UNION HOCKEY 2013-14 UNION HOCKEY GAME DAY LINKS Game Notes Twitter Vermont vs. Union NCAA East Regional Semfinal March 28 2:00 P.M. Live Audio Live Stats Live Video CBS Sports Radio Sporty AM 1240 www.TEAMLINE.cc TV: ESPNU

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- No. 1 ranked Union (28-6-4) will take part in its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed at the East Regional in Bridgeport. The Dutchmen meet 14th-ranked Vermont (20-14-3) of Hockey East at 2:00 p.m. Friday.  Union is 2-0 versus Hockey East, having swept New Hampshire in January.

The Dutchmen are coming off their third-straight Whitelaw Cup title, securing the ECAC Hockey Tournament title in Lake Placid (March 21-22).  Union became just the third school in the league's 53-year history to three-peat, and the first to accomplish the feat in 37 years, dating to Boston U.'s four-peat from 1974-77.

Of the six conference regular season champions, Union is the only school that went on to win its league's post-season tournament.

Vermont has been idle since March 16, when it dropped a Hockey East Quarterfinal series to UMass-Lowell (2-3, 3-2, 1-2).

Union reached No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll on Monday, marking the team's highest ranking ever in 23 Division I seasons.  The Garnet and White are still No. 2 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

The schools have met 30 times, with Vermont holding a 18-10-2 advantage. Vermont posted a 2-1 win at the 2012 Catamount Cup.  The programs have never met in the postseason.

Union has won eight straight games; earlier in the season, the team won nine straight (Nov. 9-Dec. 13).  Rick Bennett's squad is unbeaten in 13 games (12-0-1), sharing honors with Minnesota State for the longest active unbeaten streak in the nation. Union also has a 10-game unbeaten streak to its credit this season.

Friday's game will mark the third time Union has traveled to Bridgeport for an NCAA Regional.  Webster Bank Arena was the site of the biggest win in Union's program history, a 4-2 victory over UMass-Lowell in 2012 that sent the Dutchmen to the Frozen Four.  Union also made its NCAA Division I Tournament debut in Bridgeport, losing 2-0 to Minnesota-Duluth in 2011.  The "U" owns a 2-1 record in the home building of the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

East Regional participants Vermont, Providence and Quinnipiac all have Union coaching connections.  Providence coach Nate Leaman directed the Union program from 2003-2011, amassing a  138-127-35 record in eight seasons.  He took over from Vermont coach Kevin Sneddan, who coached from 1998-2003, compiling a 50-99-18 ledger, improving the team's win total in each of his five seasons in Schenectady.  Vermont assistant Kevin Patrick spent four years working alongside Sneddan at Union (1998-02).  Providence assistant Ben Barr worked three seasons at Union (2008-11) on Leaman's staff while Quinnipiac assistant Bill Riga was an assistant for five seasons at Union (2003-08) under Leaman as well.
Including current coach Rick Bennett, Union's bench bosses from the past 15 seasons are represented in Bridgeport.

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