ON THE ROAD: Women's Hockey hits the road traveling to the North Country to face St. Lawrence University and #11/12 Clarkson University. Puck drop against the Saints is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Friday night at Appleton Arena followed by a 3:00 p.m. puck drop against the Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon at Cheel Arena.
LAST WEEKEND: Union suffered a 3–1 loss to #9 Princeton University on Friday night and a 5–1 loss to #7 Quinnipiac University on Saturday afternoon. In Friday's contest, first-year
Reanna Loberg scored the lone goal for the Garnet Chargers, with an assist from junior
Quinn Dunkle. Junior goaltender
Monja Wagner made 38 saves in the loss. On Saturday, sophomore
Hayley Kelleher tallied her first collegiate goal against the Bobcats, which was unassisted. First-year goaltender
Emma Rhéaume made her eighth start of the season, recording 39 saves.
ABOUT THE SAINTS: St. Lawrence dropped two contests to #13 Colgate University and #10 Cornell University. In Friday night's 6–2 loss to the Raiders, Alexa Davis and Cheyenne Degeer scored for the Saints, while Kassidy Lawrence made 28 saves in net. In Saturday's 5–2 loss to the Big Red, Lilien Benakova and Alexia Côté found the back of the net, and Emma Sofie Nordström recorded 33 saves.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS: #11 Clarkson tied #10 Cornell, 5–5, on Friday night, with the Big Red winning the shootout. The Golden Knights rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period, scoring twice on the power play in a three-minute span to knot the game at five apiece. Shelby Laidlaw, Sara Manness, Manon Le Scodan, Keira Hurry, and Janelle Evans scored for Clarkson, while goaltender Holly Gruber made 31 saves. On Saturday afternoon, the Golden Knights fell 5–2 to #13 Colgate University. Sara Manness and Sena Catterall scored for Clarkson, and Gruber finished with 23 saves.
M&T BANK CENTER
This season, Union Hockey 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 boasts 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. Convenient on site parking is available, with an additional 700-space lot within walking distance.
OLYMPIC BOUND
Junior goaltender
Monja Wagner was named to Switzerland's Olympic Team as announced by the Swiss Hockey Federation on Wednesday, January 7.
This marks Wagner's inaugural appearance on Switzerland's Olympic team, and the first Union women's hockey player named to an Olympic roster. She is one of only four NCAA women's hockey players representing Switzerland, alongside Alessa Baechler of Northeastern University, Naemi Herzig of the College of the Holy Cross, and Laura Zimmerman of St. Cloud State University.
Wagner, Baechler, Herzig, and Zimmermann will be teammates with notable figures including Alina Muller of the PWHL's Boston Fleet and Nicole Vallario of the PWHL's New York Sirens at the Olympic games set to take place from February 5–22. Switzerland is participating in Group A alongside the United States, Canada, Finland, and Czechia.
Wagner has previously represented Switzerland five times, including earning a spot on the National Team for the second consecutive season. She participated with Switzerland's National Team at the 2025 Lidl Hockey Games in Ängelholm, Sweden (November 5–8), and the Finnish Tournament in Lahti and Hämeenlinna, Finland (December 10–12), as part of the 2025 Women's Euro Hockey Tour. Wagner made her international debut in net at the Lidl Hockey Games, earning her first international win in a 2-1 shootout victory over Sweden and Player of the Game honors on November 7.
Wagner secured a spot on the National Team in the 2024–25 season and represented Switzerland at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championships in České Budejovice, Czechia. She also competed internationally with Switzerland's Under-18 Team at the 2019 and 2020 IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in Obihiro, Japan, and Bratislava, Slovakia, respectively.
LOBERG LIGHTS THE LAMP
First-year forward
Reanna Loberg scored the second goal of her collegiate career Friday night against #7 Princeton University. She notched her first collegiate goal in her collegiate debut on Sept. 27 against Franklin Pierce in the program's inaugural game at M&T Bank Center. Loberg has appeared in all 24 games of her rookie season, tallying two goals.
HAYLEY HAMMERS HOME
Sophomore
Hayley Kelleher scored her first collegiate goal against #7 Quinnipiac University on Saturday afternoon. Since starting the second half of the season, she has recorded two points in four games, including an assist in the first game of 2026 against #15/14 Yale University on Jan. 2. Her first career point was an assist against Merrimack College on Oct. 3. The Clarkson University transfer has now totaled one goal and two assists across 22 games this season.
DYNAMIC DUNKLE
With an assist Friday night against #9 Princeton, junior blueliner
Quinn Dunkle has recorded six goals and seven assists for 13 points in 24 games this season. Her point total ranks second among Union defensemen, trailing only senior captain
Stephanie Bourque, who has posted two goals and 16 assists for 18 points this season.
Dunkle is putting together a breakout season after recording four assists in her first year at Union. The Minnesota-Duluth transfer has nearly tripled her point production from last season.
Highlights include scoring empty-netters to seal Union's 3–0 win over Franklin Pierce on Sept. 26 and in the 4–2 victory against Merrimack College on Oct. 3. She added her third goal of the season on the power play against New Hampshire on Oct. 11, the following weekend.
Dunkle also scored the lone goal against #7 Quinnipiac on Oct. 31, and also found the net in Union's 7–4 win over Rensselaer on Nov. 8 and the 3–0 victory against Delaware on Nov. 28. She has added assists against Franklin Pierce (Sept. 27), New Hampshire (Oct. 10), Saint Anselm (Oct. 17), #10 Clarkson (Oct. 24), Rensselaer (Nov. 8), Yale (Jan. 2), and #9 Princeton (Jan. 9).
BRICKWALL BRIGADE
Union enters the season with a four goaltenders consisting of senior
Emily Evans, junior
Monja Wagner, sophomore
Sara Da Silva, and first-year
Emma Rhéaume.
Wagner has started 15 games for Union this season, posting a 4–8–3 record with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. Her wins came against Franklin Pierce (Sept. 26), Merrimack (Oct. 3), Saint Anselm (Oct. 17), and #4 Cornell (Nov. 21). Wagner also earned ties against Merrimack (Oct. 4), New Hampshire (Oct. 10), and Dartmouth (Dec. 6). Her losses came against #1 Wisconsin (Oct. 18), #9 Clarkson (Oct. 24), #7 Quinnipiac (Oct. 31), #13/12 Colgate (Nov. 22), Harvard (Dec. 5), #15/14 Yale (Jan. 2), #15 Brown (Jan. 3), and #9 Princeton (Jan. 9).
Among Wagner's highlights was backstopping Union to an overtime upset victory against #4 Cornell on Nov. 21, stopping 43 shots. The performance came shortly after her return from the Lidl Hockey Games with Switzerland's National Team as part of the 2025 Euro Hockey Tour, held Nov. 5–8.
Wagner also recorded her second shutout of the season on Dec. 6, making 35 saves against Dartmouth. The shutout marked the third of her career and moved her into second place on Union's all-time shutout list. It also represented the fifth shutout of the season by Union goaltenders. Wagner and first-year
Emma Rhéaume combined for consecutive shutouts against Franklin Pierce on Sept. 26 and 27, becoming the first goaltending duo in program history to accomplish the feat. Later in the season, senior
Emily Evans and Rhéaume recorded back-to-back shutouts against Delaware on Nov. 28 and 29, marking the second time Union goaltenders achieved consecutive shutouts this season.
Rhéaume has appeared in nine games this season, posting a 3–5–0 record with a 2.51 GAA and a .917 save percentage. She earned her first collegiate win and shutout in a 2–0 victory over Franklin Pierce on Sept. 27. Rhéaume picked up her second career win against cross-town rival Rensselaer on Nov. 1, stopping 22 shots in a 7–4 victory, and recorded her second shutout of the season and of her career against Delaware on Nov. 29. Her losses came against New Hampshire (Oct. 11), Saint Lawrence (Oct. 25), Princeton (Nov. 1), and Rensselaer (Nov. 7), and #7 Quinnipiac (Jan. 10). Rhéaume also appeared in relief against #7 Quinnipiac on Oct. 31 and Harvard on Dec. 6, making 18 and five saves, respectively.
Evans made her season debut in relief against #7 Quinnipiac on Oct. 31, playing 26 minutes and making 10 saves on 12 shots. She earned her first career start on Nov. 28 against Delaware, recording her first collegiate win and shutout.
LEANEY LEADS
Junior
Maddie Leaney opened Union's 2026 goal scoring, tallying the game's first goal on Jan. 2 against #15/14 Yale University. Leaney followed with an assist on sophomore
Karianne Engelbert's goal later in the first period. She added another assist on Bourque's goal against #15 Brown on Saturday, finishing the weekend with three points.
