Union opens up ECAC play at Harvard and Dartmouth

Union hits the road this weekend to begin ECAC play at Harvard and Dartmouth. This is when the important games begin because the easiest way to make the NCAA tournament is to win your conference. Recently, the Dutchmen have not been good in ECAC openers. They have not begun ECAC play with a win since a 6-5 win against St. Lawrence on Nov. 5, 2004. Over this period Union has gone 0-3-2.

Let's take a look at the Crimson and Big Green:

Harvard
Last season they finished 10th in the ECAC going 7-12-3 in league play and 9-21-3 overall. But, they swept the Dutchmen in 2009-10. In the first game the Crimson won 4-1 behind 47 saves from Ryan Carroll. It was a one-goal game before Harvard scored to empty-netters late in the game. The second game took place at Harvard where the Crimson jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Dutchmen scored three goals in the last 5:30 to make it a one-goal game. Union was unable to tie the game. This season's game will be Harvard's home/season opener.

Sophomore Danny Biega

Harvard lost their leading scorer from last season, freshman Louis Leblanc, to the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. This will be a big hit to them since he was definitely their best player on the ice.

Players to Watch:

Conor Morrison: as a freshman was second on the team with 10 goals.

Michael Biega: the senior led the Crimson with 15 assists last season.

Daniel Moriarty: only scored six goals last season, but four them came on the power-play.

Danny Biega: was the youngest of the three Biega brothers on the team last season, and led all Crimson defensemen with five goals. He has a very bright future ahead of him.

Prediction: Union 4, Harvard 1

Dartmouth
Finished 9th in the ECAC last season (7-12-3) and 10-19-3 overall. They played Quinnipiac very tough in a three-game series in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. The Big Green and the Dutchmen were very well matched last season. Dartmouth took the first game at Union 3-1, but the Dutchmen won at Dartmouth with a come-from-behind 5-4 win. In the game, Darmouth went up 4-0 after one period where Keith Kinkaid made only one save. But, Union scored three goals in the second, and two in the third including Kyle Bodie's game-winner with 2:45 left in regulation. Corey Milan made 14 saves in relief, and James Mello made 38 saves for Dartmouth. The Big Green opened up their schedule last weekend at the Ivy Shootout where they beat Princeton 2-1, but fell to Yale 7-3.

I picked Dartmouth as my sleeper team this season. The main reason being that they return their top seven scorers and ten out of their top 11 scorers. I actually picked them to finish in 3rd place, ahead of Union. Also, they showed a lot of promise towards the end of the 2009-2010 regular season. The ECAC Coaches and Media picked them to finish sixth in the conference.

Players to Watch:

Senior Scott Fleming

Scott Fleming: the senior led the team with 22 goals (10 PPG) and 39 points last season. He should be up for First Team All-ECAC at the end of the season

Adam Estoclet: Fleming's partner in crime who led the team with 24 assists and was second with 36 points. I picked him as a pre-season All-ECAC selection.

Evan Stephens: led all Big Green defenders with six goals, 14 assists, and 20 points last season. The Coaches picked him as a pre-season All-ECAC selection.

James Mello: split time in between the pipes with Jody O'Neill last season. He played in both games against Union in 2009-10 where he made a combined 77 saves.

Prediciton: Union 3, Dartmouth 3... picking ties is weird (haha).

Union
The Dutchmen come off of two 3-3 ties against Connecticut and RPI. While it wasn't an awful week, it was not the way they wanted to head into league play, especially the tie against UConn. The Dutchmen have been able to jump ahead early in the game, but have allowed their opponents to jump back in the game this season. Let's see if they can change this around this weekend.

Sophomore Keith Kinkaid

Players to Watch:

Keith Kinkaid: he had an awful game in his last outing at Dartmouth. Let's see if the second time around is a better performance.

Mat Bodie: the freshman has had some difficult growing pains of late, but came up big late in the game against RPI. Maybe he'll get out his funk during ECAC play.

Stephane Boileau: "The Professor" has been playing on the top line with Kelly Zajac and Adam Presizniuk lately. Let's see if he'll be able to produce and create chemistry with these guys.

For more about the game with Harvard and Dartmouth check out Union Athletics.com.