Team Notes: Union Opens League Play with North Country Trip

SCHENECTADY, NY - No. 11/13 Union (3-1-3, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) is set to begin its defense of the Cleary Cup this weekend in the North Country against St. Lawrence (0-4-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) and Clarkson (5-1-2, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey). Last season, the Dutchmen broke a five-season ECAC opener winless streak by earning a 2-1 win at Harvard on Nov. 5, 2010. Union last opened league play with the North Country trip in 2005, when they fell to both St. Lawrence (6-2) and Clarkson (4-1).

Union will open the trip against St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena, where the Dutchmen earned a 5-2 win in their last meeting on Feb. 19, 2011. Union has won three of the last four meetings at St. Lawrence and has a five game winning streak overall against the Saints.

Road Warriors
Union has established itself as one of college hockey's toughest road teams over the past two seasons. The Dutchmen are 20-11-4 in road contests over the past two-plus years, including a current 11-game run (9-1-1) that extends back to the end of the 2010-11 season.

Zajac Nears Union College Century Club, Assists Record
Senior forward Kelly Zajac is off to a great start this season with two goals and nine assists in Union's first seven contests. Zajac enters the weekend tied for sixth in the nation with an average of 1.29 assists per game, and now has 97 points (31 goals, 66 assists) for his career.

With three more points, Zajac will become the 20th member of the Union College Century Club, and just the seventh student-athlete in the Division I era to accomplish that feat. Zajac is also now in sole possession of fourth place on the school's Division I assist list, and trails Jason Walters '10 (73 assists), Joel Beal '05 (74 assists) and Adam Presizniuk '11 (83 assists).

Special Teams Success
A continued strength at Union has been the play of its special teams. The Dutchmen have gotten off to another hot start on the power play, which ranks third in the nation at 34.4% (11-for-32). Union's penalty kill unit has also been impressive. Over the past three games, Union has killed 18 of the last 19 power plays for the opposition and rank 14th in the nation at 87.1% on the penalty kill.

Bodie and Zajac Off to Hot Starts
Sophomore defenseman Mat Bodie (two goals, six assists) has recorded a point in all seven games this season. Bodie is fifth in the nation in points per game among defensemen (1.14). Senior forward Kelly Zajac began the season with a five game point streak and currently leads the team with 11 points (two goals, nine assists) on the season. Zajac is tied for sixth in the nation with an average of 1.29 assists per game and tied for 14th with 1.57 points per game.

Dominant on Faceoffs
Over the past two seasons, Union has established itself as a dominant faceoff team. Dating back to the beginning of last season, Union has won the faceoff battle in 43 of the last 47 contests, including the first seven games of 2011-12. This season, Union has a combined faceoff record of 302-215 (.584), with junior forward Jeremy Welsh (77-46, .626) leading the way.

Hat Trick Happy
After recording four hat tricks in five seasons (187 games) from 2005-06 to 2009-10, the Dutchmen have recorded six hat tricks over the past two seasons (47 games), including two this season. On Oct. 8 at Army, junior forward Wayne Simpson recorded his first career hat trick in an 8-1 win. On Oct. 15 against No. 12 Western Michigan, junior forward Jeremy Welsh recorded his second career hat trick, scoring all three Union goals in a 3-3- tie.

Union Ranked for 42nd Consecutive Week
The Union men's ice hockey team was ranked in the USCHO.com poll for the 42nd consectutive week after earning a 5-2 win against AIC on Saturday night, which followed a 2-1 overtime loss at New Hampshire on Friday. Union fell two spots to No. 11 and earned 367 points in the USCHO.com poll and maintined its No. 11 ranking with 158 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The Dutchmen have been ranked in the USCHO.com poll since the Dec. 7, 2009. Union has been ranked for 27 consecutive weeks in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.

The Union-St. Lawrence Series
Since Feb. 22, 1929, the Saints have posted a 33-21-2 record against the Dutchmen with a 29-17-0 Division I mark. Friday's game will be the 57th meeting all-time between the two teams. Union is 5-0-0 against St. Lawrence in the last five, including wins in both meetings last season. Union is 10-18-0 all-time at St. Lawrence, but has won three of the last four meetings at Appleton Arena.

Scouting St. Lawrence
Sophomore Greg Carey led the team in scoring last year as a freshman, posting 23-17-40 in 40 games, but has yet to score in four games this far. Junior Kyle Flanagan was second on the team with 12-23-35, and currently leads the team with eight points (five goals, three assists) .

