CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Juniors Nate Hanley and Brandon Buhr each scored a goal and Kyle Chauvette made 23 saves as the Union College men's hockey team earned a 2-1 win over Harvard University on Friday night at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.

Union (18-10-3, 11-6-2 ECACH) moved one step closer to a first-round bye with the victory, and is currently tied for third place with Colgate (16-12-3, 11-6-2 ECACH) with 37 points in the league standings. The Garnet Chargers sit two points back of Clarkson University in second place and are seven points clear of Dartmouth College in fifth. Union can clinch a first-round bye with a win at Dartmouth on Saturday.

Buhr scored his team-leading 18th goal and his fourth game-winning marker of the year. Hanley registered his 10th marker of the year and first-year Ben Muthersbaugh tallied both assists for his seventh multi-point game of the season.

Union blocked a season-high 27 shots in the win. The last time Union blocked 27 in a game was on January 14, 2023, a 0-0 tie at Yale.

The opening period was quiet for both teams as Harvard held an 11-5 advantage in shots. Each team was assessed a penalty, but neither team could convert with the player advantage.

The second period saw Union dominate the opening minutes. A penalty on Ben MacDonald put Union on their second and final power play in a contest that only saw three penalties combined. Salvatore Guzzo broke the stalemate at 14:12 of the second period, but the Garnet Chargers responded with two goals in less than two minutes to take back the lead. Muthersbaugh fired a shot from the right circle and the puck slid across the stick of goalie Ben Charette in front of the crease where Hanley picked up the loose change to tie the game. With less than eight seconds to play in the period, Muthersbaugh took a shot from the goal line to the left of the net, and the puck caromed off of Buhr and into the net for the eventual game-winning goal.

Harvard put pressure on early in the third, but three blocked shots by Union skaters and a save by Chauvette kept the Crimson from tying the game. Out of the media timeout, the Crimson continued to pressure the Garnet Chargers, but some off-target shots and three more blocked shots helped to protect the one-goal lead. Charette went to the bench in favor of the extra attacker in the final minutes, but Union held on for the win.

Chauvette made 23 saves in the win and Charette stopped 22 shots, including 14 in the second period.

Union travels to Dartmouth tomorrow for the final road game of the regular season. Puck drop with the Big Green is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena.