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This weekend
Union beat Princeton 1-0 in extra time last weekend before falling 4-0 to # 4 Quinnipiac in the last ECAC hockey series of the calendar year. The Dutch are traveling to Orono, Maine for the final road trip of 2021 with a non-conference series with the Maine Black Bears.
Media coverage
Fans can catch this weekend’s games on CollegeSportsLive. Live statistics for both games will be available through GoBlackBears.com.
Social media
Get real-time updates during all men’s Union Hockey games by following the team’s official Twitter account @UnionMHockey. Additional behind-the-scenes views are also available through the team’s official Instagram account, @UnionMHockey.
vs. Maine
Union and Maine have met 11 times since 1991, with the series tied 5-5-1. The last meeting was a series of two games at Schenectady in October 2015, with the Dutch playing 1-0-1 over the weekend. Union are 3-1-1 ahead of Maine at home. The black bears are ahead in Orono and lead a 4-2 series lead over the Dutch at Alfond.
Looking for the black bears
The Black Bears are slowly starting this season, breaking a 1-11-3 record in their first two months of play. Six of these games were decided by a goal.
Senior Jakub Sirota and first grader David Breazeale lead the team with seven points each. Second year Donavan Villeneuve-Houle is the top scorer with five goalscorers.
Maine has an interim period on the net this year, with both goalkeepers having almost the same playing time. Runner-up Victor Ostman has started eight games (1-6-1), scoring a 0.897 save percentage and 3.01 goals against the average. Junior Matthew Thiessen is 0-5-2 in seven games this season with a 0.896 savings rate and 3.04 goals against average.
The Dutch will see a familiar face in head coach Ben Barr this weekend. Coach Barr spent three seasons at Union as an assistant coach, culminating in an ECAC hockey championship and the program’s first trip to the NCAA tournament.
Maine went 3-11-2 in a 2020-21 season shortened by Covid-19. The Black Bears welcome three transfers in Matthew Fawcett (Quinnipiac), Dominic Dockery (Merrimack) and Grant Hebert (Robert Morris).
Kozi’s children
Senior captain Josh Cossack launched its second Kozi’s Kids fundraiser on Nov. 15, benefiting COCOA House, a nonprofit that provides a safe place for downtown Schenectady kids to go to after school, with an emphasis on life skills building, academics and mentors lies. After raising over $ 5,000 for new laptops and Christmas gifts in a year without Dutch hockey, the captain has set himself higher goals this year. The goal is to raise $ 20,000. The nonprofit recently bought the building next door to create a second room for kids that focuses on a state-of-the-art entrepreneurship space, lounge area, study space, and other resources. The money will be used to set up a Kozi’s Kids Lounge and to buy Christmas presents for children in the Tricity area.
A very generous donor has agreed to top up each dollar raised up to $ 10,000. At 2:00 p.m. on December 2, over $ 8,500 was raised between online donations and funds sent directly to COCOA House. To learn more about the fundraiser or to donate, please visit UnionAthletics.com/KozisKids.
Stable Seger
Junior assistant captain Gabriel Seger was a constant presence in the target group for the Dutch. Seger ranks 36th nationally with 153 wins in the face-off, which is good for fifth place in the conference. The junior wins 53.1 percent of the faceoffs.
Apart from his stable presence in the district, Seger had an influence on the Dutch offensive. The junior is second on the team with eight points (2-6-8). Union is 4-2-1 if Seger scores a point.
Rank Robertson
Second striker Liam Robertson starts this season well. Robertson ranks eleventh nationally and second in the conference with four power play goals in 15 games. The striker is tied with nine points (6-3-9), five of them on special teams (4-1-5). Robertson has scored two game-winning goals this year, placing him 25th national and sixth in ECAC Hockey.
Robertson named Player of the Week
After a career game against Merrimack College, Liam Robertson was voted ECAC Hockey Player of the Week. Junior assistant captain Gabriel Seger was a constant presence in the target group for the Dutch. Seger ranks 35th nationally with 124 Faceoff wins, which is good for sixth place in the conference. The junior wins 51.8 percent of the faceoffs.
Light the lamp quickly
Union scored the first goal in seven of the first ten games this season, including three games in which the Dutch scored within the first 2:01 of the game. Despite this advantage, Union was only 2-3-2 in those seven competitions.
Kraft in the first year
First year Michael Hodge has established itself as a permanent offensive presence in the first 13 games. The striker started the season on a five-game points streak, recording three goals and three assists during that time. Hodge is the first on the team with nine points.
How fet it is
On Monday, October 18th, the ECAC announced that the Dutch had cleaned up their weekly awards. Senior Brandon This earned the Player of the Week award, scoring a goal and adding three assists from the blue line. Junior Connor Murphy received Goalkeeper of the Week recognition, scoring 1.92 goals from average and a percentage of 0.945 saves 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, scoring his first college goal on power play and then providing the main assist for Estes’ game-winning goal.
This marked the first time Union won the weekly awards since March 2014, when Daniel Carr ’14 (player), Colin Stevens ’15 (goalie) and Mike Vecchione ’17 (rookie) were recognized.
Oh captains, my captains
Senior Josh Cossack this season will wear the captains “C” while the juniors Dylan Anhorn and Gabriel Seger will draw the “A” for the Dutch in 2021-22. Kosack is leading the team as captain for the second year in a row after serving as team leader in the 2020/21 pandemic year.
Looking for surprise
Union was selected to finish eighth in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Coaches survey and scored 40 points to match Rensselaer. The local media were even more pessimistic about Union’s chances and voted the Dutch 11th out of 12 teams (26 points) in the pre-season media survey.
Welcome to the show
At the start of the 2021/22 season, more than half (16 out of 31) of Union’s players have never played a college game. Seven sophomores were on the team last year but didn’t compete as Union didn’t play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program again welcomed eight first-year players to the team this season.
