Union Women's Hockey returns home against #8 St. Cloud State University

AT HOME:The Union College women's hockey team returns home after three weeks on the road to face #8 St. Cloud State University Huskies in a non-conference weekend series. The Puck drop is Friday evening at 6:00 PM and Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM.

LAST WEEKEND:Union skated to a 3-2 victory against crosstown rival Resselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers on Tuesday morning during the ECAC Conference. Sophomore Mikayla Blomquist opened the scoring 2:54 into the first period, with Union scoring her second goal of her career, followed shortly by senior Maren Friday fourth of the season goal six minutes later. Paige Greco called game 1:21 left in overtime with the help of senior Ashley Adams. Sophomore Emma Fulawkajuniors Stephanie Bourque And Mallory Mauracher also recorded one assist each as a senior goaltender Sophie Matsoukas made 19 saves in the win.

ABOUT THE HUSKIES:#8 St. Cloud split against #3 Minnesota last weekend, suffering a 5-2 loss on Friday night before winning 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, Abby Promersberg and Ally Qualley scored for the Huskies. On Saturday, Promersberger scored her second goal of the weekend, while Brieja Parent and Avery Farrell also scored in the win. Freshman goaltender Emilia Kyrkko and graduate goaltender Sanni Ahola split the weekend, with Kyrkko stopping 29 shots Friday night and Ahola making 38 saves in Saturday's win.

GRECO'S GOAL: Senior Paige Greco scored her first career game-winning goal in overtime against the RPI Engineers on Tuesday. Greco has impressed as a first-line center and has two goals and five assists for seven points in 15 games played this season. In four collegiate seasons, Greco has registered 10 goals and 14 goals for 24 points in 113 games played.

BLOMQUIST BURIED: Sophomore Mikayla Blomquist opened the scoring against RPI on Tuesday morning, scoring her second career goal. Blomquist also opened the scoring at Colgate on November 2, recording her first career goal. The transfer from Boston University has scored two goals and one assist in fifteen games played this season.

TGIF (TOP GOAL SCORER IS FRIDAY): Senior Maren Friday scored her 16th career goal in the 3-2 win over the Engineers. Currently, Friday is the all-time leading scorer among all blueliners in D1 program history, breaking a tie with Cheyenne Harris '20 and Megan Ryan '20 to score her 13th career goal on September 27 at Robert Morris. Through 113 career games, Friday has recorded 16 goals and 25 assists for 41 points, which ranks third in career points among defensemen, behind only Harris (49 points) and Alex Tancrell-Fontaine '15 (42 points).

UNKNOWN AREA: With the win over Cornell on Nov. 1, Union improved to 3-0-0 in ECAC Hockey play for the first time in program history and also won three straight conference games for the first time as a Division I program. The team's previous best conference start came in 2017-18, when the team started with three wins in its first six ECAC hockey games.

TOP 10 TRIUMPH: The win over #9 Cornell marked the first time Union had ever defeated a team ranked in the top-10 nationally. The Garnet Chargers have now defeated a nationally ranked team in three straight seasons, following last year's 2-1 (OT) win over #15 Penn State and a 4-1 victory over #15 Princeton on December 3, 2022. Includes Past weekend, Union is in the midst of a stretch that features 10 of 14 opponents in the current national rankings.

BACK-TO-BACK PROFIT: Freshman Jill Willis scored the winning goal for the second straight game in the Nov. 1 3-2 win against Cornell University. Willis first scored the winning goal with four minutes remaining against Dartmouth College on October 26. With her two match winners, the freshman is already tied for sixth place on the school's GWG single-season list.

SOPHIE'S EXCLUSIONS: Senior goalkeeper Sophie Matsoukas recorded her fifth career shutout by stopping all 24 shots she faced in a win over Harvard on October 25. She is one shutout away from tying Shenae Lundberg '15's record of six.

BOURQUE'S BRILLIANCE: Junior Stephanie Bourque The match was tied six minutes into the third period against Dartmouth after overcoming a 1-0 two-period deficit on October 26. The goal marks the second time this season that Bourque has tied a game in the third period. Bouque scored with two minutes left on October 5 against RIT to overcome a 3–2 deficit and send the game to overtime. Bourque currently has four goals and five assists for 9 points in 12 games played this season.

LEANEY PIPES: After scoring two goals on Oct. 12 against Penn State, a sophomore Maddie Leaney became Union's active goalscorer, moving to 14th all-time in goals scored (15). Leaney has graduated as a senior Maren Fridaywho recorded her 14th career goal against Robert Morris on September 27.

