dec. 1, 2013, when they erased a 4-1 deficit to beat Penn State. Daniel Ciampini scored the game-winner in that comeback with three seconds left in regulation, breaking the hearts of 5,177 Penn State fans in University Park, Pa.
BUHR WATCHING
College Hockey News released its "Players to Watch" in ECAC Hockey and recognized
Brandon Buhr with some high praise. "Buhr is shifty and has a good shot, which makes him successful. He is also good at getting to the important areas of the ice, which is the way his coach,
Josh Hauge, would like his team to play. Union as a whole is returning a deep group, and [Buhr] could be in the mix for Player of the Year."
NEED A 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.
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 as transfers after earlier stops around the Division I hockey landscape.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 the 2023-24 campaign.
Tyler Dunbar, Miles, and Cameron and
Carter Korpi all hail from Michigan as well. Across Division I men's hockey, there are 91 players from The Wolverine State.
