Union and UMass Lowell will square off in a different city for the fourth straight game. Union is 3-0 against UMass Lowell in that stretch with wins in Hoffman Estates, Ill., Bridgeport, Conn., and Schenectady, N.Y. Union's seven goals against the River Hawks last season were its most ever in a single-game against UMass Lowell. Union had its second-highest scoring output against the Wildcats last season, getting six goals in a shutout. 

POWER PLAY
Union has converted on 13 of 31 (41.9%) power-play opportunities so far this season, good for the second-best percentage in the country. The Garnet Chargers have at least one power-play goal in seven of nine games and four games with multiple scores on the man advantage. Six players have converted at least once on the power play for Union, with juniors Connor Smith and Riley Brueck, senior Tyler Dunbar, and first-year Nathan Free all notching multiple power-play goals so far. 

SAVE THE ROAD TRIP
Union is 3-3-0 on the road overall this season. During its stretch of seven road games in the last eight matchups, Union is 2-3-0. If Union can win both games away from Schenectady this weekend, it will start 5-3-0 on the road for the second time in the last three seasons. 

BUZZIOL BOOST
Junior Lucas Buzziol netted his first collegiate short-handed goal against UMass Lowell last season, and it was also Union's first SHG of the year. Buzziol scored his first power-play goal of this season against Clarkson on Friday, Nov. 6 and has recorded a point in five of his nine games.  

KORPI RETURNS
Junior Cameron Korpi made his season debut on Friday in relief of sophomore Brayden Gillespie in goal. Korpi missed the first five games of the year rehabbing from injury but was available to play beginning on Oct. 30 against Rensselaer. The South Lyon, Mich. goaltender made nine saves in his debut against Clarkson and 25 in his first start of the year against St. Lawrence. Through 76:19 of action so far, he has a .919 save percentage and a 2.37 goals against average. 

NEW FACES VS THE CATS
Since the 2022-23 season, Union has scored 13 goals vs New Hampshire, but no active Garnet Charger has found the back of the net against them. Senior Tyler Dunbar leads the way with two assists, and junior Drew Sutton and first-year Etienne Lessard have also recorded assists against the Wildcats. Junior Cameron Korpi recorded his third shutout of the 2025-26 season against New Hampshire last year in a 6-0 win.

LIMITING PENALTIES
The Garnet Chargers only have 30 penalties and 71 penalty minutes through their first nine games this season. It is the least amount of penalties or penalty minutes a Union team has had in the first nine games since at least 2005-06 when game-by-game penalty data is accessible. From 2005-06 to 2025-26, Union averaged 49.75 penalties through its first nine games and 115.75 penalty minutes. Union's 7.89 penalty minutes per game are the eighth-least in the country and second-least in the conference. 

GOOD SH%
With the 19th most shots on goal in the country (308), Union is also efficient with its shot selection, converting on 10.7 percent of its shots. That is the 15th-best rate in the country, and Union is one of just 24 teams at 10 percent or higher. Junior Riley Brueck leads the team in SH% at 26.7 percent, while first-year Nathan Free, junior Connor Smith, and junior Lucas Buzziol are all also over 20 percent. 

A LOOK AT LAURENZA
Sophomore Alex Laurenza leads his team with eight assists this season. He has assisted in six of nine games and already has three multi-assist games. He recorded the eighth assist of his rookie season in his 14th game played and had two multi-assist games last year. The sophomore is sharing the puck well, assisting on goals from four different players. He has assisted on three of first-year Nathan Free's six goals as well. 

FREEZER BURN
First-year Nathan Free is on quite a tear to begin his rookie season. After being held without a point in his debut, Free went on to score 11 points in his next six games. During that six-game point streak, he scored three game-winning goals, netted two goals on the power-play, and put up back-to-back two-goal games against RPI. His is in a four-way tie for the most goals by a rookie nationwide with six. New Hampshire's Emile Guite also has six goals as a first-year. Free and Guite are also tied atop the NCAA leaderboard with three game-winning goals among all skaters. 

HUGO BREW
Junior Connor Smith is tied for the NCAA lead in power-play goals with four. His classmate Riley Brueck is in a 19-way tie for the fourth-most power-play goals. Smith's 0.56 points per game are tied for the 36th-most in the country (along with senior Tyler Dunbar and many others), and Brueck's 1.11 points per game are tied for the 59th most. 

