| Union College vs. #14/13 Dartmouth College |
| Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 • Hanover, N.H. • Thompson Arena • 7:00 PM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream |
ABOUT THE TEAMS: Coming off its fifth consecutive Mayors' Cup victory, the Union College men's hockey team visits Dartmouth College on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. to begin the final stretch of ECAC Hockey play. With nine regular-season games remaining, Union sits in ninth place with 17 points. Cornell holds the final first-round bye with 26 points.
THE COMEBACKS KEEP COMING: Union trailed Rensselaer 4-2 with 2:54 remaining on Saturday in the 13th-annual Mayors' Cup. The Garnet Chargers scored twice in the span of 77 seconds to tie the game up, and then Brandon Buhr made a highlight-reel play in overtime to give Union its fifth consecutive Mayors' Cup victory and stop a two-game losing streak. Earlier in the season, Union erased a three-goal deficit against Mercyhurst in October.
SCOUTING DARTMOUTH: The Big Green originally appeared in the USCHO.com rankings at #19 on Nov. 10 and moved up as high as #8 on Dec. 8, receiving a first-place vote. However, the Big Green are 4-6-1 since Dec. 8 and have lost two in a row. Dartmouth is 11-1-1 at home this season with its lone home loss coming on Dec. 28 against Arizona State.
INSIDE THE SERIES: The Garnet Chargers have lost seven straight to the Big Green, marking their longest active losing streak to any conference opponent. Union only has one other active losing streak to an ECAC Hockey foe longer than one game (L3 vs Clarkson). Union owns the overall series against Dartmouth by one game. Union's longest winning streak over the Big Green was nine games from Dec. 5, 2015 - Feb. 1, 2020. The last time Union defeated Dartmouth came on Jan. 19, 2024 in a 5-1 decision. Cal Mell, Nick Young, Colby MacArthur, Brandon Buhr, and Nate Hanley all had assists in that game.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
12 - Brandon Buhr has the third-most game-winning goals in Union's Division I history with 12.
2 - Union snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday against RPI and have not lost more than two games in a row since December 2024.
23 - Union has seen 23 of its players record at least one point this season.
90.4% - Union owns the second-best penalty kill in the country at 90.4%.
REVERSE ENGINEERING
Union trailed RPI 4-2 with 2:54 remaining in the Mayors' Cup on Saturday after the Engineers scored on an empty net. Beginning with Brandon Buhr's goal 12 seconds later, Union was able to score in a span of 77 seconds and tie the game, forcing overtime. Midway through the extra period, Buhr scored again, giving Union its fifth consecutive Mayors' Cup title and seventh victory over RPI in its last eight games. Head coach Josh Hauge is 9-2 all-time against the Engineers and undefeated (4-0) in Mayors' Cup games. Union kept the Capital Skates trophy in Schenectady with a split against RPI in conference play earlier in the season.
UNION DID WHAT?
The Garnet Chargers won a game in which they allowed an empty-net goal for the first time since Dec. 7, 2013 against Quinnipiac. However, that rare instance occurred under slightly different circumstances compared to Union's miraculous comeback on Saturday. Back in 2013, Quinnipiac scored on an empty net during a delayed penalty in the second period. Union retook the lead shortly after and eventually skated to a 6-4 victory. Prior to Saturday, Union had not won a game when allowing an empty-net goal under traditional circumstances since at least 2005-06 (when game-by-game stats are available).
GAME-WINNING BUHR
Brandon Buhr recorded the 12th game-winning goal of his career on Saturday in overtime of the Mayors' Cup. He has notched back-to-back seasons with five game-winners and he is tied with two other players nationally for the second-most game-winners this season.
IN OTHER BUHR NEWS…
Brandon Buhr leads ECAC Hockey with five game-winning goals, seven power-play goals, and is in the conference's top-10 for goals per game (0.68), hat tricks (1), and points per game (1.00). His game-winner against RPI in the Mayors' Cup was featured as SportsCenter's No. 1 play on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
GOALIE U
Union and UMass are the only two teams in the country that boast more than one goalie with multiple shutouts on the season. Cameron Korpi has recorded three shutouts and Brayden Gillespie has a pair of clean sheets for the Garnet Chargers so far this year, while Michael Hrabal has three and Jackson Irving has two for UMass.
