Men's hockey looks to hand No. 11 Union its first ECAC loss

When the men's hockey team returns to play its first game at home since Nov. 21, it will be taking on the team ranked No. 11 in the country — the highest spot for any team in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

No, that team isn't St Lawrence — an NCAA semifinalist a year ago — or Clarkson, the 1998-99 ECAC champion.

Instead, it's tiny Union Col-lege that is enjoying its best season as a member of the ECAC. Union comes into the contest against the Tigers 6-1-2 overall and 3-0-1 in the ECAC after compiling a 12-50-3 overall record in the past two seasons.

In fact, the only poll in which Union came in at No. 11 in the preseason was the ECAC coaches' poll that ranked the Skating Dutchmen above only Brown in the 12-team league.

"Union always plays hard and has a great work ethic," senior captain and forward Kirk Lamb said. "Now they just have some better talent along with that hard work."

The Skating Dutchmen are led by junior goalie Brandon Snee, who is allowing an average of only 1.47 goals per league contest. Snee has been spectacular at times, averaging over 30 saves a game and buoying an offense that is in the bottom half of the ECAC.

"Brandon's a good goalie who's having a great season," said junior goalie Dave Stathos, who worked with Snee over the summer. "Getting drafted also gave him a big boost."

In fact, Snee was only the fifth Union player in history to be drafted by the NHL. The New York Rangers picked him in the fifth round last summer. Stathos, on the other hand, has had a less successful season sitting behind an inexperienced defense that has given up over 35 shots a game, including many from close range.

"We have to make sure to get rid of the rebounds and play a good team defense," Stathos said. "If we can do that we can get some wins."

Offensive power

While the strength of the Dutchmen lies deep in the defensive zone, their hard-working offense has been strong enough to win games this season. Forward Jeff Hutchins has six points so far in ECAC play and teammate Jeff Wilson has netted four goals.

Neither team looks for this to be a fast, offensively oriented game, however. The Tigers are instead focusing on drawing penalties on Union — the league leader in penalty minutes.

"If we can get a couple more power plays than we give up we can get the win," Lamb said. "That sort of thing makes the difference in a close game."

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When the final horn sounds Friday, the Tigers must change their entire mindset. Saturday's opponent, Rensselaer, relies on a high-octane offense led by Matt Murley and Marc Cavosie, who was recently named to the U.S. Junior National team.

With two exciting teams such as Princeton and R.P.I., the game looks to be a wide-open affair with both teams getting good chances to score. The Tigers refuse to alter their approach to the game depending on their opponents, however.

"We just have to prepare ourselves to play every week," Lamb said. "There isn't any one player that can beat us if we play good team defense."

R.P.I. — which was ranked fifth in the ECAC preseason coaches' poll — has struggled within the league, though, compiling a 1-2-1 record (6-3-1 overall). While the Engineers' offense has been strong, they have suffered from inexperience in goal as they are currently platooning freshmen Kevin Kurk and Nathan Marsters.

While the Tigers are hoping to come out of a weekend with four points for the first time this season, nothing is certain. In a league in which the buzzword is "parity," it is impossible to look past any team.

"There's never a night where you don't have to work hard for a win," Lamb said. "We know that we can knock off any team in the league, now we just have to do it."