Union vs. Sacred Heart Preview

Finally, the countdown clock on my blog is about to reach all zeros! I've been waiting for this weekend for so long! I'm so amped and ready to go, and all the Union faithful should be too.

Let's take a look at Sacred Heart (you would already know what I'm about to say if you listened to my radio show yesterday!):

Last season, the Pioneers came in to Schenectady early in the season and won one of the most exciting games of the year. Union got extremely outplayed in the first period, which led to Keith Kinkaid getting lit up for four goals and getting pulled after the first frame. Corey Milan held the fort down for the second period, but the Dutchmen were down 5-1 going into the final frame. Union fought back with four goals in the later half of the period to tie the game, but lost the game in overtime when the Pioneers scored on the power-play. You can read the recap of the game on USCHO.

The Pioneers had a good 2009-10 campaign (21-13-4 overall) as the finished second in Atlantic Hockey in the regular season, and lost to RIT in the conference tournament championship. But let's be real here... Atlantic Hockey is BY FAR the weakest league in college hockey, meaning just because you have a good season in Atlantic Hockey doesn't necessarily mean you are good team. I know it's hard to see that after Union lost to Sacred Heart last season, and seeing RIT make the Frozen Four. Union should be able to easily handle every team in Atlantic Hockey besides RIT. USCHO predicted them to finish 7th in Atlantic Hockey this season, while INCH placed them 47th out of 58 college hockey teams in their "Great 58."

Last year the Pioneers relied on their offense. They had five players with at least 32 points, but only two of those players are returning. Their top to scorers, Nick Johnson (27g-25a-52pts, 8gwg, 9ppg) and Dave Jarman (13g-36a-49pts), have graduated. They've also lost their top offensive defenseman, Paul Ferraro (8g-14a-22pts), to graduation. So, Sacred Heart's offense will be a lot weaker this season even though they bring back four players that scored at least 10 goals last season (Berube, Gingera, Delong, Knowlton).

Players to watch:

Patrick Knowlton: is the returning leading scorer with 13 goals, 26 assists, and 39 points. He will be looked to to pick up the slack for the graduated Johnson and Jarman
Steven Legatto: should be the starting goalie. He put up some nice numbers last season: 19-10-3, 3.09 GAA, and .907 save percentage.
Eric Delong: had a great freshman campaign putting up 15 goals, 20 assists, and 35 points. He is the second leading returning scorer.
Alex Stuart: he will be the offensive catalyst on the defensive side of the puck. He picked up 10 assists in his first collegiate season.

If you read my article in the Concordiensis this week, you would know how important depth is going to be for the Dutchmen this season. They should be able to wear out, out work, and out score the Pioneers this weekend. This should be the beginning to a magical season for the Dutchmen.

Players to watch:

Adam Presizniuk: he is the returning leading scorer (13g-22a-35pts). Will he be able to produce without Walters and Mario on his line? Will he be able to handle the pressure of being the go to guy? We will find out.

Keith Kinkaid: I assume he will start at least one game this weekend. How does he respond to a team that lit him up for four goals in one period last season? How does he react to all of the hype directed to him? Will there be a sophomore slump? I think he'll react well.

John Simpson: he had a great opening weekend last season against Maine last season, but his production fell off a ton for the rest of the season. It's his final season in Schenectady and he needs to step up and score some goals.

Kelly Zajac: how will he react coming off of surgery in the off-season? He will definitely center one of the top two lines and will be looked upon to be a Top 3 scorer on the team.

Greg Coburn: he was arguably Union's best two-way defenseman last season. Can he keep it up in his sophomore year?

My predictions: Union wins Friday 5-1, Union wins Saturday 4-2.