Union-Yale ECAC Quarterfinals Scouting Report

by Ryan Fay

Union (19-12-5) will meet Yale (18-10-3) on Friday at 7:30 pm at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the right to compete in the league championship game next Saturday.

HOW THEY GOT HERE
UNION: The Dutchmen breezed by Dartmouth in the quarterfinals, sweeping the Big Green out of Messa Rink in two games by a collective 9-3 score. Union never trailed in either game.

YALE: Yale didn't face much of a challenge in the quarterfinals, either. The Bulldogs swept St. Lawrence in two games and neutralized their star tandem of Kyle Flanagan and Greg Carey. The pair combined for 97 points in the regular season, but like most of the Saints' offense, were held off the scoreboard in the quick two-game set. The Saints mustered one goal in two games.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Friday's semifinal will mark the third meeting between Union and Yale this season. Union is 1-0-1, tying the first game and coming out ahead in the second.

UNION 2 at YALE 2 - Dec. 8, Ingalls Rink
With power play goals from Wayne Simpson and Greg Coburn, Union led 2-0 early in the third period and looked set to walk away with a key road win. But the Dutchmen collapsed, allowing Yale to force an eventual 2-2 draw following third period tallies by Charles Orzetti and Gus Young.

UNION 4 vs YALE 2 - Feb. 15, Messa Rink
Yale struck first in the rematch as Tommy Fallen scored at 17:36 of the first period. Union would take the lead for good with second period markers from Max Novak and Matt Hatch with the latter goal chasing Yale backup goaltender Nick Maricic from the game.

Third-stringer Connor Wilson came in and coughed up two more goals in the third to increase Union's lead to 4-1. Yale's Andrew Miller cut the lead to 4-2 with a power play goal at 11:09 of the third, but that's as close as Yale would get.

The Bulldogs were missing starting goaltender Jeff Malcolm with an upper-body injury, but Malcom has returned to start the last five games. Yale has won all five, including the two-game sweep of St. Lawrence in the quarterfinals over the weekend.

WHAT UNION DOES WELL
SCORE: Union's average of 3.03 goals per game is tied with Colgate for the second best mark among ECAC teams. The Dutchmen have scored 18 goals in their past four games, all wins, for an average of 4.50 per contest.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Dutchmen power play operates at a 24.2% clip, second in the country to Minnesota's 25.2% mark. The penalty kill is nearly as strong as Union's penalty kill ranks seventh in the country at 86.4%. The kill has been especially deadly of the late with the unit having allowed no goals in Union's four games so far in March (0-for-10).

DE-FENSE!: Union allows just 2.16 goals a game, tied for sixth best in the country with U-Mass Lowell. Cleary Cup winning Quinnipiac is the only ECAC with a stingier defense as the Bobcats lead the land with 1.59 goals allowed a game.

AREA OF CONCERN
COLLAPSES: Union has been known to squander third period leads. The Dutchmen had third periods but failed to win on five different occasions this season: Dec. 7 at Brown (tie), Dec. 8 at Yale (tie), Jan. 12 at Quinnipiac (loss), Jan. 19 vs Cornell (loss), and Feb. 1 vs Dartmouth (tie).

WHAT YALE DOES WELL
POWER PLAY: While not as proficient as Union's, Yale's power play can't be taken lightly sitting ninth in the country at 22.2%. The unit has been even better than that lately, capitalizing at a 40% clip in four games this month (4-for-10).

LIGHT THE LAMP: The Bulldogs have one of the best offenses in the ECAC as just three other teams (Quinnipiac, Colgate, Union) have an offense averaging at least 3.00 tallies a contest. Yale is right on the brink at 3.00 even.

AREA OF CONCERN
BETWEEN THE PIPES: Yale's goaltenders (Malcolm, Maricic, Wilson) leave something to be desired as they have a collective .910 save percentage, third lowest in the league. Their 2.57 goals against average is middle of the road at seventh in the league. Malcolm allowed only one goal in the quarterfinal sweep of St. Lawrence, but spent most of the weekend standing around as he faced a total of 30 shots in the two games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
UNION: Kevin Sullivan - The junior forward from Darien, Connecticut has nine points (5 g, 4 a) in 11 games since the start of February. He scored two goals in the quarterfinals clinching 5-2 win over Dartmouth on Saturday, the second straight season in which he scored twice in the decisive quarterfinal game.

Other key players: Sr. F Kyle Bodie (9 goals, 23 assists), Sr. F Wayne Simpson (15 goals, 17 assists), Jr. F Daniel Carr (14 goals, 14 assists), Jr. D Mat Bodie (6 goals, 18 assists), Sr. D Greg Coburn (8 goals, 16 assists), So. D Shayne Gostisbehere (7 goals, 17 assists), Jr. G Troy Grosenick (2.17 goals against average, .923 save percentage)

YALE: Kenny Agostino - Another junior forward, Agostino leads the Bulldogs with 22 assists and 37 points in 31 games. He has been especially hot lately with two goals and six assists over the past four contests.

Other key players: Sr. F Andrew Miller (16 goals, 19 assists), Sr. F Antoine Laganiere (14 goals, 13 assists), So. D Tommy Fallen (7 goals, 15 assists), Jr. F Jesse Root (9 goals, 11 assists), Sr. G Jeff Malcolm (2.28 goals against average, .918 save percentage).

PREDICTION
Union wins a close, tight game, 3-2.

ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (and playoff schedule)

by Ryan Fay

Before we get to the power rankings, here is a look at the ECAC playoff schedule:

FIRST-ROUND (Friday, Mar. 8 - Sunday, Mar. 10 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
No. 12 Harvard at No. 5 Dartmouth
No. 11 Colgate at No. 6 St. Lawrence
No. 10 Clarkson at No. 7 Brown
No. 9 Cornell at No. 8 Princeton

Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, Yale, and Union have first round byes.

QUARTERFINALS (Friday, Mar. 15 - Sunday, Mar. 17 - Best-of-three games - campus sites)
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Quinnipiac
Second lowest remaining seed at No. 2 Rensselaer
Third lowest remaining seed at No. 3 Yale
Fourth lowest remaining seed at No. 4 Union

SEMIFINALS (Friday, Mar. 22 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Semifinal No. 1 - 4 p.m

Semifinal No. 2 - 7:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP/THIRD PLACE (Saturday, Mar. 23 - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
Third-Place Game - 4 p.m.
Championship Game - 7 p.m.

