About Union
Union makes their first ever ECAC Hockey playoff appearance in 2023-24, preparing to take on #14/#14 Yale Saturday. The Garnet Chargers took Yale to overtime in the meeting between the two teams earlier this season in New Haven before the Bulldogs bested Union at Messa Rink earlier in February. First-Year Maddie Leaney scored two goals in the extra time loss in November, the second multi-goal game of her career and first in ECAC play.
About Yale
Yale, the defending ECAC Hockey regular season champions, prepare for postseason play in their fourth straight season of competition, looking to clinch a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. The Bulldogs’ 15 wins in the regular season were their lowest since 2018-19, but the Bulldogs have consistently seen their names in the national rankings all season long.
The Matchup
Yale swept the series during the regular season, defeating Union in overtime November 10th before picking up a victory in regulation February 3rd. Junior Sophie Matsoukas stopped 60 of the 65 shots she faced across the two contests, while first-year Maddie Leaney scored Union’s two goals.
Put On Your Dancing Shoes
The expansion of the 2024 ECAC Women’s Hockey Championships has paved the way for all 12 league teams to be provided a postseason opportunity for the first time in ECACH history. Union’s appearance in this year’s Championships marks the first playoff appearance in the program’s Division I history, with the Garnet Chargers set to accomplish a new milestone in their program’s history with Saturday’s Opening Round matchup at #14/#14 Yale.
Milestone Watch
The 2023-24 season has seen a handful of changes to the Union record book, and a number of players are on the cusp of setting new benchmarks. Sophomore Riley Walsh has done it twice, first setting a new feat by becoming the first player in Union’s DI history to have multiple 20-point seasons with her two assists in the win over Saint Michael’s on New Year’s Day before setting the program’s single-season Division I points record with her goal at Colgate for her 25th point tally of the year. Junior Sophie Matsoukas followed by setting the program’s new all-time wins record with the 21st of her career at #15 Penn State before surpassing 2,000 career saves in Union’s loss to Harvard January 31st, and senior Emily King tied the program’s all-time assists record of 37 on first-year Maddie Leaney’s goal in Union’s home contest February 2nd against Brown and is one power-play goal from equaling the program’s all-time record of 10.
Watch Out For Leaney
First Year Maddie Leaney added another notch to an exceptional start to her Union career February 1st, as the first-year was named to the Hockey Commissioners Association National Rookie of the Year Watch List, the HCA announced that afternoon. Leaney was one of 23 first-year NCAA players (nine from ECAC Hockey alone) tabbed to the list and made it consecutive years the program has seen their first two selections on the list after Riley Walsh was selected last year. At the time of her selection, Leaney was currently tied- with Walsh- for the team lead in goals with nine, and was second on the team in points (16) and tied for fourth in assists (seven).
On The National Stage
Head Coach Josh Sciba recently spent considerable time with the U.S. Women’s National Team for the 2023-24 Rivalry Series against Canada. Sciba, who is an Assistant Coach on Head Coach John Wroblewski’s staff, has served with the Women’s National Team since the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship after serving as an assistant for the 2018 Under-18 Series vs. Canada and the 2019 and 2020 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championships.
Maren For Mandi
Junior Maren Friday was nominated as the program’s representative for the prestigious Mandi Schwartz Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, ECAC Hockey announced February 7th. The Award, which is named in honor of the late Mandi Schwartz, a Yale women’s ice hockey alum who passed away in April 2011, honors the student-athlete in the league who best demonstrates excellence on the ice, in the classroom, and as a leader in the community. Friday, who was also nominated last year, has appeared in all 30 of Union’s games so far in 2023-24 while carrying a perfect 4.0 GPA as a mechanical engineering major. Friday has also spent countless hours giving back to the local youth hockey association and as a leader in team initiatives in support of cancer and cystic fibrosis research.
Bigger Than A Game
Union’s home contest against Dartmouth in January was Union’s annual “Pink The Rink” game. Union hosted a number of initiatives on the evening, as the program raised funds for the American Cancer Society in the battle against cancer. Union wore special edition pink jerseys for the game, and fans participating in a raffle had the opportunity to win a previous edition of the team’s pink jersey. The program also created special “I Skate For” placards for those in attendance to fill out to support those in the fight, and Union dedicated the game to Carolyn Jones, mother of junior Maya Jones, who is currently courageously battling breast cancer.