Leaney's strong start to the second half comes after one of the most impressive first halves by any player in Union history. The junior tallied nine goals in November, the most by any player in a single month in the program's Division I era. The month opened with a four-point weekend against cross-town rival Rensselaer, including two goals in the dominant 7-4 victory against the Engineers on Nov. 7. Leaney continued her hot streak with a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, in Union's historic overtime upset win of #4 Cornell on Nov. 21, marking the program's first win over a top-five opponent. The hat trick was the second of her career, making Leaney the first player in program history to record multiple hat tricks. She added another goal the following day against #13/12 Colgate on Nov. 22.
Leaney capped the month with two goals against Delaware, including her eighth career game- winning goal, breaking the program's all-time record. Due to her dominance, Leaney earned ECAC Hockey Forward of the Week honors twice in November, following the Rensselaer and Cornell weekends, becoming the first player in program history to win the award twice in a single season and the second to do so twice in a career. She was also named ECAC Hockey Forward of the Month, the first Union player to earn the honor.
Leaney concluded the first half of the season with an assist on
Emma Fulawka's power-play goal at Harvard on Dec. 5. Through 94 career games, Leaney has totaled 33 goals and 30 assists for 63 points, just six shy of the program's all-time points record of 68, currently held by Elise Nichols '07.
GOING STREAKING
Senior
Stephanie Bourque (130 games) and junior
Maddie Leaney (96 games) are both riding multi-year iron-woman streaks, having appeared in every game of their three- and two-year careers, respectively. Sophomore
Jill Willis also skated in all 37 contests as a first-year and has currently appeared in all 22 games in the 2025-26 season.
OH CAPTAINS, OUR CAPTAINS
Senior blueliner
Stephanie Bourque will serve as team captain for the Garnet Chargers, while junior defenseman
Megan Ognibene returns as an assistant captain for a second consecutive season. Senior forward
Mallory Mauracher joins the leadership group as a first-time assistant captain.
COACHES CORNER
Tony Maci was named the fifth head coach in the history of Union women's hockey on July 31, 2024, and begins his second season behind the bench for the Garnet Chargers in 2025-26. Maci and his staff made an immediate impact in his first season in Schenectady, leading the Garnet Chargers to the most wins in program history and earning the team's first-ever postseason victory. Union finished the season with a 13-23-1 record and won a program-record eight conference games as part of a very challenging ECAC Hockey slate, including the team's first-ever win over a top-10 opponent with a 3-2 win at #9 Cornell University in November. Playing a total of 19 games against nationally ranked foes, eight losses came by a single goal and Union was less than 70 seconds away from taking eventual conference champion and national semifinalist #3 Cornell to a third game in their ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series. The squad also set new program records for most goals scored and fewest goals allowed in a season in the school's Division I era, while also earning the program's first ECAC postseason honor since 2008 with first-year
Karianne Engelbert's All-Rookie Team nod.
HERE TO ASSIST
Joining Maci are second-year coaches
Shawn Skelly,
Tina Ciraulo, and
Courtney Hall. Skelly, Ciraulo, and Hall were all a part of a staff that made an immediate impact in their first season in Schenectady, leading the Garnet Chargers to the most wins in program history and earning the team's first-ever postseason victory. Union finished the season with a 13-23-1 record and won a program-record eight conference games as part of a very challenging ECAC Hockey slate, including the team's first-ever win over a top-10 opponent with a 3-2 win at #9 Cornell University in November. The squad also set new program records for most goals scored and fewest goals allowed in a season in the school's Division I era, while also earning the program's first ECAC postseason honor since 2008 with first-year
Karianne Engelbert's All-Rookie Team nod.
RETURNING ROSTER
The team is comprised of 18 returners, including nine forwards (sophomores
Mikayla Blomquist,
Karianne Engelbert,
Klara Kenttälä, and
Jill Willis; juniors
Emma Fulawka and
Maddie Leaney; and seniors
Amanda Quan,
Greta Kropp, and
Mallory Mauracher), six blueliners (sophomores
Lauren Johnson and
Giavanna Mancy; juniors
Quinn Dunkle,
Brigitte McGuire, and
Megan Ognibene and senior
Stephanie Bourque), and three goaltenders (sophomore
Sara Da Silva, junior
Monja Wagner, and senior
Emily Evans).
NEW BLOOD
Union welcomes six first-year players— forwards
Natalie Andelova,
Megan Duplantie, and
Reanna Loberg; blueliners
Isabel Powers and
Kaitlyn Toner; and goaltender
Emma Rhéaume—along with two transfers, forward
Hayley Kelleher and blueliner
Peyton O'Neill, to the program for the 2025-26 season. The class represents two countries, three provinces, and three states, and features four forwards, three blueliners, and one goaltender.