Onto the power rankings -

1. QUINNIPIAC (24-5-5 overall, 17-2-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
The Bobcats had a tremendous regular season, winning the Cleary Cup, finishing 10 points ahead of second place RPI, and racking up the most points in the regular season (37) since Cornell had 38 in 2004-2005. But don't assume Quinnipiac will go uncontested in the league playoffs. The Bobcats are only 3-2-1 over the last six games and have proven to be human after all.

2. RENSSELAER (17-12-5, 12-7-3) LW: 2
If anyone is going to knock off Quinnipiac, RPI isn't a bad choice. The Engineers went 9-1 over their final 10 league contests while outscoring opponents 35-14. Senior defenseman Nick Bailen closed his final collegiate regular season on a high note with two goals and five assists in the last three contests.

3. YALE (16-10-3, 12-9-1) LW: 5
After a five game skid, Yale ended the season strong, winning its final three games. Saturday's 2-1 win over Cornell was the most impressive of the three as Cornell came into the game riding a five game unbeaten streak. Senior forward Andrew Miller has been especially good lately with two goals and three assists over the final three regular season contests.

4. UNION (17-12-5, 10-8-4) LW: 9
Protecting its home ice is one reason why the Dutchmen ended up getting a first round bye. Union went 6-0-1 over its past seven home games, including beating the St. Lawrence and Clarkson by a combined 9-1 score at crunch time over the weekend. The arrow is pointing back up again.

5. BROWN (11-12-6, 7-9-6) LW: 4
The Bears split over the weekend, losing 4-1 to Cornell on Friday ahead of a 5-1 win over Colgate the next night. The split was good enough to give Brown home ice in the first round, something that hasn't happened since 2005. The Bears are 3-1-1 over their past five games at Meehan Auditorium.

6. ST. LAWRENCE (16-14-4, 9-9-4) LW: 3
St. Lawrence entered the weekend in the mix for a first round bye, but those prospects went out the door with a 5-1 loss at Union and a 4-1 setback at RPI. It marked the first time all season that St. Lawrence lost back-to-back road games. Getting Kyle Flanagan (appendectomy) back for this weekend's series with Colgate would only help, but they should advance anyway.

7. CORNELL (12-14-3, 8-11-3) LW: 6
The Big Red closed out the regular season with a 4-1 triumph over Brown and a 2-1 loss at Yale, the latter being their first defeat in three weeks. Sophomore Joel Lowry, who was drafted by Los Angeles in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft, is playing some of his best hockey of the year with three goals and three assists in the final six regular season games. Goalie Andy Illes has come on strong as well, not allowing more than two goals in any of his last seven starts.

8. HARVARD (9-17-3, 6-14-2) LW: 10
Harvard became the second ECAC team to beat Quinnipiac this year after the Crimson held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. Despite playing much better hockey of late (two losses in past six league games), Harvard couldn't escape the league basement and enter the tournament as the 12th seed. The Crimson will take on fifth-seeded Dartmouth and I'll go out on a limb and say Harvard wins in three.

9. DARTMOUTH (13-11-5, 9-9-4) LW: 8
In order to win in the playoffs, you need to string wins together. But the last time Dartmouth won back to back games was way back in mid January. A lot is made of Dartmouth's home dominance (10-4-1 on the year) but the Big Green are just 2-3-1 in their past six games at Thompson Arena.

10. PRINCETON (10-14-5, 8-10-4) LW: 12
Getting home ice in the first round may not be the best thing for the Tigers. Princeton is 0-4 in its past four home contests, but hold a 3-0-1 mark its last four road games. Speaking of road games, Princeton went into overtime in both weekend road games, tying Dartmouth, 2-2, and prevailing, 2-1, over Harvard. In the latter game, Princeton pulled goaltender Mike Condon late in overtime, but Andrew Calouf netted an extra skater goal with 37 seconds left on the clock to win it.

11. CLARKSON (9-18-7, 8-11-3) LW: 7
If Clarkson has any chance to beat Brown, they're going to need to score some goals. It sounds simple enough, right? However, scoring goals has been far from simple for the Golden Knights lately. Clarkson enters the league playoffs with scoreless drought of 141:29, the second longest in program history (167:45, set in 2002). You can thank the Clarkson Hockey Blog for that stat.

12. COLGATE (14-16-4, 6-13-3) LW: 11
The Raiders are the definition of limping into the playoffs. Colgate has all of one victory in the past 10 games and they don't appear all that likely to be playing in two weeks. The Raiders drew St. Lawrence in the first round and will be going on the road, where they have two wins all season. The last time Colgate won a league game on the road was Dec. 1 at Clarkson.

ECAC hockey power rankings (2/25/13)

by Ryan Fay

It all comes down to this. The upcoming weekend marks the end of the regular season, but much is yet to be decided. Remarkably, the only lock is Quinnipiac finishing first. Just about everything else is up for grabs with many teams having a wide range of possible finishes.

Lets take a look at how the teams stack up as the regular season is set to close:

1. QUINNIPIAC (23-4-5 overall, 16-1-3 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1
Saturday's 3-3 tie against Brown will keep the #1/1 Bobcats from being the first ECAC team with 40 points since Harvard finished with 40 during the 1988-1989 campaign. Even with two wins to close out the regular season, Quinnipiac would max out at 39 points, which would rank as the highest single year point total in the league since Cornell racked up 39 in 2002-2003.

2. RPI (15-12-5, 10-7-3) LW: 2
RPI's eight game winning streak in league play came to an end with Friday's 4-1 loss at Cornell and the four goals allowed were the most given up by RPI in a single game since surrendering four at Princeton on Jan. 12. The weekend was salvaged when Matt Neal scored with ten seconds left in overtime to propel the Engineers to a 3-2 win at Colgate on Saturday. The second place Engineers remain in possession of a first round bye.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (16-12-4, 9-7-4) LW: 3
The Saints have a first round bye to lose and going on the road to conclude the regular season isn't the worst thing. With nine road wins, the Saints have the second most victories away from home in the league (Quinnipiac has 10). Additionally, St. Lawrence is the only team in the league with more road wins (9) than home wins (7).

4. BROWN (10-11-6, 6-8-6) LW: 6
Is there a peskier team in the league than the Bears? According to Dartmouth men's hockey SID Patrick Salvas, Brown has not lost a game to the eventual regular season champ last season (Union) or this season (Qunnipiac). The Bears went 2-0 against Union a year ago and are 0-0-2 versus Quinnipiac this season. On Saturday, the Bears used two late third period goals to tie the Bobcats, 3-3.

