Team Notes: Union Prepares for Connecticut and Lake Placid Trip
Scouting Connecticut
Connecticut head coach Bruce Marshall enters his 23rd season behind the bench in Storrs, having ushered the program to the Division I level, starting with the 1998-99 season.
The Huskies return nine of their top 10 scorers from last season, a group that was led by captain Andrew Olson. Olson had nine goals and 10 assists last season, but has yet to record a point through three games this year.
Younger players have had an impact for the Huskies early on, as sophomore forward Sean Ambrosie (one goal, three assists) and freshman forward Cole Schneider (two goals, one assist) are the point leaders through three contests. Sophomore goaltender Garrett Bartus has started all three games for Connecticut, and made a season high 40 saves in UConn’s season-opening tie at No. 7 Maine.
Union Against the AHA
Dating back to last season, Union has won six games in a row against Atlantic Hockey opponents, outscoring their competition by a combined score of 38-7. This season, all four of Union’s home opponents have been from Atlantic Hockey, and the Dutchmen have outscored their opponents at home by a scombined score of 29-7. The Dutchmen are 48-36-8 against the 12 teams that currently comprise the Atlantic Hockey Association
The Last Meeting
The Dutchmen and Huskies last met on Dec. 30, 2009 in the consolation game of the Toyota UConn Classic. In that contest, Union scored seven goals from six different student-athletes and its defense limited Connecticut to 14 shots, the lowest allowed by a Union team since Feb. 27, 2009 at St. Lawrence, as the Dutchmen went on to a 7-0 win. Union, which outshot UConn 39-14, received goals from Mike Wakita, Adam Presizniuk (2), Stephane Boileau, Jason Walters, John Simpson and Mike Schreiber. The victory was the 100th career win for Union head coach Nate Leaman.
The Union-UConn Series
Union is 7-0-1 in the all-time series against Connecticut and have not played the Huskies at Messa Rink since a 3-2 win on Oct. 31, 2008.
Scouting RPI
Like Union, RPI swept RIT and Niagara last weekend. The Engineers needed an overtime goal by freshman Brock Higgs at 2:10 to dispatch Niagara on Saturday night, 4-3, one night after defeating RIT, 4-1. RPI (3-1-2) has been streaking to open the season with three wins in a row as part of a five game unbeaten streak (3-0-2). The Engineers made their season debut in the USCHO.com poll at No. 20 this week.
RPI is led offensively by the senior duo of Chase Polacek and Tyler Helfrich, who each have three goals and four assists for seven points. Sophomore Nick Bailen is ECAC Hockey’s top scoring defenseman, netting a goal with four assists for five points. Higgs is third amongst ECACH rookies in scoring with five points (three goals, two assists).
Junior netminder Allen York who has started all six games for the Engineers, leads the nation in minutes played with 370:38. He is fifth in the country with a 1.62 goals against average and fourth with a .943 save percentage.
The Series
Union’s biggest rival owns a 44-22-9 overall record against the Dutchmen, including a 28-19-8 Division I mark. However, Union has gone 7-1-1 in the last nine outings, including a 3-0 showing last year.
All-time against the Engineers, the Dutchmen are 12-17-2 at Messa Rink and head coach Nate Leaman is 12-5-3 all-time against RPI.
Last Meeting
On Jan. 16, Wayne Simpson scored the gamewinning goal at 1:16 of the third period, giving the Union College men’s ice hockey team a 3-1 victory at Messa Rink against RPI. Simpson, was joined on the scoresheet by junior Adam Presizniuk and sophomore Luke Cain, who sealed the win with a diving, empty-net goal with 1:02 remaining.
RPI scored the first goal of the game, shorthanded. The Dutchmen were with a 5-on-3 power-play for 35 seconds with about five minutes remaining. As the fi rst penalty ended the Engineers went on the attack. A breakout by Peter Merth and Jerry D’Amigo led to Chase Polacek finding the upper-left corner at 16:33. Presizniuk put the Dutchmen on the board at 13:28 of the second period. Mario Valery-Trabucco accepted the puck at the left hash and tipped the puck to Presizniuk who fired a shot past the glove of York. Union outshot their cross-town rival 27-23 and went 1-for-6 on the power-play, while the Engineers were 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
