Milan blanks UConn in Leaman's 100th win

As expected the Dutchmen spanked the Huskies 7-0. It was an all around effort with six different players scoring goals and 13 of the 18 skaters registering a point. It's nice to see Adam Presizniuk tally two goals, and hopefully this could be the game to get him out of his long scoring slump. It's also great to see Corey Milan get the shutout even though he was relatively untested. Also note that Union went 3-for-7 on the power-play, and captain Mike Wakita scored his first goal of the season. And a special congratulations to Coach Nate Leaman on his 100th career win. He has done a great job with this program with the small amount of resources he has and deserves a ton of credit. You can read summaries about the game on USCHO.com, UnionAthletics.com, and UConnHuskies.com.

The Dutchmen now turn their calenders to 2010 as they closed out 2009 with a 9-4-5 record and an undefeated record in ECAC play. Their first test of 2010 will be on Saturday against Army at West Point. I will be there sitting in Section 11, Row A just like I've been doing since I was five years old, but this time I'll be rooting for the visiting team.

In other ECAC news Princeton topped Cornell 3-2 in the consolation game of the Flordia College Classic, and RPI was demolished by Michigan State 6-1 in the championship game of the Great Lakes Invitational.

I hope everybody has a happy and a healthy New Year! Be sure to watch the NHL Winter Classic on New Years Day!

#15 UMass ends #18 Union's nine game unbeaten streak

Down 3-1 heading into the third period the Minutemen were able to score three goals to snatch victory away from the Dutchmen by the score of 4-3. Going into the game UMass was known for their third period play and proved it once again. They have now outscored their opponents 25-10 in the third period, and are 3-1 against ECAC opponents this season. This is an incredibly disappointing loss for Union considering they blew a two goal lead in the third period, and had a chance to prove to the nation that they can beat a Top 20 team. As noted in my game preview in order to stop UMass you needed to stop the nation's leading scorer James Marcou and Casey Wellman. The Dutchmen were unable to do this as Marcou registered three assists (including both of Wellman's goals), and Wellman tallied two goals (including the game-winner) and an assist. You can read recaps of the game on UnionAthletics.com and UMassAthletics.com. You can also read clips about the game on USCHO.com and TimesUnion.com.

After dropping this game the Dutchmen will play in the consolation game on Wednesday against host UConn (2-13-2) at 4pm. The Huskies dropped their opening game to Bentley 4-1. The Huskies are one of the worst teams in Division 1 College Hockey as they only have two wins, both of which game against AIC at their home rink early in the season. They haven't won since their last game against AIC on November 7th and are riding a nine game win-less streak. The Dutchmen should easily take care of the Huskies even though they only beat AIC by one goal and lost to Sacred Heart, another Atlantic Hockey team, in overtime. UConn's offense is led by freshman Sean Ambrosie (4g,5a) and junior Andrew Olson (6g,2a) who has four of his goals on the power-play. It will be interesting to see who Coach Leaman starts in goal against UConn considering the importance of the game. He could start Keith Kinkaid because you don't want to lose to a weak team since it would hurt you in the pair-wise rankings, or he could start Corey Milan or Rich 'Pudge' Sillery to give them some work. And once again I personally feel that Leaman should start 'Pudge' since he is a senior and deserves one start in his final collegiate season. If Sillery get the start and lets in a few early goals Leaman could always pull him just like he did against Army last season.

In other ECAC news Princeton came back to tie Maine 6-6, Harvard topped #8 Quinnipiac in a league game, #4 Cornell lost to #3 Colorado College 4-2, and RPI beat Michigan 4-3 in the opening game of the Great Lakes Invitational. Quinnipiac has fallen of late as after winning 12 of their first 13 games they have gone 1-3-1 with their only win coming against AIC.

Dutchmen open up UConn Toyota Classic against #15 Massachusetts

The last time the Dutchmen touched the ice was on December 11th when they beat the U.S. U-18 team 4-1 at Messa Rink in an exhibition match. Now 18 days later they head to Storrs, Connecticut to try and extend their nine game unbeaten streak in the UConn Toyota Classic. In order to extend the streak to 10 they have to face a very tough team in the #15 UMass-Amherst Minutemen (10-5-0, 6-4-0 Hockey East (4th Place)) on Tuesday. Depending on the outcome of the game they will play either host UConn or Bentley.