5. YALE (14-10-3, 10-9-1) LW: 5
The best news for #13/14 Yale over the weekend was the return of netminder Jeff Malcolm, who stopped 17-of-20 shots in Saturday's 4-3 triumph against Princeton. His return couldn't have come soon enough as the team lost all five games he missed. Another encouraging sign was scoring four goals on Saturday, which was as many as Yale had in the previous four games combined.

6. CORNELL (11-13-3, 7-10-3) LW: 11

That horrific stretch from late December through early February looks like a thing of the past. The Big Red are unbeaten in their past four games (3-0-1) and look like they could be peaking at the right time. Cornell handed RPI its first league loss in six weeks on Friday and used three early goals to take Union out of Saturday's game only 10 minutes into play. Greg Miller, who leads Cornell with 14 goals, has been particularly hot lately with six tallies in the past four contests.

7. CLARKSON (9-16-7, 8-9-3) LW: 7
Which team is tied with St. Lawrence for the second highest goals per game (GPG) average in league play? Quinnipiac? Nah, they comfortably top the list at 3.40 GPG. RPI? Nope, the Engineers are seventh at 2.60. It's Clarkson at 2.90 GPG. The Golden Knights wouldn't have been my first guess, either. According to USCHO.com ECAC columnist Brian Sullivan, Clarkson can finish as high as third and as low as 11th after next weekend. The Knights travel to RPI and Union to wrap up the regular season.

8. DARTMOUTH (13-10-4, 9-8-3) LW: 8
#19/RV Dartmouth is tied with Yale for the final first round bye and return home for a chance to solidify their positioning. The good news? The Big Green protect their home as well as anyone in the league, as evidenced by a 10-3 mark in games played at Thompson Arena this season. The bad news? The clubs coming in, Princeton and Quinnipiac, are 2-0 against Dartmouth this year.

9. UNION (15-12-5, 8-8-4) LW: 4
After two home wins last weekend, there was a feeling the team had righted the ship and looked poised for a strong finish. But this past weekend erased those thoughts. On Friday, the Dutchmen lost, 4-1, to a Colgate team which entered the game on a six game winless streak. The next night, Union essentially lost the game in the first ten minutes after falling behind 3-0 at Cornell. There were some strong spurts later in the contest, but it was an inconsistent effort that left a desire for a full sixty minute effort. I don't think there are many people who know what to expect from #20 Union going forward.

10. HARVARD (8-16-3, 5-13-2) LW: 10
You want your best players to step up late in the season and that's happening for Harvard. Top scorer Alex Fallstrom has a point in six straight contests, his longest streak of the season, and Marshall Everson has scored seven of his 11 goals in the same six game run. In that span, the Crimson are 5-1.

11. COLGATE (14-14-4, 6-11-3) LW: 12
If Colgate has a run in them, it will come from their underclassmen. Five of the team's top seven point getters are either freshmen or sophomores. The top three goal scorers, Kyle Baun, Tylor Spink, and Darcy Murphy are all freshmen. Even if the rest of the season fails to yield desirable results, a nice foundation is in place in Hamilton.

12. PRINCETON (9-14-4, 7-10-3) LW: 9
The Tigers haven't had much roar lately. Princeton has lost its past four contests, and worse yet, all four losses have been at home. Before the slide, Princeton was beaten at home just two times in the first four-plus months of the season. Their regular season ends with trips to Dartmouth and Harvard.

ECAC Hockey Power Rankings (2/18/13)

by Ryan Fay

There are only two more weekends of regular season action. But there's a lot more yet to be decided. Lets see how the teams stack up right now:

1. QUINNIPIAC (22-4-4 overall, 15-1-2 ECAC) LAST WEEK (LW): 1

It finally happened. #1/1 Quinnipiac suffered its first league loss of the season after St. Lawrence held on for a 2-1 victory on Friday. There were some close calls earlier this season (i.e 1-1 ties against RPI and Brown) but it was Saints who finished the job. While the loss ruined a chance at an undefeated league season, it wasn't all that damaging. After Union knocked off Yale, the Bobcats clinched the Cleary Cup on Friday anyway. Concerns about a letdown performance on Saturday versus Clarkson were quelled with a 2-1 win.

2. RPI (14-11-5, 9-6-3) LW: 3

With all due respect to Quinnipiac, RPI may well be the ECAC team one would least want to face right now. The boys from Troy have fired off eight league wins in a row and have looked dominant in the process. RPI has allowed three goals or less in every game during the run with two shutouts mixed in. During the streak, the Engineers have outscored their opponents 30-10. You'd hate to be Colgate and Cornell this weekend.

3. ST. LAWRENCE (15-11-4, 8-6-4) LW: 4

If the Saints had any chance to beat Quinnipiac, they were going to need their best players to come up big. And that's what happened. Greg Carey, who leads the nation with 23 goals, scored both St. Lawrence goals on Friday. The junior has at least one goal in nine straight contests dating back to Jan. 19 at Clarkson. Currently tied with Union for third place, the Saints have a chance to solidify a first round bye with Dartmouth, Harvard, and Union coming up on the calendar. St. Lawrence is 3-0 against them this year.

4. UNION (15-10-5, 8-6-4) LW: 6

After starting the month on a three game winless streak, and losing grip on a first round bye, there was some concern the season may be starting to slip away from the two-time defending league champions. But the Dutchmen earned four huge points after beating #9/10 Yale 4-2 on Friday and blanking Brown 2-0 the next night. A week after getting yanked in consecutive starts, Troy Grosenick rebounded and accumulated 61 saves over the weekend. Currently tied with St. Lawerence for third place, Union once again has a first round bye to lose.

5. YALE (13-9-3, 9-8-1) LW: 2

This isn't the kind of stretch run the Bulldogs wanted to have. Yale is 1-5 over their past six games, including four straight losses. The team misses starting goaltender Jeff Malcolm, who is out for an undetermined amount of time. Backup Nick Maricic was pulled after letting up a couple soft goals against Union on Friday and third-stringer Conor Wilson allowed three goals on 21 shots in Saturday's loss at RPI. The offense isn't helping, either. Yale has scored five goals in the current four game skid. 

6. BROWN (9-11-5, 5-8-5) LW: 5

Brown's three game week began on a high note with a 1-0 blanking of Yale on Tuesday, but the weekend was a different story. A 5-1 rout at RPI preceded a 2-0 defeat at Union on Saturday. In the latter, the Bears were outhot 48-23. One concern with Brown is a lack of scoring depth. With 26 points, Matt Lorito has twice as many as any other player on the roster (Garnet Hathaway - 13). Lorito's 14 goals are more than double the next highest figure on the squad (Nick Lappin's six).

