Chu resigns from Union

by Ryan Fay

Union women's hockey assistant coach Julie Chu has resigned.

"I will be leaving Union to focus solely on training for the 2014 Olympic Games," Chu said in a statement. "The women's hockey team, coaching staff, athletic administration and the Union community have been a wonderful environment for me to work in for the past three years. I appreciate my time here and wish the best for Union Athletics in the future."

Chu (Union)

Head coach Claudia Asano-Barcomb said that Chu brought a lot to the program in her three years as an assistant, a period which saw the program reach new heights in out of conference play.

“Julie has been a tremendous asset to the women's ice hockey program for the last three years as a recruiter and associating Team USA with Union women's hockey," Barbomb said in a statement. "She has aided the development of our student-athletes with skills as well as the understanding of the game of ice hockey. Chu has implemented systems as well as giving the student-athletes individualized attention on and off the ice.

"Julie has fostered a family atmosphere amongst the student-athletes and staff and has served as an excellent role model for our student-athletes. I am incredibly grateful for her work ethic and dedication to the Union Hockey program and wish her nothing but the best."

Prospective Olympians like Chu will be evaluated in various camps and tournaments leading up to the 2014 Olympics. The preliminary Olympic roster will be named in June at the conclusion of the summer training camp. The final Olympic roster will be announced in late December.

Chu would hardly be a stranger to Olympic play. She competed for Team USA in the past three Winter Olympic games, 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, 2006 in Turin, Italy, and 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Team USA won a silver medal in 2002 and 2010 and a bronze in 2006.

In 15 Olympic contests, Chu has registered four goals and 11 assists.

Her replacement at Union has not yet been named, but whoever is brought in will be on a one-year appointment with the possibility of renewal.

Dutchwomen seniors winding down Union careers

by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- When the final horn sounds on Saturday, the Dutchwomen will see their season come to an end. For five members of the team, their college careers will also come to finish line.

Forwards Nicole Bartlett, Rhianna Kurio, Emma Rambo, and Jeannie Sabourin along with goaltender Alana Marcinko are set to graduate this spring.

The group has left an indelible mark on head coach Claudia Asano Barcomb.

"They're a good group of people," she said after Friday's 2-1 setback to Colgate. "They've always worked their tails off. They've done such a great job and I appreciate everything they've done. They were our second recruiting class and I'm sad to see them graduate."

A native of Joliet, Illinois, Rambo has been one of the most durable assets in program history. Her 134 games played tie her for second most by any Dutchwomen player. The thought of Saturday being her last one in a Union uniform is tough for her to take.

"It's terrible," Rambo said. "I hate to think about it, the but the four years have gone by real fast."

One of the most memorable moments of her Union career came early on.

"In my freshman year, I took out my assistant coach in the first practice. That was pretty funny," she recalled.

Kurio, who is tied for 10th place on the program's career goals list with 13, said one of her best memories came much more recently. Last Saturday, she scored with 16 seconds left in the game to force an eventual 1-1 tie at Yale.

"I was pretty shocked that it went in, actually," she said. "I was just trying to get to the net and luckily it went in."

At 7-22-4, the program is having its best season since winning 11 games during the 2002-2003 campaign. The consensus was the program has come a long way over the duration of the seniors' time at Union.

"It's black and white," Rambo said.

"The girls have really improved the skill that we have," added Kurio.

There's still a ways to go -- notably in league play, where zero of the team's seven wins have come.

"We're more successful outside of our league, which makes me wonder what we need to do in the league," Barcomb said. "At the end of the season, you always re-evaluate and try to figure out what will make you better."

Rambo already has the answer.

"We need to have more good recruiting classes. We could use some good goal scorers and playmakers," she said, likely aware of the team ranking last in Division I at 1.24 goals a game.

Saturday's game against #3 Cornell, which beat Union 8-1 on Feb. 1, offers the seniors a chance to close their Union careers on a high note.