Here are some things to note heading into the game with the Minutemen:

• Union holds the second longest unbeaten streak in the nation (9)
• This is the first game the Dutchmen will face a ranked opponent since becoming ranked
• Coach Nate Leaman's next win will be his 100th
• Mario Valery-Trabucco leads Union's offensive attack with 10 goals and 11 assists. The Dutchmen are 5-1-2 when he scores a goal this season.
• Union goaltender Keith Kinkaid is 5-0-2 in his last seven games with a 2.08 GAA and a .921 save percentage. He faced RPI in his last start where he let up four goals. This was his weakest outing during his streak, which might have been due to fatigue. He should have plenty of rest heading into the tournament.
• The only Hockey East opponent the Dutchmen have faced this year is Maine. They faced the Black Bears in the opening weekend of the season where they took both games 4-1 and 6-3. Maine has improved since opening weekend and now sit in third place in Hockey East.
• UMass hold the advantage in the series with a 5-2-1 record against the Dutchmen. In their last meeting (11/25/07) the Minutemen won 5-2.
• UMass is a tremendous third period team as they have outscored their opponents 22-10 in the final frame.
• The Minutemen last played on December 12th where they beat Hockey East foe Merrimack 4-1 at the Mullins Center.
• UMass is 3-3-0 against ranked opponents this year with their wins coming against #2 Boston University (3-2, 10/16), #9 Yale (4-3(ot), 11/19), and #18 Vermont (6-2, 11/24). After winning their first three games against ranked opponents they lost the next three to #9 Quinnipiac (5-4 (ot), 11/28), #15 Boston College (3-1, 12/4), and #8 UMass-Lowell (5-3, 12/5).
• The Minutemen hold a 2-1 record over ECAC opponents this year with a 5-2 win over RPI (10/8), a 4-3 (0t) win over Yale (11/19), and a 5-4 (ot) loss against Quinnipiac.
• Junior James Marcou is one of the top forwards in the nation and leads the UMass offense. In 90 career games he has registered 105 points including his 32 assists last season which was a UMass single-season record. Last season as a sophomore Marcou was named a second team All-American. Marcou has kept up the pace this season as he leads the nation with 1.73 points per game and is a legitimate contender for the Hobey Baker award. His 26 points (5g, 21a in 15 games) is third most in the nation. He is only one point behind the nation's top scorers Cory Conacher (Canisus, 18 games) and Corey Tropp (Michigan State, 20 games). His 21 assists and 1.40 assists per game is tops in the country. Look for Marcou's speed and vision on the ice to standout.
• With Marcou setting up all these goals someone has to be the beneficiary. And the person reaping the benefits of Marcou's play is sophomore Casey Wellman. Wellman leads the Minutemen with 13 goals, seven power-play goals, and is second on the team with 22 points (13g, 9a). Of his 13 goals Marcou has assisted on 11 of them including all seven of his power-play goals. Wellman is tied for fourth in the nation in goals and power-play goals, sixth in points per game (1.47), and is 15th in points.
• Defenseman Justin Braun is also an offensive threat for UMass from the blueline. Braun, a 2008-09 Hockey East All-Conference selection and a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, is 13th in the nation in scoring with 13 points (3g, 10a).
• On the Minutemen power-play look out for defenseman Matthew Irwin who has scored four goals on the man advantage.
• In goal for the Minutemen is junior Paul Danton, who took over the starting job as a freshman when All-American Jon Quick graduated and went to the NHL where he is having a stellar season for the Los Angeles Kings. In 13 games (11 starts) Danton is 8-5 with a 2.61 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

The game will take place at 4pm at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. For more information on the Dutchmen and Minutemen check out UnionAthletics.com and UMassAthletics.com. You can also read the tournamnet preview on USCHO.com.