AT HOME: Women's Hockey returns home this weekend hosting #9 Princeton University and #7 Quinnipiac University at M&T Bank Center. Puck drop against the Tigers is set for 6:00 p.m. on Friday, followed by a 3:00 p.m. puck drop with the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon.
LAST WEEKEND: Union suffered a 6–3 loss to #15 Yale University and a 3–1 to Brown University on Saturday afternoon. In Friday night's loss, junior
Maddie Leaney opened the scoring in the first period, with assists by sophomore
Karianne Engelbert and first-year
Megan Duplantie. Sophomore
Jill Willis later added a goal, with assists from sophomore
Hayley Kelleher and junior
Quinn Dunkle. Engelbert scored Union's third goal late in the first period, with assists from Leaney and Duplantie. Junior goaltender
Monja Wagner finished the game with 38 saves. In Saturday afternoon's 3–1 loss, senior captain
Stephanie Bourque tallied the lone goal for the Garnet Chargers, with assists from Duplantie and Leaney. Wagner concluded the game with 51 saves.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: #9 Princeton swept Stonehill College earning an 8–1 win Friday night before a 10–0 victory Saturday afternoon. In Friday's win, Jane Kruehl recorded a hat trick, Mackenzie Alexander added two goals, and Issy Wunder, Megan Healey, and Ellie Dimatos scored a goal each. Taylor Hyland made 10 saves in goal. On Saturday, Wunder scored four goals and Alexander recorded a hat trick, while Sawyer Fleming, Angelina DiGirolamo, and Hannah Fetterolff also scored. Lia Nevo tallied 20 saves in net.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS: #7 Quinnipiac participated in the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On Friday night, the Bobcats fell to Boston University, 1–0 in a shootout, as the Terriers advanced to the finals. Laurence Frenette and Taylor Brueske scored the goals in regulation, while Felicia Frank made 19 saves in net. On Saturday, Quinnipiac rebounded with a 3–1 win over #5 Minnesota Duluth to claim third place in the tournament. Brueske, Emerson Jarvis, and Kahlen Lamarche found the back of the net for the Bobcats, while Frank recorded 22 saves in net.
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.
LEANEY LEADS
Junior
Maddie Leaney opened Union's 2026 goa scoring, tallying the game's first goal in Friday night's contest 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.
DUPLANTIE'S DOMINANCE
First-year
Megan Duplantie recorded three points this past weekend, assisting on junior
Maddie Leaney's game-opening goal against #15/14 Yale University on Friday night and sophomore
Karianne Engelbert's goal in the contest. She capped the weekend with an assist on senior captain
Stephanie Bourque's goal against #15 Brown University on Saturday afternoon.
Duplantie has earned ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors twice this season. She first received the accolade after recording two goals against Merrimack on Oct. 4, including the game-tying goal with just 50 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.
She earned the honor again following a two-goal performance in the Ice Breaker Tournament semifinal against Saint Anselm College on Oct. 17.
Duplantie is putting together one of the most successful rookie campaigns in program history, totaling six goals and 12 assists for 18 points through 22 career games. She is just seven points shy of breaking the program's all-time rookie points record of 24, set by Engelbert last season.
BOURQUE'S BRILLANCE
Senior
Stephanie Bourque scored Union's lone goal on Saturday afternoon against #15 Brown University, bringing her career point total to 65—just four points shy of breaking the all-time record of 68, currently held by Elise Nichols '07.
Bourque assisted on
Jill Willis's goal on Friday, Dec. 5, against Harvard, to continue a streak of recording seven points in three consecutive games. On, Friday, Nov. 28, Bourque scored her first goal of the season and recorded the primary assist on Union's final four goals in a 7-0 win against University of Delaware. Her five-point performance tied the program's Division I single-game points record, while her four assists matched the second-highest single-game total. She added her sixth point of the weekend, assisting on
Maddie Leaney's goals in Saturday's 3-0 win against the Blue Hens on Nov. 29.
Through 128 career games, Bourque has tallied 16 goals and 49 assists for 65 points. Her 49 career assists rank first all-time, while her 65 points currently rank second all-time. Last season, she broke the single-season goals and points record for a defender, tallying eight goals and 22 points.
WONDERFUL WILLIS
Sophomore
Jill Willis has made an immediate impact on Union's second line this season, recording six goals and six assists for 12 points in 22 games. With a goal against #15/14 Yale University on Friday night, Willis doubled her production from her rookie campaign of six points (4G, 2A). She has found the back of the net against St. Lawrence, #9 Princeton, Rensselaer, Delaware, Harvard, and #15/14 Yale while logging assists versus Franklin Pierce, Merrimack (2), Rensselaer (2), and #13/12 Colgate this season. Willis is also the only sophomore to have appeared in every game since arriving at Union, playing in all 59 contests of her collegiate career.
BRICKWALL BRIGADE
Wagner has started 14 games for Union this season, posting a 4–7–3 record with a 2.92 goals-against average and a .912 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), and #15 Brown (Jan. 3).
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 eight games this season, posting a 3–4–0 record with a 2.32 GAA and a .922 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). 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.
GOING STREAKING
Senior
Stephanie Bourque (128 games) and junior
Maddie Leaney (94 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.