Sophomore goaltender Matt Weninger played the majority of the games last year, going 7-15-3 with a 2.65 GAA and .913 save percentage, and has started three games this season, with a .788 save percentage and 5.77 GAA. Senior goaltender Robby Moss has seen action in two contests and has a .837 save percentage and 5.73 GAA.

St. Lawrence is six-for-22 on the power play (27.3%) and 12-for-18 on the penalty kill (66.7%) so far this season. Defense and goaltending have been issues for the Saints in the early going, as they have allowed 26 goals in four games so far this season and are allowing 30 shots a game.

The Saints were 13-22-5 last year and finished 11th in the ECAC before knocking off Princeton in the first round of the ECAC Tournament before bowing out against Yale in the quarterfinals

St. Lawrence head coach Joe Marsh has taken a leave of absence from the team to deal with a medical issue. Assistant Coach Mike Hurlbut is behind the bench in his absence.

The Last Meeting
Kelly Zajac scored twice to lead No. 7/7 Union to a 5-2 win in front of 1,471 fans at Appleton Arena. The win was Union's ninth in a row, extending a school record winning streak in the Division I era. With the game tied at 1-1, Union scored three second period goals to take command of a game that was evenly played through the first 30 minutes. The Dutchmen took their first lead of the game on the power play, with Jeremy Wick in the penalty box for boarding. Just over a minute into the man advantage, Jeremy Welsh took a pass from Josh Jooris and fired a shot between Weninger's pads at 13:28 of the second period

Union quickly extended its lead to 3-1 on the next shift on a two on one at even strength when Adam Presizniuk fired the initial shot into Weninger's pads, but the puck kicked right to Zajac, who tipped it into the net at 14:33. Zajac would strike again on another odd man rush at 19:06. Matt Hatch sent Zajac off on a two-on-one. Zajac cut into the shooting lane and fired a shot into the top corner for a 4-1 Union lead. Kyle Bodie scored his seventh goal of the season at 18:02 of the third period, taking a pass from younger brother Mat on the play.

The Union-Clarkson Series
In a series that dates back to Jan. 23, 1923, the Golden Knights own a 27-17-5 advantage, including a 26-16-5 DI mark, over the Dutchmen. In the last seven outings, Union has posted a 7-0-0 record and outscored Clarkson 42-13. Its last loss against Clarkson came on Jan. 23, 2009 in overtime. Union rebounded for a must-win regular season game (2-1) on Feb. 28, 2009. The Dutchmen then hosted the Golden Knights for the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs, sweeping the series (5-3 and 7-2) on Mar. 6-7. The win was the first playoff series victory for the Dutchmen's Division I history. The Dutchmen are 5-15-1 all-time at Clarkson.

Scouting Clarkson
With a 5-1-2 overall record and a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1), the Clarkson University Hockey team is off to its best start in five years. Guided by first-year head coach Casey Jones the Golden Knights, who are receiving votes in the national polls, enjoyed a successful showing in the season-opening, non-league portion of the schedule.

Clarkson was impressive in its recently completed six-game stretch against Atlantic Hockey foes. The Knights outscored their AH opponents 23-8 and posted a pair of shutouts. Last weekend in Massachusetts, Clarkson skated to a 3-2 win and a 2-2 tie at Bentley.

Boasting a .940 save percentage and a 1.84 GAA, Karpowich was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Month.

The Knights are tied for the nation's second longest current unbeaten streak at six games (5-0-1. Clarkson has received strong specialty teams play to start the season. The power-play has recorded at least one goal in every game this season and is ranked fourth in the nation (12-44, 27.3%). The penalty kill is ranked 8th nationally (41-46, 89.1%)

Senior Louke Oakley leads Clarkson with five goals and 10 assists. Ben Sexton is second in scoring with nine points (3-6), including a team-high three power-play markers. Sexton, who has tallied two goals and three assists in the past three games, suffered an injury in Saturday's game at Bentley and is questionable for this weekend.

The Last Meeting
Wayne Simpson scored at 3:48 of overtime to lift No. 7/7 Union to a 4-3 win over Clarkson in front of 2,132 fans at Cheel Arena. The win was Union's eighth straight victory, a school record in the Division I era. Union set an all-time program record for wins, surpassing the previous mark of 22 wins set by both the 1976-77 and 1984-85 teams.

The Dutchmen also clinched a first round bye in the ECAC Tournament, securing a top four finish in the conference for the third time in program history. Kevin Sullivan stopped a Clarkson breakout attempt at the blueline and fed Simpson with a cross ice pass. Simpson fired a wrist shot into the far side past Clarkson goaltender Paul Karpowich for the game-winner.