Union disappoints in a tie with UConn

Troy Grosenick made his first career start

Well, that was awful. That's all I can really say. What a terrible way to go into Lake Placid and ECAC play. I really believed the team wouldn't take UConn lightly and over look them, but it seems like they did. In the post-game press conference Coach Leaman said the team was complacent in the past few practices, which is very disappointing. I thought the leadership on this team was better than that. This was the third time in seven games that the Dutchmen relinquished a three goal lead. The other two times they were able to pull out a win, but couldn't find the game-winning goal tonight.

More importantly, this game is REALLY going to hurt Union in the PairWise Rankings (PWR), which decides who makes the NCAA tournament. Last season, Union's bid to the tournament was basically decided with the overtime loss at home against Sacred Heart and the heart-breaking tie with Yale. Hopefully, this game doesn't come back to bite Union in the butt. Also, is it just me or do the Dutchmen have an awful time with teams from Connecticut?

Freshman Troy Grosenick made his first career start tonight and did pretty well. Even though he played fine, I doubt he'll receive playing time anytime soon. Coach Leaman will probably go with Keith Kinkaid for every game from now on since this tie with the Huskies makes the upcoming games even more important. Here's what Leaman had to say about Grosenick: "I though we left him out to dry. He put in a solid effort."

For more on the game go to:
USCHO
Ken Schott's Blog
Union Athletics.com

Here are some videos from the game featuring Troy Grosenick and Jeremy Welsh:

Pics and Vids from warmups vs. UConn

Troy Grosenick prepares for his first start

The captains talk to the refs



Greg Coburn



Josh Jooris



Mat Bodie

UConn goalies warm up

Wayne Simpson

Tonight's Lineups vs. UConn (10/28/10)

Junior Brian Yanovitch

Here are some game notes courtesy of Union Athletics.com.

Union:

Presizniuk- Zajac- Boileau
K. Bodie- Buote- Cain
Yanovitch- J. Simpson- W. Simpson
Carr- Welsh- Jooris

M. Bodie-Matheson (C)
Forgaard- Julseth-White
Coburn- Stuart

Grosenick
Kinkaid
Milan

Observations: Freshman goaltender Troy Grosenick makes his first collegiate start... Junior Brian Yanovitch makes his first appearance of the season... Freshman Matt Hatch is not in the lineup after scoring two goals and an assist last game, but I expect to see him in uniform on Friday at Lake Placid.

Captain Andrew Olson

UConn:

Schneider- Ambrosie- Winter
Olson (C)- Hernandez- Krispel (C)
Gallagher- Sims- Encarnaco
Carriere- Sapiehr (C)- Harris

Gerke- Scott
Waterstradt- Miller
Reagan- Cooper

Bartus
Grogan
Behling

Observations: The second line is an all-senior line... The first and third lines have no upperclassmen... There are two sophomores, two juniors, and two seniors on defense... The Huskies have very easy last names to pronounce (for the most part, haha).

Union faces UConn for Thursday night game

The Dutchmen are riding high after beginning the season with a 5-1-0 record. In four of the six games they have beaten up on Atlantic Hockey teams at home, outscoring their AHA opponents 29-6. On Thursday Union welcomes in another Atlantic Hockey team: the University of Connecticut.

The Huskies are traditionally one of the weakest teams in all of college hockey. They were picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the AHA pre-season poll. And as I've said over the past month, the AHA is by far the weakest conference in college hockey.

UConn has got off to a decent 1-1-1 start. They opened up the season with a shocking 3-3 tie at now #7 Maine, but then fell to Merrimack 7-1 the following weekend. But, the rebounded with a 3-2 win at Army.

Last season, UConn went 7-27-3 along with a 2-18-2 road record, and finished 11th in their conference. No UConn player last season scored in double digits. Andrew Olson and Justin Hernandez each scored nine goals to lead the team. Olson also led the team with 20 points. Jason Krispel had a team high 12 assists. Freshmen Garret Bartus and Jeff Larson split the majority of the time in between the pipes. Bartus had the best numbers of the two as he went 5-14-1 with a 3.26 GAA and .900 save percentage. Larson left the team in the middle of last season for personal reasons.