Union’s home game against St. Lawrence was the program’s Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Game. The initiative was spearheaded by junior goaltender Sophie Matsoukas, whose sister has Cystic Fibrosis, and sophomore goaltender Emily Evans, whose father, aunt, and two cousins have the disease. The program raised awareness about the lung and digestive tract disease, took donations for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and wore purple ribbon stickers on their helmets and used purple tape to support those in the fight against CF. The program also welcomed Matsoukas’s sister Zoe, who has cystic fibrosis, for a ceremonial puck drop.
Got Enough Hats?
Sophomore Riley Walsh and first-year Maddie Leaney each scored hat tricks against Holy Cross, with their third goals to cap off their accomplishments going down as the overtime game-winners. Walsh, who had the first hat trick, gave Union their first three-goal game in almost 10 years (Jessica Kaminsky on November 16th, 2013 at Yale), before Leaney’s achievement the next night gave Union hat tricks in consecutive games for the first time in program history. First-year Emma Fulawka scored a hat trick of her own Janaury 1st at Saint Michael’s, and the program has now had as many hat tricks this season as they had the previous 19 years combined.
Happy New Year!
Union began 2024 in a big way New Year’s Day, defeating Saint Michael’s by a score of 6-0 in a game where the milestones were aplenty for Union. The offense was led by first-year Emma Fulawka, who scored her first collegiate hat trick. Senior Kaitlyn Ehmann added her first collegiate goal, and first-year Megan Ognibene registered her first collegiate point. In Union’s net, Sophie Matsoukas scored her 20th career win, moving her into a tie for the program record. The six goals were the team’s most in 364 days, when they also notched six against Saint Michael’s January 2nd, 2023.
Union continued their ceremonious beginning to the new year with a victory in their next game, a 2-1 win over #15 Penn State. First-year Maddie Leaney’s winner 66 seconds into overtime gave the program their second ever victory over a ranked opponent, and the win matched the program’s longest winning and unbeaten streaks in program history.
Maddie’s Month
Following an impressive first month of her collegiate hockey career, first-year Maddie Leaney was honored as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month for the end of September/month of October. Leaney led all ECACH first-years with five goals and eight points through the first month plus, which was good for second and third, respectively, on the team. Leaney’s start to her time in garnet was highlighted by her three-goal performance that included the overtime winner October 7th against Holy Cross. The Maple Ridge, British Columbia native was also selected as a Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) runner-up for their National Rookie of the Month.
Let’s Get It Started In Here
Union kicked off their ECAC Hockey schedule in a big way, returning to Schenectady from their road trip with four and a half points, the most they’ve ever picked up on conference opening weekend. The Garnet Chargers defeated Harvard on Friday, 4-3, to win their ECAC Opener for the first time since 2017, on the backs of sophomore Amanda Quan, who picked up her first two points of the season on a goal and assist, and first-year Maddie Leaney, who recorded her second game-winner of the year with her first period power play goal. Senior Emily King’s third period goal on Saturday at Dartmouth would make it a 1-1 game, and the two teams would play to a tie of that score to finish off a successful weekend for the Garnet Chargers.
Season Of Firsts
Union has seen a number of players achieve their first collegiate milestones in 2023-24. First-years Kendal Davidson, Emma Fulawka, Maddie Leaney, Iliana Smith, and Megan Ognibene have all registered their first collegiate points, while Fulawka and Leaney have also registered their first collegiate goals and hat tricks. Sophomore Riley Walsh also got her first career hat trick, and first-year Monja Wagner notched her first win. Also getting their first goals this season are Davidson, Iliana Smith, Allison Smith, Kaitlyn Ehmann, and Ella Chiarelli.
It’s Her Honor
After scoring her first collegiate goal and picking up an assist in Union’s 5-2 home-opening victory over Robert Morris on 9/29, first-year Kendal Davidson was named the ECAC Hockey Defensive Player of the Week for the week ending on October 1, 2023. The award is Davidson’s first selection of her career. Davidson’s nomination makes her the first Garnet Charger to be named Defensive Player of the Week since d-partner Stephanie Bourque was tabbed October 4th, 2022.
First-year Maddie Leaney was honored the next week, as the first-year picked up ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors after her hat trick that included the overtime winner in that Saturday’s win over Holy Cross. The award is Leaney’s first selection of her career and Union’s first Rookie of the Week selection since now-sophomore Stephanie Bourque was selected this past January 5th.
Junior Sophie Matsoukas was the next Garnet Charger to pick up a weekly award, after Leaney also garnered ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month honors to wrap up October, being selected as the ECAC Hockey MAC Goaltending Goaltender of the Week December 12th. The selection followed Matsoukas’ 53-save weekend in Union’s weekend sweep of crosstown rival Rensselaer, her third career Goalie of the Week honor.