ADD TO HER TOTAL:Every win for senior netminder Sophie Matsoukas this season, she extends her own program career record after setting the program standard with her 21st win in 2023-2024. She also moved into second all-time in career saves against RIT with 2,229 stops, behind only Shenae Lundberg '15 and her 3,023 career saves.

GO STREAKING: Senior Emma Hebert enters the weekend having played in all 115 games during her Union career. Junior Stephanie Bourque (81 games) and sophomores Maddie Leaney (47 games) are also currently in multi-year games, having played every game in their three- and two-year careers respectively.

CAREER FIRST:Freshman Karianne Engelbert and Klara Kenttala both earned their first collegiate points in the season-opening weekend at Robert Morris, with Kenttälä earning the primary assist on Engelbert's first period in the September 28 4-2 victory. Charged Up Power Play Union went 4-for-9 on the power play against Robert Morris to start the season, led by two player-advantage goals from Maren Friday and one of each Karianne Engelbert And Stephanie Bourque. The three power-play goals against RMU are the most for the team in a game since scoring a program-record four in a 6-1 win over St. Michael's on Jan. 2, 2023.

OH CAPTAINS, OUR CAPTAINS: Senior blueliners Maren Friday And Emma Hebert will wear the “C” on Union's jersey this season, the first season with a letter for both players. Senior Sophie Matsoukasjunior Stephanie Bourque and sophomores Megan Ognibene will wear the “A” this season as assistant captains for the Garnet Chargers.

ANCHORING THE BLUELINE:Union brings back four top-six defenders from last season. Seniors Maren Friday And Emma Hebert and junior Stephanie Bourque played in all 35 games last season while serving as runner-up Kendal Davidson played in 33 games. Sophomore also brings a year of collegiate experience after playing in 36 of 39 games for the University of Minnesota Duluth last season.

SOMEONE TO LEAN ON:Sophomore Maddie Leaney will look for more success after recording one of the most productive rookie seasons in program history in 2023-24, scoring 12 goals with seven assists for 19 points while playing in all 35 games as a freshman. Her 12 goals ranked third on the school's rookie goals list (and second in the D-I era), while her 19 points were seventh-best all-time and third among D-I players at the school. Her 12 goals and three game-winning goals both ranked fourth all-time in the program's Division I record books.

NEW BLOOD: Union welcomes six first-year players and four transfers to the program for the 2024-2025 school year. Comprised of student-athletes from three countries, two provinces and five states, the class includes five forwards, four blueliners and one goaltender, all of whom will look to make an immediate impact on the program. This year's class is the largest incoming class for the program since 2017.

A NEW LEADER: Tony Maci was named the fifth head coach in Union women's hockey history on July 31 and will begin his first season behind the bench with the Garnet Chargers in 2024-2025. Maci comes to Union from Clarkson University and spent the past eight years as a top assistant for Matt Desrosiers. During his stay in Potsdam, the Golden Knights became a perennial title contender. They won two Division I national championships in 2017 and 2018, reached four Frozen Fours and made the NCAA tournament seven times. He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2005 and got his coaching start at Division III Adrian College for three years before starting one season at Princeton University.

HERE TO HELP: Maci also includes a completely new group of assistant coaches. Shawn Skelly spent the past six years as the head women's hockey coach at Division III Adrian College, where he led the Bulldogs to a 140-22-7 record, a pair of Frozen Four appearances and four NCAA Tournament berths in five years. Tina Ciraulo worked with the USPHL's Metro Jets since 2020, including leading the Metro Jr. Jets girls program, and was the first woman to win a junior hockey game as a head coach. Courtney Hall played four years at St. Cloud State University from 2019-23 and spent her senior year at Robert Morris University in 2023-24, while also working at the U18 National Women's Development Camp, as well as the Detroit Little Caesars and Selects Hockey.

PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS:Union will surprise the ECAC hockey landscape as head coach Tony Maci's first season, when the Garnet Chargers were picked to finish 12th in the ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll. The team earned 12 points, finishing five points behind Dartmouth College in 11th place and nine points behind Harvard University in 10th.

FAREWELL FROM MESSA RINK: Farewell to Messa Rink The 2024-25 season will be the final season for Union men's and women's hockey at Messa Rink at Achilles Center as the team prepares to move to the brand new Mohawk Harbor Event Center across the street from campus for 2025 -26 season.

VOTE FOR ALL MESSA RINK FAN: Throughout the season, Union fans can cast their votes for the best players in Union women's hockey history (both Division I and III) at all home games this season or by voting online at UnionAthletics.com/AllMessaTeams. The All-Messa Teams will be announced and recognized at the team's annual Alumnae Day on Saturday, February 8.