7. CLARKSON (8-15-7, 7-8-3) LW: 10

Clarkson handed Princeton just its third home loss of the season with Friday's 3-2 triumph. The next night, they hung tough with league-leading Quinnipiac, but dropped a 2-1 decision. He's no Greg Carey, but Allen McPherson has been on quite the streak himself. Of his nine goals this season, five of them have come in the past six games.

8. DARTMOUTH (12-9-4, 8-7-3) LW: 9

If you want to talk about a bad loss, #17 Dartmouth's 4-2 setback to Cornell on Friday would qualify. Not only did Cornell enter the game 1-10 over its last 11 games, the game was played at Dartmouth, where the Big Green were 9-2 on the season going into the weekend. Dartmouth rebounded on Saturday with a 5-4 win over Colgate and stand tied with Yale for fourth place.

9. PRINCETON (9-12-4, 7-8-3) LW: 7

The Tigers are a tough nut to crack. Last weekend, they picked up two wins on the road after entering that weekend with one road win all year. This past weekend, Princeton brought a 6-2 home record into home games with Clarkson and St. Lawrence. They lost both.

10. HARVARD (7-15-3, 4-12-2) LW: 11

Don't look now, but Harvard is unbeaten in its last four contests (2-0-2). It's certainly a welcome sight after the Crimson had a stretch with one win in 16 games. Harvard put up seven goals on Tuesday in a 7-4 win over #/11/13 Boston University in the Beanpot consolation game. The strong effort was followed by a 4-1 win over Colgate on Friday and a 2-2 draw with Cornell on Saturday.

11. CORNELL (9-13-3, 5-10-3) LW: 12
With a win and a tie, Cornell had its first league weekend with more than two points since picking up four points against Clarkson and St. Lawrence on Nov. 30-Dec 1. Cornell closes out the regular season portion of its home schedule this weekend against RPI and Union.

12. COLGATE (13-13-4, 5-10-3) LW: 8

With four straight defeats, the Raiders are sputtering to the finish line. The recent struggles can at least partly be blamed on a power play unit that has gone belly up after spending most of the season as one of the best in the conference. Over the past four games, the Colgate power play is 1-for-19.

Dutchmen skate by #9/10 Yale, 4-2 (with 3 videos)

Postgame videos below - Union head coach Rick Bennett, Union players Max Novak, Matt Hatch, and Mat Bodie, plus Yale head coach Keith Allain.

==========

by Ryan Fay

SCHENECTADY -- Union snapped a three game winless streak after skating past #9/10 Yale, 4-2, Friday night at Messa Rink.

Yale (13-8-3, 9-7-1) struck first when Tommy Fallen scored an unassisted power play goal at 17:36 of the opening frame. Fallen picked off a clearing attempt by Matt Hatch and beat Troy Grosenick.

“I was calling for the puck there because Coburn had a lot of pressure,” Hatch said. “He gave me a soft chip. I just flubbed it. I had one guy pressuring me, but I didn’t see the other guy. I gave it right to [Fallen]. I couldn’t get out to block it. Just a little misfire in the corner there.”

The Dutchmen (14-10-5, 7-6-4) came to life after and never trailed again.

With Shayne Gostisbehere in the box for indirect contact to the head-elbowing, sophomore Max Novak evened the game with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 8:25 of the second period. Novak's backhander bounced off the right pad of Yale goaltender Nick Maricic and scooted through the five hole.

"I thought Novak's goal was one of the biggest of the year," Union head coach Rick Bennett said. "It got us going, but it's what we've been preaching. Drive wide, put pucks on the net, and good things are going to happen."

Added Novak, "I had a little bit of room on the penalty kill. I skated up and heard guys yelling drive wide, so I took it hard to the net. Luckily, it went in."

With assists from Kevin Sullivan and Josh Jooris, Hatch's improbable angle shot made it a 2-1 Union lead at 16:00 of the middle period. The junior fired from below the goal line and his shot bounced off Maricic and into the net.

“Our line had a good forecheck going,” Hatch said. “Sullivan passed the puck to Jooris. I was putting it on net, just trying to hit [Maricic’s] stick and get some guys crashing the net. He put it in himself. It was a pretty lucky goal. I was pretty shocked, but it was a good-time goal and our line deserved the goal.”

After allowing two soft goals, Yale head coach Keith Allain yanked Maricic and inserted Connor Wilson.

Changing goaltenders didn't help the Bulldogs. Wayne Simpson's power play goal, his team-best 13th goal of the season, pushed Union's lead to 3-1 just 31 seconds into the third period. Kyle Bodie fired a shot that Wilson stopped, but Simpson cashed in on the rebound.

"We just happened to be at the right place at the right time, which was nice for once," Bennett said.

Junior defenseman Mat Bodie picked up an assist on Simpson's goal. The point was the 80th of his Union career, breaking Lane Caffaro's record for points by a defenseman in the program's Division I era.

"I haven't thought too much about it," Bodie said of the record. "It's an achievement, but maybe something I'll appreciate more in the future. It's a testament to the guys I've played with. I've had some real good goal scorers that I give the puck to and they can do a lot with it."

Jooris picked up his second assist of the night on Daniel Carr's goal at 9:00 of the third. Carr's one-timer beat Wilson and increased Union's lead to 4-1.

After Simpson went off for interference at 9:40, Yale cut the lead to 4-2 when Andrew Miller scored on the man advantage at 11:09. The Bulldogs, who were outshot 42-39, never made it closer.

Grosenick, who was pulled in both losses last weekend, rebounded with a 37 save effort.

"I thought he played like he practiced and he practiced extremely well," Bennett said. "He came prepared all week and worked really hard. He was rewarded for that."

The Dutchmen played with fire by taking eight penalties, including four in the first period alone. The penalty kill stopped Yale on six of the eight chances, but Bennett wasn't displeased with the repeated trips to the box.

"I don't have a problem with hitting too hard," Bennett said. "I don't know what those calls were, but we're going to keep using our shoulder pads. I'm not complaining about the officiating, but we're not stopping."

The coach was just as pleased to see the team follow through on pregame benchmarks.

"They were given a couple staples to follow through for each period. Outside of the first period with shots, they met them all tonight," Bennett said. "It was great to see guys blocking shots and sacrificing themselves. That's what you need -- that ice bag mentality."

With the win, the Dutchmen moved into a tie for fourth place with St. Lawrence. The Saints handed Quinnipiac its first league loss of the season Friday night, 2-1. With Union's victory over Yale, the Bobcats managed to clinch the Cleary Cup despite the loss.

