SCHENECTADY, NY -- The 16th-ranked Union College men's ice hockey team opens the doors to Messa Rink for the final regular season home weekend when Princeton and Quinnipiac arrive on Friday, Feb. 19 and on Saturday, Feb. 20. Tickets for both contests, which begin at 7 p.m., can be purchased online at UnionAthleticsTickets.com or by calling the box office at 518-388-6020.
The Dutchmen (16-8-6) are closing in on a first round bye in the ECAC Hockey playoffs with a 10-4-4 record (24 pts.), which is good enough for third place. The Tigers (10-12-3) are ninth place with a 6-10-2 conference mark (14 pts.), while the Bobcats (15-13-2) are in the seventh spot with a 9-9-0 ECACH record (18 pts.).
Two events surround this weekend as Friday's outing is “White Out Night” with the first 2,000 fans receiving a white Union College Hockey t-shirt sponsored by
Legere Restorations (a company specializing in disaster restoration and construction). Saturday's matchup is “Senior Night” and all eight Union seniors will be recognized at the conclusion of the contest.
Friday's contests will be televised locally on Time Warner Sports Ch. 3. Matt Dubrey and Dan Fridgen will provide the coverage, while Brian Unger '93 and Adam Ullman will have the call on WRUC 89.7 FM and online at Teamline.cc. Dubrey and Unger reunite on Saturday for the radio broadcast.
Live stats and
video for both contests can be accessed at UnionAthletics.com. Scoring updates will be available on Twitter at
@UnionHockey.
Senior forward
Mario Valery-Trabucco leads the charge for Union. He is tied for Union's Division I single-season points record with 38. He combined for three points at Dartmouth and Harvard to tie junior forward
Adam Presizniuk's 2008-09 record. Trabucco currently owns the top spot for points per game (1.31) and is tied for second for goals (17) – three away from Chris Ford's goal mark of 20 in 1993-94. Trabucco is tied for third for goals per game (0.59) and tied for sixth with Presizniuk for assists (21).
On career lists, Trabucco is third all-time for points with 107 and is second for goals with 53. He is only two goals away from tying Jordan Webbs' goal record of 55 from 2001-05. Trabucco owns the record for career shots with 400 and he is tied for third for power-play goals with 17.
>> Scouting Princeton
After going 6-2-1 from Dec. 12 - Jan. 30, Princeton has gone 1-2-1 in its last four games and is coming off a 2-2 tie at St. Lawrence on Saturday. Friday's game at Union marks the third straight road contest for the Tigers.
Senior Dan Bartlett is the team's leading scorer with 25 points, including 16 goals. He has tallied four power-play goals and one game-winner. Next is junior Mike Kramer, who has 21 points with 11 goals and 10 assists.
Between the pipes, senior Zane Kalemba struggled – for his standards – with a a 3.14 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. He is 6-8-3 overall. Junior Alan Reynolds, who played against Union on Jan. 8, has appeared in eight games, posting a 3.00 goals-against average, a .900 save percentage and a 4-3-0 record.
>> The Union-Princeton Series
These two teams met five times last season, including a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Union is 5-5-0 in the last 10 meetings, and 12-7-1 in the last 20.
Friday's contest will be the 46th all-time between the two schools and 43nd in Union's DI history. Princeton holds a 22-19-4 advantage all-time and 20-18-4 DI lead.
Union is 9-6-4 all-time against Princeton at Messa Rink.
>> Scouting Quinnipiac
After starting the season 12-1-0, Quinnipiac has gone 3-12-2 in its last 17 games, including a 2-2-1 in its last five. Last weekend the Bobcats posted a 5-0 win at St. Lawrence and a 4-1 setback at Clarkson.
Senior Brandon Wong is the team's top scorers with 30 points behind a team-best 15 goals, including 11 power-play and four game-winning tallies. Senior Eric Lampe is next with 28 points, including a team-high 17 assists. In all, Quinnipiac has five players with 20-or-more points and 10 players with 10-or-more points.
Sophomore Dan Clarke has seen the majority of playing time in goal, posting an 10-11-2 record with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
>> The Union-Quinnipiac Series
Saturday's game will only be the 15th all-time between Union and Quinnipiac and the Bobcats own a 854-1 series mark. However, last year Union went 2-1-0, including a 6-5 season-opening victory at the 2009 Omaha Stampede.
In the last five outings, Union is 3-1-1, and in the last 10 they are 4-5-1.
Union is 1-3-1 all-time against Quinnipiac at Messa Rink.
>> Next up for Union
Union concludes the regular season on the road with a pair of 7 p.m. contests next weekend. The Dutchmen travel to 10th-ranked Cornell (15-7-3, 12-4-2), which is in second place, on Friday, Feb. 26 and to Colgate (12-13-5, 9-8-1) on Saturday, Feb. 27.