The Dutchmen faced off against the Huskies in the Toyota UConn Classic where they demolished the host team 7-0. Union received goals from Mike Wakita, Adam Presizniuk (2), Stephane Boileau, Jason Walters, John Simpson, and Mike Schreiber, while Corey Milan made 14 saves for the shutout. Union holds a 7-0-1 advantage in the series all-time.

You can find more game notes on UConn Huskies.com.

Players To Watch For UConn

Sean Ambrosie: leads the team with three assists and four points.

Cole Schneider: the freshman scored two goals against Army, which leads the team. It was the first time a UConn scored twice in one game since Ambrosie did so in a 4-3 loss at Bentley on October 23, 2009, exactly a year before Schneider did.

Brian Reagan: the senior defenseman accumulated three points with a goal and two assists in the win at Army. He is the first UConn player to tally three points in a game since Jason Krispel recorded three against Bentley in a 4-3 OT loss on February 16, 2008.

Rui Encarnaco: this is more of a personal thing since I grew up playing against this guy in youth hockey and in high school hockey. Rui played for White Plains HS and in the Brewster organization, two rivals of mine. He was a good player then and I'm interested how he adapts to D-I hockey.

Players To Watch For Union

Matt Hatch: scored his first two career goals and assist in the 7-2 win over RIT. Let's see if he cracks the lineup again.

Adam Presizniuk: is second in the nation in scoring.

Brian Yanovitch: surprisingly, he has not appeared in a game this season. Maybe he'll get his chance against a "weak" UConn team.

Prediction: I really believe that the leadership on this team is so strong that there is no way that the Dutchmen over look the Huskies. They should be pedal to the metal for all three periods, which is why I predict a 7-0 Union victory.

Other news from this week:

Union moves to #16 in the USCHO poll
Dutchmen get a lot of love in the INCH Power Rankings
Union jumps to 13th in USA Today/USA Hockey poll
Presizniuk and Kinkaid honored by ECAC

Dutchmen officially release 2010-2011 schedule

Toady Coach Leaman and the Union College Dutchmen officially announced thier schedule for this upcoming season. If you have been following the blog lately there should be no surprises. As I reported earlier, Union will be playing in the Brice Alaska Goal Rush, the Dodge Holiday Classic hosted by Minnesota, and at Lake Placid to take on RPI. Also, they will be playing out of conference games against Niagara, RIT, and Western Michigan.

What I did miss were other OOC games. Union will open the season at home with a weekend series against Sacred Heart, who came into Schenectady last season and shocked the Dutchmen with a 6-5 win in overtime in one of the most exciting games of the season. They will also welcome in Atlantic Hockey foes UConn, AIC, and Army.

I have mixed feelings on the schedule. When it comes to the tournaments, Leaman and the Dutchmen did a great job scheduling competitive tournaments. Last season Union played in the RPI tournament and UConn tournament where they played Lake Superior State, RPI, UMass, and UConn, which makes up a pretty weak group of opponents. This year things are different. In the BAGR and DHC the Dutchmen are scheduled to play Alaska-Fairbanks, Alaska-Anchorage, Minnesota, and Bemidji. Alaska-Fairbanks finished in the Top 20 last season, Minnesota is consistently a national contender, and Bemidji made the Frozen Four two years ago and are on the rise. These tournaments will be great tests for the Dutchmen.

But, when it comes to the non-tournament out of conference schedule Union's schedule looks weak. These opponents are SHU, RIT, UConn, AIC, and Army of Atlantic Hockey, and Niagara of College Hockey America. Besides RIT, who made the Frozen Four this past season, these are all pretty weak opponents. Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America are consistently the worst conferences in college hockey, and AIC and UConn are usually two of the worst teams in all of college hockey. Where are the Hockey East opponents? I guess they spent all the travel money on the tournaments to Alaska and Minnesota. RPI has games against Northeastern and Boston University. While the Terriers are playing RPI in Troy, the Dutchmen will be playing Army just down the road. Even though this part of the schedule is weak, it's always good to have some "easy" games on the schedule so some of the players that don't play much can play.