The Dutchmen return to Messa Rink tonight to host Brown (9-10-5, 5-7-5) at 7 pm. The Bears were routed by RPI, 5-1, Friday evening in Troy.

ETC... Defenseman Shawn Stuart, who suffered a lower-body injury in last Friday's loss at Clarkson, is considered "doubtful" for tonight's game, according to Bennett.... The Dutchwomen fell, 2-1, at Brown on Friday. Their playoff chances are out the door.

POSTGAME VIDEOS








Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
#9 Yale Bulldogs vs Union Dutchmen (Feb 15, 2013 at Schenectady, N.Y.)

Yale Bulldogs (13-8-3, 9-7-1 ECAC) vs. Union Dutchmen (14-10-5, 7-6-4 ECAC) Date: Feb 15, 2013 Location: Schenectady, N.Y. Arena: Messa Rink Attendance:2085 Start time:7:07 pm End time:9:29 pm Total time:2:22  Goals by Period 1st 2nd 3rd Total Yale Bulldogs 1 0 1 2 Union Dutchmen 0 2 2 4 Scoring Summary # Prd Time Team Type Scored by Assists Visitor on ice Home on ice 1. 1st 17:36 YALE PP Fallen, Tommy/9 - 22,18,11,7,20 20,15,14,12 2. 2nd 08:25 UNION SH Novak, Max/5 - 18,6,7,22,20 18,3,9,20 3. 2nd 16:00 UNION EVEN Hatch, Matt/7 Sullivan, Kevin/3 28,18,21,14,17 15,6,22,19,7 Jooris, Josh/12 4. 3rd 00:31 UNION PP Simpson, Wayne/13 Bodie, Kyle/21 17,22,21 21,12,22,14,9 Bodie, Mat/15 5. 3rd 09:00 UNION EVEN Carr, Daniel/11 Jooris, Josh/13 21,20,11,26,22 9,7,6,22,19 Vasaturo, Charlie/2 6. 3rd 11:09 YALE PP Miller, Andrew/11 Agostino, Kenny/16 17,18,22,7,6 18,22,6,9 Wilson, Stu/4

ECAC Media Make Their Top 4 Picks

by Ryan Fay

While Quinnipiac has run away with first place, the other three first round byes remain just about anyone's to take. With only six points separating the team in second place (Yale) from the team in tenth place (Colgate), it's shaping up to be a wild final three weekends in the regular season.

I polled several ECAC media members and asked how they see the top four finishing up. I threw my two cents in for good measure.

For the consensus finishes, I added up each predicted finish. A first place prediction meant four points, a second place prediction meant three, a third place prediction meant two, a fourth place meant one point, and unranked meant no points.

The consensus top four is: Quinnipiac (1st, 36 points), Yale (2nd, 21 points), RPI (3rd, 14 points) and Dartmouth (4th, 11 points). Princeton and St. Lawrence, and Union finished with two points.

Individual ballots are below.

WHAT THEY SAID

USCHO.com ECAC correspondent Brian Sullivan on Quinnipiac: "The Bobcats need two points in their remaining six games to clinch the Cleary Cup. I'm almost positive my beer-league team could accomplish that. But only if we get to wear those yellow sweaters."

Sullivan on Yale: "I'm not putting any money on the Bulldogs to hold onto No. 2. In my eyes, that bet went sour with Yale's 1-0 loss at Brown on Tuesday. Goalie Jeff Malcolm is still out - not sure when or if he'll return this season - and the rest of Yale's game has gone all pear-shaped as well."

Anonymous ECAC broadcaster on RPI: "Surging at the right time and they have the right guy between the pipes. They should have gone to Jason Kasdorf much earlier.

USCHO.com ECAC correspondent Nate Owen on Dartmouth: "The Big Green have dealt with some injuries and inconsistency, but I think they'll have enough to hang on."

Anonymous ECAC broadcaster on craziness of league: "Pretty interesting to note that there's a decent chance that three of the top four from last year (Union, Cornell, Harvard, Colgate) could end up in the bottom four this year. And it's possible ALL four, but since Cornell/Colgate play Union, it would be pretty difficult for all three to end up 9 through 11."

KEN SCHOTT	SEAN MARTIN	MARK DIVVER	JASON KLUMP
1. Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac
2. Yale	Yale	Yale	RPI
3. Dartmouth	Dartmouth	Dartmouth	Yale
4. RPI	Princeton	RPI	Union

JOSH SEGUIN	BROADCASTER	NATE OWEN	BRIAN SULLIVAN	ME
1. Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac	Quinnipiac
2. RPI	Yale	Yale	Dartmouth	RPI
3. Yale	RPI	Dartmouth	Yale	Yale
4. Union	St. Lawrence	RPI	Princeton	St. Lawrence

AFFILIATIONS

Ken Schott - Daily Gazette
Sean Martin - Times Union
Mark Divver - Providence Journal
Jason Klump - ex College Hockey News / recent RPI radio fill-in
Josh Seguin  - College Hockey News
Anonymous Broadcaster - One of the ECAC teams
Nate Owen - USCHO
Brian Sullivan - USCHO
Me - Union Hockey News

#9/10 Yale at Union pregame notes

by Ryan Fay

Union hosts #9/10 Yale tomorrow night at 7 pm at Messa Rink.

Yale (13-7-6, 9-6-1 ECAC) is looking to solidify its hold on second place while sixth-place Union (13-10-5, 6-6-4) is looking to get back in the top four with eyes on a first round bye.

In advance of the game, parties from both sides weighed in on a few story lines that could impact the game.

SCORING STRUGGLES

Union enters the game struggling on offense. The Dutchmen have scored more than three goals in a game just once since the calendar flipped to 2013 (four vs last place Harvard on Jan. 22). In that span, the Dutchmen are 4-6-1.

"Sometimes we just sit back too much," senior Wayne Simpson said when describing the offensive woes. "We're playing in our zone too much and it's hard to create chances doing that."

At least the forward had solutions.

Allain (Yale)

"We have to keep it simple so we can get pucks deep," he said. "Forcing turnovers from our forecheck is important as is getting pucks to the net. We've done it at times and we've seen how it works. But we have to do it more often."

Yale can sympathize with an offensive slump. The Bulldogs have lost three of its past four games and failed to score more than two goals in any of the three losses. The Bulldogs were shutout 1-0 on Tuesday despite firing 44 shots at Brown's Anthony Borelli.

"We have to score more goals," Yale head coach Keith Allain said via a phone interview. "We scored two goals in the previous game we lost and we scored zero goals on Tuesday. You can't win hockey games at any level when you're averaging one goal a game. We have to get our lines going and produce more offense."

