Union College vs. Harvard University

Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 • Cambridge, Mass. • Bright-Landry Hockey Center • 4:00 PM

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Union Game Notes • Harvard Game Notes

SHIPPING OFF TO CAMBRIDGE: The Union College men's hockey team visits Harvard University on Monday, Jan. 19 just two days after splitting its weekend series with Brown (W, 4-0) and Yale (L, 4-1). Union is in seventh place in the ECAC Hockey standings with 17 points and four points behind fifth-place Harvard. 

POINTS ALL AROUND: Union produced 13 points against Brown and Yale, distributed among 12 players. Drew Sutton led the way with two points, scoring an empty-netter and assisting on Troy Pelton's first collegiate goal. Sutton registered his first multi-point game of the season and only the second of his career. Union's 217 points this season are tied with St. Cloud State for the 13th-most in the country. 

CRIMSON-COLORED GLASSES: Harvard halted a four-game skid when it swept its road trip against St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Heikki Ruohonen tallied five points across the two games while Ben Charette allowed only two goals with a .957 save percentage. 

PENALTY-KILLING CLINIC: Power-play goals will be hard to come by on Monday afternoon as Harvard and Union boast the top-two penalty-kill units in the country. Harvard currently paces the NCAA with a 92.9% (39-42) penalty kill, and Union is second at 91.3% (73-80). Harvard has not allowed a power-play goal in five games, and Union has only allowed two in its last eight contests. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
Union swept Harvard last season with Brandon Buhr scoring the game-winner in both victories. Union is 4-2 against Harvard under head coach Josh Hauge, and the Garnet Chargers have won the last four matchups. In 67 games all-time against the Crimson, Union averages 2.4 goals per game but is lighting the lamp 4.25 times per game against Harvard on average during its current four-game win streak. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
Brayden Gillespie is tied for the national lead in goalie winning percentage (.857) with North Dakota's Jan Špunar. Brandon Buhr has 11 game-winning goals in his career with three of them coming against Harvard. After Ollie Chessler recorded his first collegiate point against Brown on Friday, 23 players have notched at least one point on the season. 

EAT, BRAY, LOVE
Brayden Gillespie is 6-1-0 with two shutouts and a .940 save percentage through the first nine games of his collegiate career.   

IN PARENTHESES
Union scored a power-play goal and two empty-net goals against Brown. The Garnet Chargers had one game with multiple empty-netters last season and have four games this season with at least one power-play and empty-net goal. 

POWER PLAY IS HUMMIN'
Union scored power-play goals in back-to-back games for the 14th time this season. Parker Lindauer and Ben Muthersbaugh both increased their yearly power-play goal total to three, and Union has eight players with multiple power-play scores this season. The Garnet Chargers' 24 power-play goals are the fifth-most in the country this season. 

HERE'S TO 300 MORE!
Union earned its 300th ECAC Hockey victory with a win against #20/19 Princeton on Jan. 10. The Garnet Chargers originally accepted the ECAC's invitation to join its Division I men's hockey league on Jan. 28, 1991. The program replaced Army, keeping the number of teams in the league at 12. Union played its first Division I contest Nov. 1, 1991, a 9-6 loss to Merrimack. On Jan. 17, 1992, Craig Ferrero scored with 10 seconds left in overtime as Union recorded its first ECAC victory, a 2-1 triumph at Dartmouth. Luigi Villa stopped 45 shots for Union in goal. 12,047 days later, Tyler Dunbar scored the game-winner while Brayden Gillespie made 21 saves in Union's 300th conference win.

2026 RICHTER AWARD WATCH LIST
On Wednesday, Cameron Korpi was named to the 2026 Richter Award Watch List. Korpi already has three shutouts on the season and made a season-high 32 saves against UMass Lowell on Nov. 14. He helped Union start the season 4-0-1 and won ECAC Hockey's Goalie of the Month award for October. Of the 29 netminders listed, Korpi is one of eight Americans garnering Richter Award recognition. 