"[Going out with a win] would be really great, especially against Cornell since they're at the top of the league," Kurio said.

Said Barcomb of Cornell, "They're a very good team. You'll see an excellent offensive team. One of the best players in the league, Brianne Jenner, is on Cornell. But our team is going to put up a good fight."

Friday night in Union Hockey (with video)

by Ryan Fay

It wasn't a banner night for the Union hockey programs. Neither the Dutchmen or Dutchwomen pulled out a win Friday night.

WOMEN'S HOCKEY

The Dutchwomen remain in search of their first league win of the year following a 3-1 setback to St. Lawrence (16-11-2, 11-5-1) Friday night at Messa Rink.

The game was scoreless into the second period when St. Lawrence's Jacqueline Wand opened the scoring at the 4:47 mark with an assist from Ellie Williams.

But the lead didn't last long. Forty one seconds later, a tripping penalty on Abbey McRae gave the Dutchwomen a power play opportunity. Rihanna Kurio cashed in a mere 18 seconds into the man advantage to tie the game at one.

There was some drama when the goal was briefly reviewed, but Union head coach Claudia Asano Barcomb said after the game the review was due to the goal judge neglecting to turn the light on.

It remained a 1-1 game until 8:01 of the third period when Rylee Smith put St. Lawrence up for good with an unassisted goal. A little more than four minutes later, Dayle Wilkinson made it a 3-1 game when she tacked on an insurance goal with assists from Amanda Boulier and Kayla Raniwsky.

The Dutchwomen (7-19-3, 0-14-3) were outshot 30-26 and return home at 4 pm today to host 6th-ranked Clarkson (22-7-0, 14-3-0). The Golden Knights beat RPI, 3-1, on Friday night.

This afternoon's game marks the sixth annual Pink at the Rink game and admission is free with a donation at the door to Kristin's Kause.

After the game, I caught up with Barcomb. She discussed tonight's loss and looked ahead to tomorrow's Pink at the Rink game against Clarkson.



Box Score

MEN'S HOCKEY

Clarkson (7-13-7, 6-6-3) snapped a nine game losing streak against the Dutchmen and held on for a 2-1 victory Friday night in Potsdam.

The Golden Knights scored one goal in each of the first two periods. Sam Labrecque led off the scoring at 7:46 of the opening period and Allen McPherson increased Clarkson's lead to 2-0 with a power play goal at 6:38 of the second period.

The Union offense was shutout until the 13:37 mark of the final period when Josh Jooris lit the lamp with an assist from Charlie Vasaturo. It was Jooris' first goal since a two goal game at Brown on December 7th and Vasaturo's first point since a goal at Harvard on November 9th.

After allowing two goals on seven shots, Troy Grosenick was pulled in the second period in favor of Colin Stevens. The sophomore, seeing his first action since January 5th at Lake Superior State, proceeded to stop all 11 shots that came his way.

Greg Lewis stopped 27 of 28 shots for Clarkson, which was outshot 28-18.

Union (13-9-5, 6-5-4) will look to rebound tonight at St. Lawrence, which dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to RPI on Friday.

Box Score

Dutchwomen fall to RPI, 2-1 (with video)

by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- The Dutchwomen dropped a 2-1 decision to RPI Friday night at Messa Rink.

The game was tied at one going into the third period, but Taylor Horton's second goal of the night at 5:24 proved to be the game winner for RPI (7-15-3, 5-7-1). Horton also opened the scoring with a powerplay tally at 15:35 of the first period.

"We had a breakdown and I think it hit off a kid," Union head coach Claudia Asano Barcomb said of the game winning goal. "We didn't have [someone] on the back door. We usually don't have those kind of breakdowns, but that shouldn't be the game-winner. We should have answered back and put another one in."

The Dutchwomen (7-15-3, 0-10-3) nearly did when they strung together a few good chances at the end of the game.

"I wish we had a couple more minutes because I thought we really put pressure on them at the end," Barcomb said.