GETTING KILLED BY THE KILL 

Union has spent most of the season as one of the toughest penalty killing teams in the country.

But the unit has become leaky of late, operating at a 6-for-13 clip in the past three games. St. Lawrence scored three power play goals against Union last Saturday, the most Union had given up in nearly a calendar year.

"It's just a matter of getting some bounces," said junior defenseman Mat Bodie. "A couple bounces against St. Lawrence last Saturday were generous for them.

"Other than that, it's a matter of bearing down. We've been letting a couple shots get through from the point. We haven't been tying up sticks in front. It's the little things that add up. We've been successful in the past and I'm sure we can get back on track."

Union's penalty kill went 8-for-8 during a 3-3 draw at Yale on Dec. 8th.

LAGANIERE ONE TO WATCH

When Union skated to that tie at Yale in early December, no Bulldog stood out more than senior Antoine Laganiere.

"He's very big, skates and controls the puck extremely well, and Union simply didn't have an answer for him," Union play by play man Matt DuBrey told me in a December interview.

The 6-foot-4 forward picked up an assist in the tie against Union and his 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) are tied with Andrew Miller for second most on the club.

"He's a young man who came in here with a little bit of offensive skill," Allain said of Laganiere. "It's gratifying to see a guy who has gotten better each and every year. He has gotten stronger, faster, and more confident. When he came here, he was 6-foot-4, 170-something pounds. Now he's 6-foot-4, 220-something pounds. He has added elements to his offensive game. He's a testament to what a kid can accomplish with dedication and hard work."

SAINT NICK

When starting lineups are announced, Yale's goaltender probably won't be Jeff Malcolm.

Allain said on Wednesday that there's "no" timetable for Malcolm's return. The senior, who has a 2.48 goals against average and a .918 save percentage, has not played since suffering an injury early in a 4-2 win against Princeton on Feb. 1.

Nick Maricic, another senior, has picked up the slack between the pipes.

"I think Nick has played well," Allain said. "I thought he played well when he came in relief against Princeton. I thought he struggled a bit against Quinnipiac. But he was solid on Tuesday against Brown."

ETC

With 79 career points, Bodie is one away from setting the program record for points by a defenseman.... the junior is tied with Lane Caffaro.... if you can't make it to the game, it will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports... the program is holding a "bookraiser" by Project: Cameron's Story at both games this weekend... for more information, click here.

Q&A with Brown associate head coach Mark White

by Ryan Fay

Fresh off a 1-0 shutout of #9/10 Yale, surging Brown (9-9-5, 5-6-5) comes in for a pivotal stretch run game Saturday night at Messa Rink. The Bears enter the weekend just one point behind Union (13-10-5, 6-6-4) in the league standings and both teams are fighting for a first-round bye.

In advance of the game, I chatted with Brown associate head coach Mark White. He discussed what he saw from Yale last night, breakout players like Matt Lorito and Anthony Borelli, his impressions of Union, and more.

UNION HOCKEY NEWS (UHN): Yale comes here on Friday. What were your impressions of them last night?

MARK WHITE (MW): They transition really well. They're going to be poised for a playoff run. It's a typical Yale team. They have a couple elite level players and they're a fast team. Yale has a defense that can move the puck. There were some questions about their goaltending with Jeff Malcolm out but I thought Nick Maricic (31 saves) looked pretty solid.

UHN: What can you say about the way Anthony Borelli has been playing in goal for you? His numbers (1.42 goals against average, .951 save percentage) rank him as one of the best in the country since he took over for Marco DeFilippo in early December.

Borelli (Brown)

MW: Anthony has taken the opportunity he was given and ran with it. He's been fantastic and very competitive in net for us. You look for a senior or two every year to step up and he's been that guy for us. You're usually only as good as your senior class. We've had a couple guys step up and he's been one of them. We had Mike Clemente getting the bulk of the starts the past couple years, but Anthony has proven he can play at a very high level.

UHN: Matt Lorito is breaking out in his sophomore season. His 14 goals leads the team and rank second among ECAC players. What's spurring his improvement?

MW: Matt missed the first seven or eight games with a wrist injury last year. To miss those games as a freshman made it tough to get off to a good start. He's a dynamic skater, has a knack for scoring, and he uses his speed to get into scoring situations. He played with senior Jack McClellan (15 goals) last year and that may have taken the load off him a bit. This year he's taken it more on himself to do some of that scoring. We're not a team that scores a lot, but he's doing the bulk of our scoring.

UHN: Your club is 3-0-1 over the past four games. What's clicking?

MW: Our goaltending is very strong. We play a strong defensive game and we don't give up a lot of "grade A" chances and second chances off rebounds. Beyond that, there's a belief in the locker room that we can win hockey games any way, any how. We're blocking a lot of shots and doing the little things that lead to wins. Guys are playing with a lot of grit right now. It's a small little stretch of wins, but we need to keep that going. It's crazy how tight the standings are.

UHN: Brown is riding a three game unbeaten streak against Union (2-0-1). Most other league teams haven't been as successful against them lately. Why do your guys match up so well against them?

MW: We've gotten good goaltending against them be it this year or last year. Union is usually ranked pretty high when we play them and the guys get up to play a nationally ranked opponent. Union has proven that they're an elite level program the past couple years. It's no different than any other ranked team that we play. We want to play everyone hard.

UHN: What were your impressions of Union when your guys skated to a 3-3 tie with them in December?

MW: They're a good team. Union has what you need in the special teams department. That's something that hurt us earlier in the year, but we have corrected that a bit. 33% of the game is played on special teams and Union excels in that area. They're not a team that beats themselves a whole lot. They have an identity, they stick with that identity, and they're disciplined in how they play.

UHN: Other than special teams, what are a couple other keys to the game from your end?

MW: We need to find a way to get traffic and pucks to the net. We pride ourselves on eliminating as many odd man rushes as possible and that tends to eliminate a lot of "grade A" chances for our opponent. If we work through the middle of the ice, we'll have a good chance to compete.

Where Union is in the polls - 1/28/13

by Ryan Fay

It's Monday, which means its poll day.

How did the Dutchmen fare this week? Lets find out.

USCHO

After picking up a couple wins over Harvard (4-1, Tuesday) and RPI (3-2, Saturday), the Dutchmen (13-8-4) rose one spot to 18th in the latest USCHO top 20 poll.

ECAC-leading Quinnipiac (18-3-3) picked up 22 first place votes, but fell eight points shy of the top spot. WCHA powerhouse Minnesota (18-4-4) retained its place atop the rankings.

