Union College vs. #8 Quinnipiac University

Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 • Hamden, Conn. • M&T Bank Arena • 7:00 PM

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Union College vs. #20/#19 Princeton University

Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026 • Princeton, N.J. • Hobey Baker Rink • 7:00 PM

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Union Game Notes • Quinnipiac Game Notes • Princeton Game Notes

DID YOU MISS US?: The Union College men's hockey team returns from a 27-day break to take on Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. and Princeton University the next day, also at 7 p.m. The Garnet Chargers did get a chance to shake off the rust with an exhibition game against Royal Military College on Jan. 3, winning 9-0. 

TOP-20 TEASE: During a nearly month-long break, Union entered the top 20 of the USCHO.com poll for two weeks before being swapped out in favor of Princeton on Monday. Union earned its national recognition after a weekend sweep of Alaska Fairbanks on Dec. 12-13, and it marked the second time this season the Garnet Chargers were ranked by USCHO voters. 

TRACKING THE 'CATS (AGAIN): After Quinnipiac was shut out by the Garnet Chargers in early December, the Bobcats have only played twice, sweeping #18 Harvard and #9 Dartmouth. Quinnipiac outscored those ECAC Hockey foes 14-4 at M&T Bank Arena and is ranked #8 in the USCHO and USA Hockey polls.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS (AGAIN): Princeton has also not lost since last taking on the Garnet Chargers a month ago. The Tigers' road win over Union kickstarted a five-game winning streak and earned them a #20 ranking in the USCHO poll and a #19 ranking from USA Hockey. Princeton's Davis Jacobs leads all forwards nationally with 22:53 time-on-ice per game.

INSIDE THE SERIES: Union defeated Quinnipiac 4-0 on Dec. 6, snapping a 10-game losing streak. The Garnet Chargers now look for their first win in Hamden since Nov. 10, 2018. Union is winless in its last three games at Hobey Baker Rink with its last win over the Tigers at their barn coming on Feb. 5, 2022. Also, active Union players have recorded 41 points against Quinnipiac and Princeton over the last four seasons. 

SKATING OFF THE RUST
Union skated to a 9-0 win over Royal Military College on Jan. 3 with 23 points and eight goal scorers. Brandon Buhr led the way with two goals and an assist, and all three goalies played in the game, combining to shut out the Paladins. However, since it was an exhibition contest against a non-NCAA opponent, stats from the lopsided victory do not count towards Union's season stats.

HIGH-LEVERAGE BUHR
Brandon Buhr and Michigan's Will Horcoff are the only two players in NCAA Division I men's hockey to be in the top five of power-play and game-winning goals. Horcoff leads the nation with eight power-play and six game-winning goals, while Buhr is tied for second with seven and four, respectively. 

BIG GAME HUNTER
Colby MacArthur has nine points (5g, 4a) against the Tigers and the Bobcats, leading all active Union players. Brandon Buhr has the second-most points against these two ECAC Hockey foes with one goal and four assists. Ben Muthersbaugh and Tyler Dunbar are tied for third in that category with four each. All of Dunbar's points in this series came on Dec. 13 during the 4-0 victory over Quinnipiac. 

SPECIAL TEAMS!
Of the 94 total goals scored in Union's series against Quinnipiac and Princeton over the last four seasons, 36 (38.3%) have come on the power play, shorthanded, or with an empty net. There have been 26 total power-play goals scored between the three teams, three shorthanded goals, and seven empty netters scored among the three teams. Fifteen of Union's 37 goals against Princeton and Quinnipiac since head coach Josh Hauge has taken over have come with Union on the power play.

20 CLUB
Brandon Buhr, Tyler Dunbar, and Parker Lindauer all have 20 or more points for the Garnet Chargers this season. Union and Quinnipiac are the only two teams in ECAC Hockey to have multiple 20-point scorers at this point of the season (Ethan Wyttenbach, 27; Markus Vidicek, 20; Chris Pelosi, 20).

PRIMARY PARKER
Ten of Parker Lindauer's team-leading 16 assists have been the primary assist. He has also assisted on half of Brandon Buhr's team-leading 14 goals. 

LEAVING THE NEST
Union has only played five true road games so far this season. Nine of their final 15 regular-season contests will be on the road. 

GOING WITH THE STREAK
Brandon Buhr and Ben Muthersbaugh are riding three-game point streaks that align with Union's three-game winning streak. Muthersbaugh has five points in those three games. 

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.

64 AND COUNTING
Nate Hanley has 64 career assists and will tie his former teammate John Prokop for the 10th-most assists in Union's Division-I history on his next helper. Hanley needs 20 more assists this year to get his name on the program's single-season leaderboard. 

OUTSHOOTING THE OPPOSITION
Union is outshooting opponents by 13.33 shots-on-goal per game during its current three-game winning streak. However, that average is slightly LOWER than Union's 13.5 SOG margin for the season. 

LIMIT THEIR CHANCES...
Union held Alaska Fairbanks under 20 shots on goal in both games before the winter break. It is the third time Union has held an opponent under 20 shots in back-to-back games and the sixth and seventh time overall. 

AND STAY OUT OF THE BOX!
Union only served 10 minutes in the box during its weekend series against Alaska Fairbanks on Dec. 12-13, marking its fewest penalty minutes in a series since serving eight against Cornell and Colgate in the last regular-season series of the 2024-25 schedule. 

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.

TOI
According to College Hockey News, Tyler Dunbar is Union's time-on-ice leader at 22:35 minutes per game. Lucas Buzziol's 19:10 average ice time paces all forwards on the team. 

ALLERGIC TO ALLOWING BIG GAMES
Union has not seen an opposing player record more than two points in any game so far this season. For reference, Union conceded two three-point games before January last season, and Union players have registered nine performances with three points or more already this 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.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMPS
Ben Muthersbaugh leads Union's sophomore class with 19 points (8g, 11a). Sophomore Luke Buss scored his first collegiate goal on Dec. 12 against Alaska Fairbanks, and second-year Garnet Chargers have accumulated 65 points this season. 
 
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE MAN ADVANTAGE
Union has scored on the power play in all but four 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 14 man-up goals in their last 11 games.

THE PK LEADER
Union is 12-2-0 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 has not conceded a goal while on the kill in four straight games and boast the top penalty-kill unit in the country this season at 92.4% (61-66). 

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.  

TO THE LIMIT
For only the second time in the last 10 years, Union has not allowed multiple power-play goals in a game through the first two months of the season (2023-24). Union has allowed five power-play goals so far and gave up three in 2023-24 before the calendar flipped to December. 

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."

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END
Despite beating UMass Lowell by six on Nov. 7, Union's season-long streak of never being outshot in a period came to an end in the second period. Union was outshot 11-10 during the middle stanza. The two sides finished the game with 33 shots each, marking the first time Union did not outshoot its opponent through 60 minutes all season.

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. 

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).

PROFESSIONAL PROKOP
It's no secret John Prokop was a massive part of the Union defense last year. In three seasons, Prokop notched 65 assists and registered 85 points. Now, the AHCA East Second Team All-American is skating professionally for the Toronto Marlies in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. He's looking to join the likes of Nick DeSimone and Shayne Gostisbehere as former Union hockey players in the NHL. 

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.

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, making them tied for the seventh-oldest team in the country.