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This weekend
After losing 4-1 to #19 at Harvard last week, the Union Dutchmen want to hit back with a road trip to St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday.
media coverage
Fans can follow this weekend’s game on ESPN+. Live statistics are available via each home team’s website.
social media
Get real-time updates during all Union men’s hockey games by following the team’s official Twitter account @UnionMHocky. Additional behind-the-scenes footage is also available via the team’s official Instagram account, @UnionMHockey.
against St Lawrence
Union and St. Lawrence met in early November and recorded a 2-2 draw, with St. Lawrence earning the extra point for winning the four-round shootout. Junior Gabriel Segler scored the decisive goal at 18:49 of the third period to send the game to OT.
against Clarkson
The last time Union and Clarkson met, the Dutch drove away with a 4-3 victory in overtime. First year Collin Graf scored the game winner as a junior Connor Murphy stopped the only penalty Union had this season.
Scout the Saints
St. Lawrence suffered a 5-0 loss to Omaha on Jan. 1, sharing a two-game streak with the nationally-ranked Mavericks. The Saints have not played since Jan. 1, citing health and safety protocols as the reason for canceling games against Hockey East foes Merrimack and New Hampshire.
Senior Kaden Pickering leads the Saints by 10 points (5-5-10) through 18 games, including three wins.
Senior Emil Zetterquist is the Saints’ main goaltender, recording a .892 saving ratio and 3.09 goals against average en route to a 5-8-4 record.
Exploring the Golden Knights
Clarkson is currently on a three-game losing streak, having lost 5-1 at New Hampshire on Jan. 8 and losing both games at Arizona State in mid-December. The Golden Knights are playing their first home game since December 4 where they recorded a 4-4 draw with Cornell before winning the penalty shootout.
Junior Mathieu Gosselin leads in 20 games with 17 points (4-13-17), while graduate student Zach Tsekos has 10 goals this season (10-5-15).
Sophomore Ethan Haider has gotten off to a solid start between the fifes in his sophomore collegiate season. Haider is 9-7-4 with a .917 save percentage, 2.24 goals against average and two shutouts.
Steady Seger
Junior Assistant Captain Gabriel Segler was a constant presence in the face-off circle for the Dutch. The junior wins 53.1 percent of faceoffs.
Apart from his constant presence in the circle, Seger has an impact on the Dutch offensive. The junior is tied for second on the team with eight points (2-6-8). Union is 4-2-1 as Seger scores a point.
Meet Murphy
junior transfer Connor Murphy ran excellently between the whistles for the Dutch. Murphy stopped 89 shots in the series against Maine, including 51 stops on December 10, and was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week for the second time this season. The 51 saves ranks ninth in Union’s Division I single game record list and ranks first in Division I for a single game this season. Murphy has stopped 538 shots this season, which ranks fourth nationally, en route to a 5-9-1 record with two shutouts.
Ironman Estes
Senior Defender Brandon Este played in his 100th straight game on December 10 in Maine. The last game Estes missed was on February 3, 2018. The senior has played 127 career games for the Dutch (12-33-45), including 102 in a row.
Kozi’s children
Senior Captain Josh Kosack launched its second Kozi’s Kids fundraiser on November 15th benefiting COCOA House, a nonprofit organization that provides children from downtown Schenectady with a safe place to go after school with a focus on building life skills, academics and mentoring. After raising over $5,000 for new laptops and Christmas gifts in a year without Dutch hockey, Kosack is aiming for even more this year with a goal of $20,000. COCOA House acquired the building next door to create a second space for children, with a focus on a state-of-the-art entrepreneurship space, lounge area, learning spaces and other resources. The money will be used to develop a Kozi’s Kids Lounge and purchase Christmas gifts for children in the Tri-City area. As of January 13 at 8:00 p.m., over $40,000 has been raised. To learn more about the fundraiser or to make a donation, please visit UnionAthletics.com/KozisKids. A final donation amount will be announced shortly.
Rank Robertson
Sophomore forward Liam Robertson got off to a great start this season. Robertson is 15th nationally and second in the conference with four power-play goals in 16 games. The forward sits first on the team with nine points (6-3-9), five of which came from special teams (4-1-5).
Dutch are named player of the week
After a career game against Merrimack College Liam Robertson was named ECAC Ice Hockey Player of the Week. After their performances against Maine in their freshman year Caden Villegas earned Rookie of the Week awards and Junior Connor Murphy received his second goalkeeper of the week award.
Quickly light the lamp
Union have opened the scoring in seven of their first ten games this season, including three where the Dutch have scored within the opening 2:01 of the game. Despite this advantage, Union was only 2-3-2 in those seven competitions.
strength in the first year
First year Michael Hodges has established itself as a consistent offensive presence in the first 13 games. The forward started the season on a five-game points streak, recording three goals and three assists during that time. Hodge is first on the team with nine points.
how sweeping it is
On Monday 18th October ECAC announced that the Dutch have cleaned up their weekly awards. Senior Brandon Este earned the Player of the Week award by scoring one goal and adding three assists from the blue line. Junior Connor Murphy was named goaltender of the week with 1.92 goals against average and a 0.945 percent save with 69 saves in two competitions. First year Collin Graf played a role in both Union goals in Friday’s 2-1 win over the Tigers, scored his first collegiate goal on the power play and then got the primary assist for Estes’ game-winning goal.
This was the first time Union had won the weekly awards since March 2014, when Daniel Carr ’14 (player), Colin Stevens ’15 (goalie) and Mike Vecchione ’17 (rookie) were all honored.
Oh captains, my captains
Senior Josh Kosack will wear the captain’s C in the juniors this season Dylan Anhorn and Gabriel Segler will put on the “A” for the Dutch in 2021-22. Kosack is leading the team for the second straight season after serving as team leader during the 2020-21 pandemic year.
Looking for surprise
Union was ranked eighth in the ECAC hockey preseason coach poll and scored 40 points to level with Rensselaer. The local media were even more pessimistic about Union’s chances, ranking the Dutch 11th out of 12 teams (26 points) in the pre-season media poll.
Welcome to the show
Heading into the 2021-22 season, more than half (16 out of 31) of Union’s players have never played in a collegiate game. Seven sophomores were on the team last year but did not participate as Union did not play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also welcomed eight freshmen to the team this season.
