| Union College vs. Princeton University |
| Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 • Schenectady, N.Y. • M&T Bank Center • 7:00 PM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream |
| Union College vs. #8 Quinnipiac University |
| Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 • Schenectady, N.Y. • M&T Bank Center • 5:00 PM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream |
POND SKIPPERS: The Union College men's hockey team returns from its trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland for a home series with Princeton on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. and #8 Quinnipiac on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 5 p.m. Union earned a runner-up finish in the Friendship Four in Belfast, defeating Sacred Heart 8-1 and falling to Miami (Ohio) 3-2 in the championship game. The Garnet Chargers set a Friendship Four record when they scored eight times against Sacred Heart. Their 8-1 win over the Pioneers was also their largest margin of victory since defeating Cornell 7-0 in 2015.
HARBORING GOOD VIBES: Union is 5-2-1 inside the walls of its new home, M&T Bank Center at Mohawk Harbor. The Garnet Chargers also went 5-2-1 over their first eight games at home last year during their final season at Messa Rink.
SQUARING UP THE TIGERS: Princeton comes to Schenectady after being swept by Bowling Green on the road. However, the Tigers recently swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence in New Jersey, and Kai Daniells of the Tigers scored five goals during a 7-4 win over the Saints. Daniells is the fourth player in Princeton's history to score five times in a game and the first since John Cook against Northeastern on Nov. 30, 1962. Daniells is the first NCAA Division I men's hockey player to score five times in a game since 2011.
TRACKING THE 'CATS: The Bobcats completed an undefeated five-game homestand and are on a six-game winning streak as they make their way to Schenectady. Quinnipiac is ranked #8 in the USCHO and USA Hockey polls, while the Garnet Chargers fell out of the USCHO top 20 after its 1-1 weekend in Northern Ireland. Quinnipiac's Evan Wyttenbach is on an eight-game point streak, averaging 1.75 points per game over that stretch.
FOR THE BELPOT
Union became the eighth team to appear in two Friendship Four tournaments, and the Garnet Chargers had the chance to become the first team to win the international competition twice before falling to Miami (Ohio). The Friendship Four began in 2015 and has now been played eight times. It is the only international tournament in NCAA Division I men's hockey.
WHILE IN BELFAST
The Garnet Chargers were busy overseas, touring historic Croke Park in Dublin, visiting the Giant's Causeway, taking guided tours of Belfast, and enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner at the Crumlin Road Gaol. The team spent a week in Northern Ireland, practicing and playing in Belfast's SSE Arena, the home of the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League.
WRAPPING UP 2025
Union plays its fourth ECAC Hockey series of the season and is in seventh place in the league standings. The Garnet Chargers are tied with Quinnipiac with eight points each, but the Bobcats have played two fewer games. Union has earned eight of 18 possible points, and Cornell leads the league with 15 points and a 5-1-0 conference record.
NON-CON
The Garnet Chargers suffered their first con-conference loss when they fell to Miami in the championship of the Friendship Four. Union is 7-1-1 (.833) out of conference this season, tying its best start to the non-conference schedule through nine games all time. Union went 6-0-3 (.833) out of conference to start the 2018-19 campaign and also went 7-1-1 through the first nine non-conference games of the 1976-77 season. The 1976-77 squad finished 11-2-1 out of conference and 21-4-1 overall. Union has three more non-conference games on the schedule.
SATURDAY SUCCESS
Union lost its first game on a Saturday this season when Miami took them down 3-2 in Belfast. The Garnet Chargers have not lost a game on a Saturday in the eastern time zone since March 15.
ABOUT THE LAST 30 DAYS
Brandon Buhr was named the ECAC Hockey Forward of the Week, presented by Bluebird Hotels for the month of November. It is the first time Union has swept the Forward of the Month award between the men's and women's teams after Union women's hockey junior Maddie Leaney also secured the honor for November.
SPECIAL-TEAMS SUCCESS
Union is tied for the ninth-best power play in NCAA Division I men's hockey at 25% and the fourth-best penalty kill at 90.9%. The Garnet Chargers are one of three teams to be in the top 10 of both categories, joining Minnesota Duluth and Dartmouth.