The comeback attempt was hampered when the team was forced to kill a tripping penalty on Nicole Bartlett with 24 seconds left in regulation.

"It was tough," Barcomb said of the penalty. "She was trying and making all the efforts to try to help us put the puck in the net. You can't blame a kid for trying."

Kelly McGrath notched Union's lone goal with a game-tying powerplay tally at 14:09 of the second period. Aside from the powerplay goal, Union's special teams killed four of five RPI powerplays, including back to back chances in the second period.

The Dutchwomen, who were outshot 30-24, picked up 28 saves from Shenae Lundberg.

The two schools meet for the third time this season at RPI at 3:00 pm. The winner will take the season series as Union won the first game, 3-2, on October 20th. That game was a non-league affair.

For more from Barcomb, watch my postgame interview with her. If you can't see the embedded player below, click here to watch.

VIDEO: Coach Barcomb postgame - 1/15/13

by Ryan Fay

Union women's hockey head coach Claudia Asano Barcomb spoke with Union Hockey News following Tuesday night's 4-2 loss to New Hampshire. The coach looks back at the game and ahead to this weekend's matchups at Dartmouth and at #2 Harvard. Barcomb and assistants Julie Chu and Ali Boe all played for Harvard.

Lundberg leading Dutchwomen in new role

by Ryan Fay

Going from backup to starter isn't always easy, but women's hockey goaltender Shenae Lundberg is handling the extra responsibility just fine.

When current volunteer assistant Kate Gallagher graduated last spring, the sophomore was given the starting gig. In the time since, Lundberg has taken the bull by the horns and is backstopping the program to its best season as a Division I team. 

With seven wins, the Dutchwomen are having the kind of success not seen since winning 11 games as a Division III program back in 2002-2003. Lundberg, a backup on the World Champion USA Under 18 National Team in 2011, has picked up six of the team's seven wins.

Lundberg (uscho.com)

She said her previous experience as a starter has been key to her transition this year.

"I learned a lot in middle school and high school when I was a starter, so I had a good idea of what [being a starter] was like."

Being able to learn from a senior like Gallagher last season also made the jump easier.

"It was really nice to learn from her," Lundberg added. "She really taught me a lot, so stepping into this year, I had [a lot of] help."

Lundberg, 19, said the team is working harder than ever and practice sessions have never been better. The netminder credited teammates for sending a lot of great shots her way in practice this season.

All that seems to be paying off. Her goals against average has dropped from 3.95 last year to 2.78 this season and her 253 saves rank fifth in ECAC women's play. That kind of performance has earned her two ECAC women's goaltender of the week awards and a goaltender of the month award.

Over the weekend, she helped sweep Penn State by collecting her first collegiate shutout in Friday's 1-0 win and only allowing one goal in Saturday's 2-1 victory.

Lundberg said earning the shutout on Friday was a "great" feeling, but added it was a team effort, with special thanks to the defense in front of her.

Outings like the ones this weekend have caught the attention of head coach Claudia Asano Barcomb, who said earlier this year that the Deerfield Academy product "has stepped into her role as a starter and done a great job."

The Dutchwomen will need Lundberg to keep it up when play resumes on Tuesday with a non-league home game against New Hampshire (7-11-2, 4-4-1 Hockey East). Union then goes back to league play as it travels to Dartmouth (11-5-2, 6-4-1 ECAC) on Friday before playing at #2 Harvard (13-1-1, 11-0) on Saturday.

Coach Barcomb postgame video - 1/12/13

After the Dutchwomen (7-11-3) finished off a weekend sweep of Penn State with a 2-1 win earlier today, head coach Claudia Asano Barcomb spoke with Union Hockey News.

Among the topics addressed - the team's play this weekend, bouncing back from a couple losses at home, and the upcoming game with New Hampshire on Tuesday night. Also, with the program in the midst of its best season at the Division I level, is the program close to turning a corner?



For game highlights, click here.