Coach Hauge Interview | Player Interview
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – For the first time since 2018, the Union College men's hockey team clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming ECAC Hockey Tournament with a 4-1 win over #20 Cornell University on Friday night at Messa Rink.
Union (19-11-3, 12-7-2 ECACH) will host a best-of-three series beginning on March 14, with the opponent still to be determined. Tickets are on sale now at
UnionAthletics.com/Tickets. Season ticket holders can login to purchase their seats before March 7.
The win over #20 Cornell marks the first win over a nationally-ranked opponent this season. Union's last win over a top-20 team was on March 1, 2024 against then #13 Cornell, a 3-2 win in Ithaca.
Tonight's win marks a season sweep over the Big Red, something that has not been accomplished since the 2013-14 season.
Junior
Colby MacArthur led the way with a two-point (1-1-2) night. Juniors
Brandon Buhr scored his 19
th goal of the year and the eventual game-winning goal in the first period. Junior
Nick Young and first-year
Ben Muthersbaugh each scored a goal in the win.
The Garnet Chargers held a 30-51 edge on the faceoffs. MacArthur went 11-for-15 on the dot tonight to pace the Union centers.
Cornell opened the scoring only 1:29 into the contest. Tim Rego sent a one-timer off a centering pass to put the Big Red up 1-0. A penalty on Nick DeSantis for tripping at 5:39 of the period gave Union the first power-play opportunity of the game. Junior
John Prokop sent a pass from the point to MacArthur in the left circle. The center sent a one-timer past Ian Shane to tie the game at one apiece.
The Garnet Chargers took the lead at 14:08 of the opening frame with Buhr's 19th tally of the season. Sophomore
DJ Hart took a shot from the right-wing boards that bounced off of Buhr's stick and into the net.
Only 25 seconds later, Union made it a two-goal game, prompting a goalie change for Cornell. MacArthur won a faceoff in the left circle back to Young at the right point. Young fired the shot from the top of the slot for his second goal of the season.
Union made it a three-goal lead at 12:12 of the second period. Junior
Brendan Miles won a battle along the boards and chipped the puck ahead to Muthersbaugh in the neutral zone. Muthersbaugh hit the brakes in the right circle to let a Cornell skater pass him before firing a shot for his 13
th goal of the year. Union went on a major powerplay following the goal after an official review which sent Dalton Bancroft to the locker room with a penalty for face-masking and a game misconduct. Two shots were blocked and Remington Keopple made a save to keep Union off the board during the five-minute powerplay.
Cornell put some pressure on Union in the third period with nine shots in the final frame. Rego had two short-handed attempts for the Big Red, but junior
Kyle Chauvette made both saves. Keopple went to the bench with 4:52 remaining in favor of the extra attacker. Ben Robertson hit a pipe, but that was as close as Cornell came to scoring as Union shut the door to preserve the win.
Chauvette was stellar in net with 19 saves for his 18
th win of the season. In the win, Chauvette moved into a tie for sixth place in Union's Division I career wins list with his 35th career win. Chauvette also moved into a tie with former teammate Connor Murphy '23 for eighth place in Union's Division I career saves.
Buhr's game-winning goal is his fifth of the season, which moves him into a tie for fourth in Union's Division I single-season game-winning goals. Junior
John Prokop also entered the record book with his 63
rd career assist, tying Spencer Foo '17 and Sebastian Vidmar '19 for 10
th in the Division I era.
Union closes out the regular season tomorrow against Colgate on senior day. Puck drop is set for 4:00 p.m. at Messa Rink.