Other ECAC teams in the poll were Yale (8th, 12-5-3) and Dartmouth (16th, 11-7-2). Dartmouth comes to Messa Rink on Friday night for a nationally televised game on the NBC Sports Network.

Colgate (19 votes, 13-9-2) and Cornell (5 votes, 8-9-2) were in consideration but didn't make the cut.

USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine

The Dutchmen remain unranked in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine top 15 poll. Union did receive six votes, which is actually one less than last week despite picking up two wins.

Quinnipiac was slotted second with 11 first place votes but Minnesota again proved too much to topple for the highest spot. Yale was the lone other ECAC representative in the top 15, as they were ranked 7th.

On the outside looking in were Dartmouth (45 votes) and the aforementioned Dutchmen (6 votes).

PAIRWISE

Union has moved up slightly in the pairwise as they currently sit 18th.

Rk	Team	PCWs	W-L-T	Win %	Rk	RPI	Rk
1	Quinnipiac	28	18-3-3	.812	1	.5870	1
2	Minnesota	27	18-4-4	.769	2	.5724	2
3	New Hampshire	25	15-6-2	.696	4	.5672	3
4	Miami	25	15-6-5	.673	7	.5546	4
5	Yale	24	12-5-3	.675	6	.5538	5
6	Boston College	24	14-7-2	.652	8t	.5521	6
7	Western Michigan	22	16-6-4	.692	5	.5457	7
8	Mass.-Lowell	21	14-7-2	.652	8t	.5456	8
9	St. Cloud State	19	15-10-1	.596	16t	.5433	9
10	North Dakota	18	13-8-5	.596	16t	.5415	10
11	Boston University	17	13-9-1	.587	18	.5404	11
12	Alaska-Fairbanks	17	12-8-4	.583	19t	.5331	18
13	Denver	16	13-8-4	.600	13t	.5396	12
14	Notre Dame	15	16-10-0	.615	11t	.5384	13
15	Dartmouth	15	11-7-2	.600	13t	.5365	14
16	Minnesota State	13	16-9-3	.625	10	.5350	15
17	Niagara	12	15-4-5	.729	3	.5346	16
18	Union	10	13-8-4	.600	13t	.5259	19
19	Colgate	10	13-9-2	.583	19t	.5221	20
20	Northern Michigan	10	11-12-4	.481	32	.5123	23
21	Nebraska-Omaha	8	15-9-2	.615	11t	.5334	17
22	Ferris State	8	13-10-3	.558	24	.5183	22
23	Wisconsin	7	11-8-5	.562	23	.5210	21
24	Ohio State	4	10-11-5	.481	33	.5087	24
25	Providence	4	10-10-4	.500	28t	.5072	25
26	Robert Morris	4	12-9-2	.565	22	.5046	26
27	Cornell	2	8-9-2	.474	36t	.5044	27
28	Merrimack	1	10-10-5	.500	28t	.5022	28
29	Holy Cross	0	13-9-2	.583	19t	.5021	29

Pairwise information via collegehockeynews.com.

Union Is Heading To Bridgeport!

Wow, this is pretty exciting! It's still pretty amazing that UNION COLLEGE is not only in the NCAA Tournament for the first time (in Division I history), but they are a #2 SEED! This is going to be one exciting week leading up to the weekend in Bridgeport. I'll do my best to keep all of you posted and informed on our upcoming opponents and other news.

Here is what the official bracket looks like:

East Regional (Bridgeport, Ct.)
No. 4 Air Force (20-11-6)* vs. No. 1 Yale (27-6-1)*
No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth (22-10-6) vs. No. 2 Union (26-9-4)

West Regional (St. Louis)
No. 4 Colorado College (22-18-3)  vs. No. 1 Boston College (30-7-1)*
No. 3 Nebraska-Omaha (21-15-2) vs. No. 2 Michigan (26-10-4)

Midwest Regional (Green Bay)
No. 4 Rensselaer (20-12-5) vs. No. 1 North Dakota (30-8-3)*
No. 3 Western Michigan (19-12-10) vs. No. 2 Denver (24-11-5)

Northeast Regional (Manchester, N.H.)
No. 4 New Hampshire (21-10-6) vs. No. 1 Miami (23-9-6)*
No. 3 Notre Dame (23-13-5) vs. No. 2 Merrimack (25-9-4)

* automatic qualifiers
By conference: WCHA 5, CCHA 4, ECAC 3, Hockey East 3, Atlantic Hockey 1

Personally, I think this is the best case scenario for the Dutchmen. Any team you play in the NCAA Tournament is going to be tough opponent, so all the game are going to be difficult. But, if I had to pick a region to be in and a #1 seed to be in the same bracket with, I'd pick Bridgeport and Yale, respectively. Bridgeport is the closest of the four sites to Schenectady and Union has beaten Yale already this year. I also feel the Bulldogs are the weakest of the four #1 seeds, even though they had two convincing performances in the ECAC Final Four. I think Union has as good of a chance as any team in Bridgeport to make it to the Frozen Four.

But, Yale should not be our focus right now... it should be the other Bulldgos. That is THE University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. They also have a very good team and will be a very tough opponent. Their top line of Fontaine-J. Connolly-M. Connolly is supposed excellent and have put up big numbers. They also have a stud freshman defenseman in Justin Faulk. But after that it doesn't sound like they have too much. Their goaltender also doesn't seem to be anything special, and isn't on the same level as Keith Kinkaid. This is just what I've heard. I will do my best to find out everything on the Bulldogs throughout the week.

This is going to be a fun week... CAN'T WAIT!

Scores From Last Night

Last night was the semifinals of each conference tournament. All of the championship games are today. This is what happened:

ECAC
Yale 4 - Colgate 0
Cornell 3 - Dartmouth 0
Championship: Yale vs. Cornell, 7pm in Atlantic City

CCHA
Miami 6 - Notre Dame 2
Western Michigan 5- Michigan 2
Championship: Miami vs. Western Michigan, 7:35pm in Detroit

Hockey East
Boston College 5 - Northeastern 4
Merrimack 4 - New Hampshire 1
Championship: Boston College vs. Merrimack, 7pm in Boston

WCHA
Denver 6 -  Bemidji 2
North Dakota 4 - Colorado College 3
Championship: Denver vs. North Dakota, 7:05pm (CT) in St. Paul

Atlantic Hockey
Air Force 3 - Holy Cross 2
RIT 4 - UConn 2
Championship: Air Force vs. RIT, 7:05pm in Rochester

For box scores and recaps from each game go to USCHO.

