| Union College vs. Franklin Pierce University |
| Friday, September 25, 2026 • Winchendon, MA • Jason Ritchie Ice Arena • 2:00 PM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream |
| Union College vs. Franklin Pierce University |
| Saturday, September 26, 2026 • Keene, NH • Keene ICE • 2:30 PM |
| Live Stats • Video Stream |
A NEW SEASON BEGINS: The Union College women's hockey team gets the 2026-27 season underway on the road, as the Garnet Chargers face off with Franklin Pierce University on Friday afternoon at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena and on Saturday afternoon at Keene ICE.
SEASON RECAP: Union finished 2025-26 with a 11-22-3 (3-18-1 ECAC) record, but rebounded to earn a victory over fifth-seeded Clarkson University and reach the ECAC Hockey Tournament quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Karianne Engelbert and
Stephanie Bourque '26 broke the program's Division I single-season points (31) and assists (21), respectively, while
Maddie Leaney tied the school D-I single-season goals (16) mark as well. The team started the year with a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2), tied for the longest stretch in the program's D-I history, and also earned its first victory over a top-five opponent with a 4-3 (OT) win versus #4/5 Cornell in November. The team set a new program record for goals in a season (79) and saw Leaney and Engelbert become the first Union teammates to both score 15+ goals in the same season.
ABOUT THE RAVENS: Franklin Pierce posted a 23-12-2 (18-8-2 NEWHA) mark last season under NEWHA Coach of the Year David Stockdale, capturing its second NEWHA Tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Caleigh Murphy led the team in scoring with 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points, returning this year along with NEWHA Rookie of the Year Addison Andre (14-11-25). The Ravens must replace NEWHA Goaltender of the Year Jill Hertl, who posted a 1.71 goals against average and .953 save percentage with five shutouts as a senior.
LEANEY'S A LEADER: Senior
Maddie Leaney enters her final season poised to break most of the program's offensive records. Already the school's all-time leader in game-winning goals (eight), she enters the year two points away from breaking the career points record of 70 set last year by
Stephanie Bourque '26 and eight goals away from surpassing the record 43 goals scored by Elise Nichols '07 from 2003-07. Leaney also is the team's active leader in career assists with 33, tied for sixth on the school's career Division I list.
CLIMBING THE RANKS: Junior
Karianne Engelbert has recorded more goals and points than any player in program history through their first two years. She has already shattered the school record for career power-play goals with 14 through two seasons and ranks second all-time behind only teammate
Maddie Leaney in game-winning goals with seven. Engelbert enters her junior year with 30 goals and 25 assists for 55 points, already ranking fifth in goals, seventh in points and 10th in assists on the school's career Division I ledger.
A DAZZLING DUPLANTIE DEBUT: As a first-year,
Megan Duplantie made an immediate impact for the Garnet Chargers with eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points. She established new program records for assists and points by a rookie in the program's Division I era and her totals were the most overall for a newcomer since 2002-03.
BUILDING BLOCKS: After going 21 years without a postseason win at the Division I level, Union earned a victory in the ECAC Hockey Tournament for the second straight season in 2025-26, knocking off fifth-seeded #12 Clarkson University by a 2-1 score. Emma Rhéaume made 39 saves in the win, the most stops by a rookie in program postseason history and tied for the most postseason saves ever in the program's Division I era.
GOING STREAKING: Senior
Maddie Leaney enters her senior season having played in every game over her first three years at Union, riding a streak of 108 straight games played. Junior
Jill Willis is the only other current upperclassman to go at least two years without missing a game, having playing all 73 contests over her first two seasons in Schenectady.
Q FACTOR: Senior
Quinn Dunkle is Union's active leader in scoring among defensemen, having scored six goals with 11 assists for 17 points in 72 games over her two seasons in Schenectady since transferring from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Last season, Dunkle's six goals tied for third on the program's single-season goals list for blueliners.
TAKING (AND KEEPING) OFFENSE: Union returns its top-seven goal scorers from last season and 86 percent (68-of-79 goals) of its offensive scoring production from 2025-26.
ONE-TWO PUNCH: Senior
Monja Wagner and sophomore Emma Rhéaume combined to play nearly 90 percent of the minutes in goal for the Garnet Chargers last season, protecting the crease for over 1,949 minutes of the team's 2186:27 of play. Rhéaume tied the program single-season record with three shutouts last season and Wagner added two scoreless efforts, helping to set a new program standard with six combined shutouts in 2025-26.
WELCOME TO SCHENECTADY: Head coach
Tony Maci welcomes seven newcomers to the program this season, six first-years and one sophomore transfer. Among the rookies, four hail from Alberta and two are Illinois natives. Sophomore
Madison Macaulay is the lone transfer into the program this year, as the Queensbury native returns to the Empire State after one year at Saint Anselm College. The group features two pairs of former teammates, as
Madi Gaines and
Ella Skotty both skated for the Chicago Mission while
Evie Hanson and
Lily Leckelt both played for the Edmonton Jr. Oilers. The septet comprise three forwards, three blueliners and one goalie.
LOOKING TO SURPRISE: Union will look to surprise the ECAC Hockey landscape under the leadership of third-year head coach
Tony Maci, as the Garnet Chargers were picked to finish in a tie for 10th place in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll out of 12 teams. The team received 27 points, tied with Dartmouth College and ahead of only Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (11 points). Reigning conference tournament champion Quinnipiac University was picked to repeat, earning 112 points and six first-place votes.
FEELING RIGHT AT HOME: In their first season in the brand-new M&T Bank Center, the Garnet Chargers won a program-record nine games on home ice in 2025-26, three more wins than the previous record of six achieved on three previous occasions. Included in those nine wins was a 4-3 (OT) victory over #4/5 Cornell on November 21, which was the program's first-ever win over a top-five team.
Maddie Leaney scored the first goal in M&T Bank Center history on September 26, 2025 in Union's 3-0 victory over Franklin Pierce.
COACHES CORNER: Head coach
Tony Maci is back for his third season at the helm of the program along with assistant coaches
Shawn Skelly and
Courtney Hall. Hall is moving into a full-time position with the program for the first time in 2026-27 after two years as the team's hockey operations coordinator.
Hall's role will be filled by
Allie Kelley, who is in her first season with the Garnet Chargers following a decorated collegiate career at Quinnipiac University (2019-21), Saint Anselm College (2021-23) and Syracuse University (2023-25). Kelley finished her career with the most saves in NCAA men's or women's hockey history, accumulating 4,594 stops over her time on the ice, including the second-most saves in a season in NCAA women's hockey history when she turned aside 1,241 shots in her final graduate season at Syracuse in 2024-25.