FAST START
Union scored three goals in the first period of both its win against Rensselaer two weekends ago. It was the first time Union netted three or more goals in the first period of back-to-back games since Oct. 8-9, 2010. Union defeated Sacred Heart 9-0 and 7-3 in those wins, with Josh Jooris recording a hat trick and an assist in his collegiate debut on Oct. 8 in the 9-0 win, and Kelly Zajac '12 going for four goals and an assist in the 7-3 win the next night. 

GOING THROUGH DUNBAR
Senior Tyler Dunbar's pace for shots on goal fell below 200 for the first time this season after the RPI series. He is still averaging 4.89 shots per game and his 44 shots are tied for the fourth-most in the country. He is also tied for the third-most goals in the country among defensemen. 

FELICIO FEELING GOOD
Junior Will Felicio was held without an assist in back-to-back games for the first time this season against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Before that, he was averaging one assist per game and had assists in four straight games. 

STAR-SPENGLERED DUNBAR
Senior Tyler Dunbar was one of the first six players named to the 2026 U.S. Collegiate Selects roster for the upcoming Spengler Cup. As 2025-26 AHCA All-American, Dunbar earned a spot on the roster that will play in Switzerland this upcoming holiday season. 

LEADERSHIP QUARTET
Junior Lucas Buzziol was chosen as the Union captain for the 2026-27 season. He is the first junior to be named captain under Josh Hauge's guidance as head coach in the last five seasons. Junior Riley Brueck, and seniors Tyler Dunbar and Carter Rose will serve as alternate captains. Players wearing letters for Union have combined for 23 of Union's 91 points this season (25.3 percent).

HEAVY GOAL APPETIZER
Union scored 11 goals in its first two games of the season for the first time since 2010-11 and only the third time in its Division I history. Union scored 16 times in two games to begin the 2010-11 season and also scored 11 at the beginning of the 1993-94 campaign. 

OVERCOMING PENALTIES
Union defeated Alaska Fairbanks 7-1 despite having 23 penalty minutes. It was Union's seventh win in the last five seasons when serving 20+ penalty minutes. Additionally, Union's seven goals were its most in a game with 20+ penalty minutes since a 7-3 win over Princeton on Feb. 5, 2022.  

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
Sophomore Tommy Cronin and junior August Falloon had assists in their debut for Union after transferring in from Alaska Fairbanks and Minnesota, respectively. Cronin is the first Union player to have two or more points in their debut for the team since 2022 when Carter Korpi '26, Nate Hanley '26, and Chris Theodore '23 all did it in the same game against RIT on Oct. 1, 2022. Korpi had two goals, Hanley had two assists, and Theodore had three helpers in a 4-3 win over the Tigers that day. 

DOWN TWO THE WIRE
The Garnet Chargers trailed Army West Point 2-0 in the first period and came back to win 4-2 last game. It was Union's fifth comeback win by at least two goals since the beginning of last season. Union also erased two-goal deficits against Colgate and Dartmouth last season before those games ended in ties, and Union also forced overtime against Clarkson last season despite trailing by two on two separate occasions throughout the game.  

HAUGE HEAT CHECK
Four full years into the Josh Hauge-era in Schenectady, the Garnet Chargers have shown marked improvement each season with him at the helm. After 14 wins in 2022-23, his squad increased its single-season win total by two the next year, three the year after that, and three more from 2024-25 to 2025-26. Hauge has also coached two All-Americans in John Prokop '26 and senior Tyler Dunbar, and Prokop and Brandon Buhr '26 have both moved on from Union under Hauge's guidance to sign professional contracts. 

20 AIN'T BAD
The Garnet Chargers won 22 games last season marking their most in a single year since 2016-17. It was also the program's first 20-win season since 2018-19. Union had five different winning streaks of at least three games throughout 2025-26 as well.  

TROPHY SZN
There were plenty of Union Hockey alums hoisting hardware last season. Shayne Gostisbehere '15 won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes, becoming the 35th player in NHL history to win both a Stanley Cup and an NCAA Championship. Brandon Buhr '26 and John Prokop '26 were members of the AHL champion Toronto Marlies, as the team went on to win the Calder Cup.