SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Union College men's hockey first-year Brayden Gillespie earned his first career shutout, and junior Tyler Dunbar recorded a point on all four of Union's goals as the Garnet Chargers beat #8 Quinnipiac 4-0 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 2,276 at M&T Bank Center.

The Garnet Chargers (10-4-2, 3-4-1 ECAC Hockey) snapped an 11-game unbeaten streak against the Bobcats (12-4-2, 4-2-0 ECAC Hockey), and Gillespie made 31 saves, becoming the first Union goalie to shut out a ranked foe since Alex Sakellaropoulos '17 against #13 Merrimack on Nov. 28, 2015.

With Union coming off a 5-1 loss to Princeton, and Quinnipiac coming off a 5-1 win over Rensselaer, both teams came out firing to begin the first period. 

Gillespie, making his second start and third appearance of his debut season, was called on to make 12 saves in the opening 20 minutes of play. He made eight saves in 17:02 of action on Friday night against Princeton. Union outshot the Bobcats in the first stanza, posting 14 shots on goal and its most in the first period since getting 16 off against St. Lawrence on Nov. 8. 

When Quinnipiac earned its first power-play chance of the game early in the second, Union dominated possession despite being a man down, and first-year Alex Laurenza burst out of the box after his penalty expired and instantly recorded a shot on goal. 

Midway through the period, Quinnipiac's Drew Hockley was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for a hit from behind on first-year Etienne Lessard. Union took advantage of the extended extra-man opportunity, scoring twice to bring a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. 

Dunbar scored first on a wrister from the point assisted by sophomores Will Felicio and Ben Muthersbaugh. Sophomore Lucas Buzziol scored 1:55 later, earning his classmate another assist when he deflected a shot from Muthersbaugh past Bobcat goaltender Matej Marinov.

After Union sophomores combined for seven points on the weekend, that class of seven skaters has 59 points on the season, led by Muthersbaugh with 16.

With two goals on the power play Saturday, Union notched its fourth game with multiple extra-man goals this season.

After also assisting on Buzziol's goal in the second, Dunbar solidified his mark on Union's upset victory by tallying points on Union's last two goals of the game. 

Just 21 seconds into the final period, Dunbar buried a follow-up of his own shot to secure his second multi-goal game of the season. Senior Brandon Buhr recorded his team-leading 19th point of the season when he assisted on Dunbar's second score, but Buhr was not alone atop the team's scoring leaderboard for long. Dunbar also recorded his 19th point of the season when he ripped a shot from the blue line, and sophomore Riley Brueck redirected it past Marinov for Union's fourth and final goal of the game.

Dunbar has 12 points in his last eight games and leads ECAC Hockey defensemen with 12 assists overall. 

Union killed off two final power plays for the Bobcats to defend its four-goal lead, with Gillespie making eight saves overall across five extra-man chances for the away team. 

The Garnet Chargers also snapped an 11-game unbeaten streak against the Bobcats and tallied their first shutout of Quinnipiac since a 2-0 win in Schenectady 20 years ago (Nov. 12, 2005). Quinnipiac suffered its first shutout loss of the season, and the eighth-ranked Bobcats are the highest-ranked team Union has beaten since it upended #1 St. Cloud State 7-2 on Jan. 4, 2019. 

While Union has wrapped up conference play for the 2025 calendar, the Garnet Chargers host Alaska Fairbanks for a pair of games on Friday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 13 at 5 p.m.