For more on the schedule check out Union Athletics.com.

Milan blanks UConn in Leaman's 100th win

As expected the Dutchmen spanked the Huskies 7-0. It was an all around effort with six different players scoring goals and 13 of the 18 skaters registering a point. It's nice to see Adam Presizniuk tally two goals, and hopefully this could be the game to get him out of his long scoring slump. It's also great to see Corey Milan get the shutout even though he was relatively untested. Also note that Union went 3-for-7 on the power-play, and captain Mike Wakita scored his first goal of the season. And a special congratulations to Coach Nate Leaman on his 100th career win. He has done a great job with this program with the small amount of resources he has and deserves a ton of credit. You can read summaries about the game on USCHO.com, UnionAthletics.com, and UConnHuskies.com.

The Dutchmen now turn their calenders to 2010 as they closed out 2009 with a 9-4-5 record and an undefeated record in ECAC play. Their first test of 2010 will be on Saturday against Army at West Point. I will be there sitting in Section 11, Row A just like I've been doing since I was five years old, but this time I'll be rooting for the visiting team.

In other ECAC news Princeton topped Cornell 3-2 in the consolation game of the Flordia College Classic, and RPI was demolished by Michigan State 6-1 in the championship game of the Great Lakes Invitational.

I hope everybody has a happy and a healthy New Year! Be sure to watch the NHL Winter Classic on New Years Day!

#15 UMass ends #18 Union's nine game unbeaten streak

Down 3-1 heading into the third period the Minutemen were able to score three goals to snatch victory away from the Dutchmen by the score of 4-3. Going into the game UMass was known for their third period play and proved it once again. They have now outscored their opponents 25-10 in the third period, and are 3-1 against ECAC opponents this season. This is an incredibly disappointing loss for Union considering they blew a two goal lead in the third period, and had a chance to prove to the nation that they can beat a Top 20 team. As noted in my game preview in order to stop UMass you needed to stop the nation's leading scorer James Marcou and Casey Wellman. The Dutchmen were unable to do this as Marcou registered three assists (including both of Wellman's goals), and Wellman tallied two goals (including the game-winner) and an assist. You can read recaps of the game on UnionAthletics.com and UMassAthletics.com. You can also read clips about the game on USCHO.com and TimesUnion.com.

After dropping this game the Dutchmen will play in the consolation game on Wednesday against host UConn (2-13-2) at 4pm. The Huskies dropped their opening game to Bentley 4-1. The Huskies are one of the worst teams in Division 1 College Hockey as they only have two wins, both of which game against AIC at their home rink early in the season. They haven't won since their last game against AIC on November 7th and are riding a nine game win-less streak. The Dutchmen should easily take care of the Huskies even though they only beat AIC by one goal and lost to Sacred Heart, another Atlantic Hockey team, in overtime. UConn's offense is led by freshman Sean Ambrosie (4g,5a) and junior Andrew Olson (6g,2a) who has four of his goals on the power-play. It will be interesting to see who Coach Leaman starts in goal against UConn considering the importance of the game. He could start Keith Kinkaid because you don't want to lose to a weak team since it would hurt you in the pair-wise rankings, or he could start Corey Milan or Rich 'Pudge' Sillery to give them some work. And once again I personally feel that Leaman should start 'Pudge' since he is a senior and deserves one start in his final collegiate season. If Sillery get the start and lets in a few early goals Leaman could always pull him just like he did against Army last season.

In other ECAC news Princeton came back to tie Maine 6-6, Harvard topped #8 Quinnipiac in a league game, #4 Cornell lost to #3 Colorado College 4-2, and RPI beat Michigan 4-3 in the opening game of the Great Lakes Invitational. Quinnipiac has fallen of late as after winning 12 of their first 13 games they have gone 1-3-1 with their only win coming against AIC.