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Connor Smith Goal Celebration
Mary Gettens
1
Army West Point AWP 0-1-1
1
Union (NY) UNI 0-0-1
Army West Point AWP
0-1-1
1
Final
1
Union (NY) UNI
0-0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 OT 2 F
Army West Point AWP 1 0 0 0 0 1
Union (NY) UNI 0 0 1 0 0 1

Game Recap: Men's Ice Hockey | | Tim LaDuca, Assistant Athletic Communications Director

Men's Hockey Skates to a Tie in Home Opener

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Sophomore Connor Smith scored the game-tying goal during the third period as the Union College men's hockey team skated to a 1-1 tie with Army West Point at M&T Bank Center on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd.

Army bested Union 2-0 in a shootout after the scoreless, five-minute overtime, but the game is officially scored as a tie. 

The Garnet Chargers made their season debut in a new building for the first time since opening Messa Rink in 1975. M&T Bank Center, the new home of Union men's and women's hockey, is a 100,000-square-foot multipurpose venue, boasting a capacity of 2,200 for hockey games and expands to 3,600 for other sporting events, trade shows, special events, and conventions. M&T Bank Center is the 16th hockey venue in the NCAA to open in the last 10 years. 

The Garnet Chargers earned the first power-play opportunity of the game 3:56 into the play but could not convert and only recorded one shot. Army also went scoreless in its first extra-skater situation but converted late in its second power play at the 14:03 mark of the first period. With just eight seconds left in senior Parker Lindauer's boarding penalty, Lukas McCloskey scored on a shot from the point, benefiting from a lot of traffic in front of Union's sophomore goaltender Cameron Korpi. 

Union turned up its intensity in the second period, outshooting Army 7-2 in the first 8:18 after the first intermission. The Garnet Chargers earned their fourth and fifth power plays of the evening during the second period. Sophomore Ben Muthersbaugh put a shot off the pipe from inside the right circle during Union's first power play of the second. The Garnet Chargers also ripped off three shots in quick succession during a delayed penalty, including a good look at goal on a one-timer for senior Colby MacArthur and a slapshot from the blue line for junior Tyler Dunbar. However, Army's goaltender JJ Cataldo kept the Garnet Chargers scoreless for the first 40 minutes, making 24 saves by the second intermission. 

Cataldo finished the night with 38 saves, but Smith was able to find the game-tying goal when he redirected a shot from Lindauer. Despite the puck being chest high, Smith got his stick up in time to deflect his teammate's shot into the back of the net for his second-career goal. Smith's last collegiate score came on Oct. 6, 2024, also against Army, in an overtime victory for Union on the opening night of the 2024-25 season. 

The Black Knights had several looks at a late game-winning goal as the third period expired, but Korpi made a glove save and a blocker save within the final three minutes of regulation. Union killed a third penalty in the last 2:20 as Union played to its first tie in a season debut since Oct. 9, 2015 against Sacred Heart. 

Korpi made 25 saves in his first game for the Garnet Chargers, Dunbar blocked a team-high six shots, and senior Nick Young added three blocked shots as he debuted the captain patch on his jersey. 

The Garnet Chargers play Colgate in a neutral-site exhibition on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. in Clinton, N.Y., and will return to regular-season action on Friday, Oct. 10 against Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa.
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