After tonight we will know who is in and who is out of the NCAA Tournament. On Sunday at 11:30am on ESPN2 we will find out where everyone is playing. It looks like RPI has a really good shot of making it by the way.

Entertaining Yale Hockey Announcer Video

Does anybody else this Yale Hockey announcer needs to calm down a little? I mean calling the first three goals like this is fine, but the fourth goal is a little over the top isn't it? Either way, I'm looking forward to this guy's goal calls in the ECAC Final Four and NCAA tournament. Good luck Yalies.

Union Blows Two Goal Lead And Ties Quinnipiac

The Dutchmen just didn't have their 'A' game tonight. I don't know why, but they just weren't able to click tonight. Coach Leaman tried mixing up the lines in the third period to try and get a spark, but nothing happened.

I really wasn't a fan of the refereeing tonight. The Bobcats received six power-plays while Union only had two. Union scored on their first chance, and had their second opportunity with 1:45 left in overtime but were unable to score. I just thought the calls were a little unbalanced, but hey I'm a Union fan. In the post-game press conference I could sense that Coach Leaman also wasn't too happy with the refs.

The Union penalty killing was great tonight. I also want to point out that Kyle Bodie's goal was an absolute snipe.

Luckily, the Dutchmen got some help from Colgate who tied Yale in New Haven. It was the only game Yale has played this season that went into overtime, and is the only time the Bulldogs haven't won at Ingalls this season. So, Union still controls their own destiny. If they win tonight against Princeton they will win the Cleary Cup.

The game will be one of the biggest in the history of the program, and the most important of the season so far.

For more on the game vs. Quinnipiac check out:
USCHO
Union Athletics
Ken Schott's Blog
Times Union
Quinnipiac Athletics

Other scores in the ECAC from last night:
Colgate 1 - Yale 1
Princeton 4 - RPI 3
Cornell 2 - Brown 3 (OT)
Clarkson 1 - Harvard 3
St. Lawrence 2 - Dartmouth 4

College Hockey Video Of The Week (1/31/11): Robert Morris Sweeps #1 Miami in 2010

This past weekend Union and RPI both won their games against #1 Yale making it a Capital District sweep.

Last season unranked Robert Morris swept two games from #1 Miami first in Pittsburgh and then at Miami two days later. Personally, I think this feat is more impressive than the one that took place this past weekend. So, I think this video if fitting.

This video is of highlights from the Colonials' win over the Red Hawks in Pittsburgh. Enjoy!



Bonus Video! RPI goaltender Allen York freaks out on Yale's Chris Cahill at the Big Red Freakout:

UNION UPSETS #1 YALE!!!

There are no words that can describe the feeling at Messa Rink last night once that final buzzer went off. It was a combination of joy, relief, pandemonium, excitement... the list can go on. The place was rocking! I think every Union fan can agree that this was the greatest regular season win in the history of Union Hockey. It's not everyday that you get to play the top ranked team in the country in your own barn and knock them off.

We are truly living in the glory days of Union Hockey, and for that I am extremely thankful. I mean the year before I came to Union, the Dutchmen were at the bottom of the ECAC standings and were the joke of the ECAC for awhile. BUT LOOK AT US NOW! Union College Hockey is now known throughout the college hockey world!

Other things I took away from the game:
- Keith Kinkaid was great. When Yale was pressing in the third he really came up big.
- Adam Presizniuk's goal might be a sign that he's ready to break out of this goal scoring slump. He will be a major key for the offense down the stretch.
- Union did a great job limiting Yale's transition play. It's the key to their game, and is probably the best in the country.
- The Union PP looked really sharp.
- You know what, the Union pep band was actually ok... but just ok. Sometimes they sounded like a real pep band and at other times they were weak. But, maybe there is hope.
- Did anybody else see the Dutchman mascot? It was in the student section and none of my buddies there knew who it was. This was the first time I saw a mascot at a Union game in my four years.
- Ryan Forgaard had very minimal ice time. I guess the coach's weren't happy with his decisions early on.
- This was the first time Union has beaten a #1 team.
- The black jerseys are definitely a good luck charm. Union is now 2-0 when wearing the jerseys (beating RPI and Yale). The team was planning on selling the jerseys at the end of the year, but maybe they should reconsider.

Also, I just want to say that I thought Yale Head Coach Keith Allain and forward Brian O'Neill were pretty classless after the game. Not only did Coach Allain not shake any of the Union players hands, he was pretty brutal in the post-game interviews. He barely said anything, mumbled, and was just bad overall. I didn't expect him to be happy after the game, but come on man. The press have to do their job, so just man up, face the press, and say something. Your team lost to a good team... deal with it. O'Neill wasn't much of a talker either after the game, and we had to do a make-shift interview in lobby, so I really didn't expect much from him (or captain Jimmy Martin who was there). But, when he said "It's not anything they [Union] did at all. We just didn't work hard enough," I got a little ticked off. You're team played well, but Union was just a little better. Once again.... deal with it! When Union loses, Coach Leaman and his players have no problem talking to the press at least at the home games I've covered.

But now this game is in the past and it's on to Brown. As Corey Milan tweeted this morning, "Big game tonight, last night was last night, tonight is the test." The Dutchmen have to win tonight in order to back up last night's win.

Oh and what's the over/under on how many penalty minutes Captain Harry Z picks up tonight? I say he picks up at least six.

For more on last night check out:
USCHO
Union Athletics.com
Ken Schott's Blog
Times Union - Sean Martin
Times Union - Mark McGuire
CHN
Yale Daily News

In other news, I will be attending tonight's game as a fan for the first time this season at Messa Rink (I went to the game in Lake Placid as a fan). I am also very excited to wear my Union Hockey jersey for the first time. So, I will be doing very minimal Twitter updates and stuff like that. But, I will do my best to capture some video of the student section. If you can't make the game, but want to stay tuned in you can follow Ken Schott's Blog, or on Twitter (Ken Schott or Union Hockey).

If you want to see a double header of Union Hockey action stick around after the varsity game to check out the Union Club Hockey team as they take on Medaille. Yours truly will be playing.

Here are videos from last night. The first being the reaction of the rink once the final buzzer went off, and the second being the post-game press conference with Coach Leaman, Keith Kinkaid, Daniel Carr, and Adam Presizniuk... Oh, and Coach's son Ty.

Also, check out some fan interviews I conducted before last night's game as a part of my internship with the Union Sports Informaiton department. It features our guest blogger, Justin Zolot, and two of my best friends, Brendan Lichtenthal and Kyle Anderson. (Official Blog of Union Hockey)
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