GET-RIGHT GAME
Union avoided its first three-game losing streak in over a year on Saturday when the Garnet Chargers came back for a 5-4 (OT) win over RPI in the Mayors' Cup. Union is 5-2-1 this season following a loss and 31-23-5 under head coach Josh Hauge. Over the last two seasons, Union is 13-6-1 coming off a defeat. Union also has never lost when entering the Mayors' Cup on a skid (2-0-2).
AT THIS POINT, IT DOESN'T EVEN SOUND TRUE
Brandon Buhr leads the team with 17 goals this season and has scored at least one point in every one of Union's 15 wins. The Garnet Chargers are 15-0-1 when Buhr has at least one point and 0-8-1 when he is shut out of the box score.
NON-CON SUCCESS
The Garnet Chargers are 10-1-1 (.875) in non-conference action so far, which would be the program's best out-of-conference mark if the season ended today. Union's best non-conference record at the end of the regular season and postseason is 11-2-1 (.821) in 1976-77. Union needs to win multiple playoff games in order to finish the season with its best non-league record ever and outdo the Union squad from 49 years ago.
HOBEY BAKER VOTE!
Add this number to your contacts because we need you to text it daily! 844-623-9688!!
Text 26024 to 844-623-9688 to vote for Brandon Buhr for the Hobey Baker Award, and text 26023 to 844-623-9688 to vote for Tyler Dunbar for the Hobey Baker Award! You can vote once per day, and voting closes at 11:59 p.m. on March 9.
NATE "ENGINEER SLAYER" HANLEY
Nate Hanley leads his teammates in career points against RPI with 11. He has 10 assists and one goal against the Engineers, and his lone goal was a memorable one as it served as the game-winner against RPI in overtime of the 2025 Mayors' Cup.
66 AND COUNTING
Nate Hanley registered his 66th career assist on Saturday when he helped set up Carter Rose for his first goal in a Garnet Charger uniform. He has the 10th-most assists in Union's Division I history and is eight away from cracking Union's all-time assist leaderboard. Hanley is tied for the seventh-most helpers among active Division I players and 11th-most across DI and DIII.
PRIMARY PARKER
Twelve of Parker Lindauer's team-leading 18 assists have been the primary assist. He has also assisted on eight of Brandon Buhr's team-leading 17 goals.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Nick Young serves as the captain of the Union College men's hockey team along with Brandon Buhr and Parker Lindauer as alternate captains. Young leads the team in blocked shots (34), Buhr leads in goals (17), and Lindauer leads the way with 18 assists.
SETTING THE (DUN)BAR HIGH
Tyler Dunbar's 25 points are tied for the team lead with Brandon Buhr and are the third-most in college hockey among defensemen. He tallied his 16th assist of the season on Saturday, snapping a two-game pointless streak. He scored a point in 16 of Union's 25 games this season. He enjoyed a six-game point streak at the end of November, totaling a goal and seven assists over that span.
STAYING OUT OF THE BOX
Union only committed three penalties in its previous two games against RPI and Harvard. The last time the Garnet Chargers had three or fewer penalties in a two-game stretch was Feb. 11-12, 2022 when they were not penalized against Colgate and had three against Cornell.
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
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.
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 and another shutout on Jan. 16 against Brown.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMPS
Ben Muthersbaugh leads Union's sophomore class with 22 points (10g, 12a). He has the 25th-most points among sophomores in college hockey, and second-year Garnet Chargers have accumulated 75 points this 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.
DECEMBER DOMINATION
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. Union also erased a two-goal deficit with less than three minutes to play in the 2026 Mayors' Cup, eventually winning in overtime thanks to a highlight-reel goal from Brandon Buhr.
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.