AT THIS POINT, IT'S JUST IMPRESSIVE
Brandon Buhr assisted on Parker Lindauer's power-play goal in the second period in Friday's game against Brown. He leads the team with 15 goals this season and has scored at least one point in every one of Union's 14 wins. The Garnet Chargers are 14-0-1 when Buhr has at least one point and 0-7-1 when he is shut out of the box score. 

PRIMARY PARKER
Eleven of Parker Lindauer's team-leading 17 assists have been the primary assist. He has also assisted on eight of Brandon Buhr's team-leading 15 goals. 

GWG
Brandon Buhr is tied with Mike Veccione '17, Max Novak '15, and Daniel Carr '14 for the third-most game-winning goals in Union's Division-I history. Buhr is five game-winners away from tying Wayne Simpson '13 for the program record.

65 AND COUNTING
Nate Hanley tied his former teammate John Prokop for the 10th-most career assists in Union's Division I history when he assisted on Tyler Dunbar's game-winning goal against Princeton. He is also tied for the sixth-most career assists among active DI players. 

ALLERGIC TO ALLOWING BIG GAMES
Before Ethan Wyttenbach tallied a goal and two assists against Union on Jan. 9, the Garnet Chargers had not allowed an opposing player to record more than two points against them all season. Now Cornell is the only ECAC Hockey team not to allow a three-or-more-point game this season.

GOOD HABITS BEFORE THE NEW YEAR
Union won 12 games before the calendar turned to January for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The Garnet Chargers had 14 victories before the ball dropped during the 2016-17 season.

GILLESPIE'S ISLAND
Brayden Gillespie made 31 saves during his first collegiate shutout on Dec. 12 against #8 Quinnipiac. He is the first Union netminder to shut out a ranked foe since Alex Sakellaropoulos '17 against #13 Merrimack on Nov. 28, 2015. He earned another ranked win against #20/19 Princeton on Jan. 10, making 21 saves.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMPS
Ben Muthersbaugh leads Union's sophomore class with 20 points (9g, 11a). Sophomore Luke Buss scored his first collegiate goal on Dec. 12 against Alaska Fairbanks, and second-year Garnet Chargers have accumulated 66 points this season. 
 
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE MAN ADVANTAGE
Union has scored on the power play in all but five games this season. After not scoring on the man advantage in the first two games of 2025-26, Union has not had back-to-back games without a power-play goal. The Garnet Chargers have 15 man-up goals in their last 13 games.

THE PK LEADER 
Union is 13-2-0 when its opponent does not score a power-play goal, and the Garnet Chargers have not given up a power-play goal in any of their wins this season. Union boasts the second-best PK in the country this season at 90.4% (66-73). 

NON-CON SUCCESS
The Garnet Chargers are 9-1-1 (.864) in non-conference action so far, tying their best start ever to non-league play (1976-77) through 11 games. That Union team 49 years ago did not lose its second out-of-conference game until the final game of the season. 

LIMITING THE Ls
Union suffered back-to-back losses for the first time against Miami and Princeton, 16 games into the season. The last time it took Union that long to drop consecutive games was 2016-17, when the Garnet Chargers didn't lose in back-to-back contests until their 21st game of the season. 

ABOUT THE LAST 30 DAYS
After a 3-1 record as a team in December, Brayden Gillespie was recognized as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month, and Tyler Dunbar earned Adapt Nutrition Defender of the Month honors. Gillespie was 3-0 in the final month of 2025 and earned his first collegiate shutout. Dunbar averaged 1.5 points per game in December and accumulated seven blocked shots. Dunbar has the second-most points among all NCAA Division I men's hockey defenders. Eric Pohlkamp of Denver paces all blueliners with 22 points.  

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."

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. 

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, meaning they are tied for the seventh-oldest team in the country. 

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
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).

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.

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.