100/50 = 13
In Union’s 9/30 contest with Robert Morris, senior Emily King played in her 100th collegiate game. The captain celebrated the milestone in eloquent fashion, scoring a goal and going 20-29 from the faceoff dot in her landmark contest. King later picked up the 50th point of her career with an assist on first-year Maddie Leaney’s goal on 10/27 against Cornell.
Have A (Career) Night
Riley Walsh picked up where she left off after one of the best seasons in program histroy in 2022-23. After scoring Union’s first goal of the season for the second straight year in the season opener at St. Cloud State, the sophomore put a career-high four points off a goal and three assists in the home-opener against Robert Morris. Walsh also put up a team-high six shots and finished the game tied for a team-best a +2 rating.
Scouting the Bulldogs
While their sixth place finish in the ECAC Hockey standings was their lowest since 2018-19, Yale (15-13-1) is set to make their fourth consecutive appearance in the ECAC Women’s Hockey Championships, as Head Coach Mark Bolding has guided the Bulldogs to the postseason in each season of competition at the helm of the bench.
Wrapping up an up-and-down regular season that saw the Bulldogs score their least amount of wins in the Bolding era, Yale had arguably their best weekend against a pair of ranked opponents in the final weekend of the regular season, just in time to build some momentum for the playoffs. On Friday, two goals from Jordan Ray and 36 saves from goalie Pia Dukaric led the Bulldogs to a 3-1 upset of #4 Colgate before the Bulldogs battled #6 Cornell to the wire in a 2-1 defeat to the Big Red Saturday, when Elle Hartje tied for the program record for all-time points with the 164th of her career.
Hartje leads the way for the Bulldogs with 36 points on the seasom, 15 clear of Ray in second. While Hartje’s 11 goals are tied for the lowest single-season total of her career, the Detroit, Michigan’s native five game-winners are the most she’s registered in a single season and easily lead the team. Dukaric, the reigining All-ECAC First Team goalie, has provided strong play in Yale’s net in 2023-24, posting a .922 save percentage and 1.70 goals against average.
On Garnet Alert
2023-24 is set to be a year that provides many changes to the Garnet Chargers record books. Senior Emily King already has her fingerprints all over it, and will look to continue to rise up the ranks. Junior Sophie Matsoukas also sees her name in the books, and Sophomore Riley Walsh is set to enter her name in multiple categories.
Leading The Way
The winningest coach in Union Women’s Hockey program history, Josh Sciba, returns for his eighth season behind the Garnet Chargers bench in 2023-24. Union will look to build off their 11 wins from 2022-23, the most in the program’s Division 1 history.
Here To Assist
Joining Sciba behind the bench are Assistant Coaches Chris Ardito, Olivia Soares, and Lora Ardoin. Ardito commences his third season with the program in 2023- 24, while the current campaign with be Soares’s second with Union. Ardoin joins the staff for her first season with the program.
New Blood
For the third straight year, Sciba and his staff have brought in eight student-athletes as their recruiting class. The Class of 2027 traverses three countries, three Canadian provinces, and four states, and includes four forwards, three blueliners, and one goaltender.
O-Zone Experience
Union returns 19 players from a season ago, including their seven highest leading point scorers. Sophomore Riley Walsh tallied team-highs with 15 goals and 22 points in her first year at Union, good for third- and seventh-most in a single season in program history, while senior Emily King, who’s 41 points are good for 10th most in Union’s Division 1 era, returns for one last ride.
Anchoring the Blueline
Also apart of those 19 returnees are four blueliners that appeared in every game a season ago- Stephanie Bourque, Emma Hebert, Meredith Killian, and Allison Smith– and Union’s starting- and second-winningest all-time- goaltender, Sophie Matsoukas.
Charging Forward
Union’s teams will be playing with a new name this season, as the College rebranded to the Garnet Chargers in August. The Garnet Chargers nickname was selected from a field of over 400 names submitted, and references the school’s official color of over 150 years, Garnet, and Schenectady’s legacy as a hub for electrical innovation and invention. Union also added a new “U” logo as part of the rebrand.
Captaining the Ship
2022-23 Captain Emily King returns for her second season wearing the “C” for the Garnet Chargers, and her three Assistant Captains a season ago- Celeste Beaudoin, Meredith Killian, and Allison Smith– have all been elevated to Captain alongside her for 2023-24.
Shock Warning
Union was picked to finish 12th in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll after their finish in that position last year. The Garnet Chargers will look to build off their 11 wins from last season to surprise in 2023-24.
