Union still looking for win
Dutchmen looking to get untracked against rival RPI in home-and-home
It doesn’t matter who the Union College hockey team is playing this weekend. The Dutchmen need a win. And they need it badly.
After three weeks of the season, Union is in free fall. The Dutchmen have played six games and lost them all and now own the worst start in the Division I history of the program, one that began in the 1991-92 season. Two years ago, Union started 0-5, but recovered and won 21 games. The Dutchmen also began the 1999-2000 season with five losses.
“Yeah, you are exactly right,” junior goalie Darion Hanson, a Dutchmen co-captain said Thursday when asked how important getting that first win as soon as possible was. “Finding that first one has been tough, obviously. Lucky for us, we get another chance this weekend to do that.”
And it’s not just any weekend for Union. Or for the Dutchmen’s opponent for that matter. Union opens the ECAC season this weekend with games against its most heated rival down Route 7. The Dutchmen will play RPI in a home-and-home series. Union’s players and coaches hope it can kick-start its season.
In the first six games, Union has been outscored 25-8 and been outshot 211-107. Union has managed only one goal in the third period; its opponents have seven.
“We just want to play the right way for three periods,” Union coach Rick Bennett said before the Dutchmen practiced Thursday afternoon. “To me, it’s the hardest thing to do in sports is be consistent. We still have a lot of games and a lot of practices to figure it out.”
If Dutchmen faithful are looking for any positives, try this one: Four of the losses have come to teams ranked in the top 20. Union got pasted last weekend at No. 4 Massachusetts, losing by a combined 11-1 in the two-games. The week before that, at home, the Dutchmen dropped a pair of 2-1 setbacks to Northeastern, which came in ranked No. 15.
Three of the six losses have come by one goal. But, in the past four games, Union has been able to score only three goals. In its most recent game, the Dutchmen were shut out 6-0 by Umass.
Having RPI right now on the schedule will be a good thing for the Dutchmen. The Engineers, at 2-2, are the favorite in this game, probably both of them. The first comes Friday night at Messa Rink; Saturday, the teams will play at Houston Field House.
“If you need extra motivation ... I don’t think the coaches need to do handstands in the locker room to get them going,” Bennett said with a laugh. “And I am not even sure our coaching staff could do that.”
Union expected this season to be a slow one to start. It has been well documented that five of the top seven goal-scorers from last season’s team aren’t here anymore. Another scorer, Jack Adams, who had 10 goals last season, is on the shelf with a knee injury.
“We have a lot of new guys who are learning the system; it’s a process,” said Hanson, who has started every game in goal and
has played all but 3:52. “It’s a long process and the tough competition has made it more difficult. I’m not using that as an excuse, obviously, but that is where we are at.”
Last year, RPI came into this rivalry weekend winless after three games, and the Engineers swept Union, which was 4-0-1 before those games.
“This is a weekend that we circle on our calendars every year,” Hanson said. “It’s always fun. Their building is a fun one to play in.”
“This is a new beginning for us,” said senior defenseman Vas Kolias, the other Union cocaptain. “ECAC play ... a lot to be excited about. And you obviously know who our opponent is.”