BOUNCE BACK
Union is 2-0-1 coming off a loss and 2-0-0 after a tie. The last time Union lost consecutive games during the regular season was December 2024 when the Garnet Chargers lost four in a row.
CHARGED UP
Union will have a 20-day break after hosting Alaska Fairbanks on Dec. 12-13 before welcoming Royal Military College to town for an exhibition on Jan. 3.
BACK-TO-BACK
Union's first regular-season contest of 2026 will be in Hamden, Conn. on Friday, Jan. 9 against Quinnipiac, meaning the Garnet Chargers are playing back-to-back conference games against the Bobcats.
BUHRsting WITH POINTS
Brandon Buhr, the ECAC Hockey's Forward of the Month for November, leads his conference in power-play goals (6) and game-winning goals (3). He is one of five ECAC Hockey players with a hat trick this season, and his 0.80 goals per game are the sixth-most in NCAA Division I men's hockey.
MAKING THE MOST OF THEIR CHANCES
Because of a five-way tie for the ninth-best power-play percentage in NCAA Division I men's hockey, there are 13 teams in the "top 10" of the statistic. Union has 64 chances on the power play this season and are one of only five teams with 60 or more opportunities with the man advantage.
PROJECTING THE POWER PLAY
Union is averaging 1.07 power-play goals per game through 15 games this season and is on pace for 36 power-play goals by the end of the schedule. Union averaged 0.75 power-play goals last season, and if the Garnet Chargers can finish with 36 power-play goals or more, it will be their most since converting 41 times on the man advantage in 2016-17.
GET YOU A TEAM THAT CAN DO BOTH
Not only does Union have a top-10 power play and penalty kill, but the Garnet Chargers are scoring the third-most goals per game (3.93) in NCAA Division I men's hockey and allowing the ninth-fewest (2.07). The Garnet Chargers are one of four teams in the top 10 of both categories, joined by Dartmouth, Denver, and Michigan.
TO THE LIMIT
For only the second time in the last 10 years, Union has not allowed multiple power-play goals in a game through the first two months of the season (2023-24). Union has allowed five power-play goals so far and gave up three in 2023-24 before the calendar flipped to December.
SEEING DOUBLE
Union has six players with 10 or more points this season. Quinnipiac is the only ECAC Hockey team with more (8).
DYNAMIC DUOS
Quinnipiac's Ethan Wyttenbach and Chris Pelosi lead the conference with 22 and 18 points, respectively.
Brandon Buhr is tied with Pelosi with 18, and
Parker Lindauer has recorded the fourth-most points in ECAC Hockey with 17, meaning the Bobcats and Garnet Chargers own the top-four point scorers in the league.
AHA MOMENT
Sacred Heart and RIT represented Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) at the Friendship Four, becoming the first teams from the conference to appear in the overseas tournament. Union defeated Sacred Heart 8-1 and extended its unbeaten streak against AHA foes to 11 games. The Garnet Chargers are 10-0-1 in that span and 70-43-13 all-time against current AHA teams.
THE BEST DEFENSE IS ALSO GOOD AT OFFENSE
Tyler Dunbar leads all ECAC Hockey defensemen with 15 points on five goals and 10 assists. He is one of eight skaters overall to have 10 or more assists this season. He also leads the league with a +14 rating.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMPS
Union's sophomore class has accounted for 24 goals and 52 points.
Ben Muthersbaugh leads his classmates with 14 points, and
Connor Smith's seven goals are the envy of the other seven sophomores.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Union was featured as College Hockey News' "Team of the Week" after a 2-0 weekend on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 where it outscored UMass Lowell and New Hampshire 13-1 overall and improved to 8-2-1 on the season. During an interview with College Hockey News' editor, head coach
Josh Hauge said, "I love our hockey team ... We believe we're good ... We're excited about trying to continue to grow the program and get it back to where it can be."
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END
Despite beating UMass Lowell by six on Nov. 7, Union's season-long streak of never being outshot in a period came to an end in the second period. Union was outshot 11-10 during the middle stanza. The two sides finished the game with 33 shots each, marking the first time Union did not outshoot its opponent through 60 minutes all season.
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
Head coach
Josh 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.
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.
