2021–22 Union Dutchmen ice hockey season

The 2021–22 Union Dutchmen ice hockey season was the 81st season of play for the program and the 30th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Dutchmen represented Union College and played their home games at Achilles Center, and were coached by Rick Bennett, in his 10th season.

2021–22 Union Dutchmen
ice hockey season
Conference7th ECAC Hockey
Home iceAchilles Center
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall14–19–4
Conference9–11–2
Home8–6–2
Road5–13–1
Neutral1–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachRick Bennett (resigned)
John Ronan (interim)
Assistant coachesT. J. Manastersky
Captain(s)Josh Kosack
Alternate captain(s)Dylan Anhorn
Gabriel Seger
Union Dutchmen ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2022–23 »

Season

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After losing the entirety of their previous season to the COVID-19 pandemic, Union got a slow start to their season. Neither the offense nor the defense were effective during the first month of the season but, once November rolled around, the Dutchmen began to show some promise. Inconsistent play had the team floating in the middle of the ECAC Hockey standings and by the winter break the team well out of the running for the NCAA tournament.

On January 19, the Union administration received an allegation regarding the conduct of head coach Rick Bennett. He was placed on paid administrative leave the following day when an investigation began and assistant coach John Ronan took over day-to-day responsibilities.[1] Nine days later, after the investigation confirmed the allegation about 'coaching style and practices', Bennett resigned from his position.[2] At the same time, Ronan was confirmed as the interim head coach and would remain in that position until at least the end of the season.

There was a brief uptick in the team's play during the transition but the team flagged in February, slipping down into the bottom third of the conference. Union managed to win its final two regular season games which pushed the team up to 7th and enabled the club to have a home date for the first round of the conference tournament.

The strong play that had suddenly appeared at the end continued into the postseason and Union was dominant in their two wins over Princeton. The team appeared to have turned a corner under Ronan and gave Clarkson everything they had. Against the second-seeded Golden Knights, Murphy was under a wither barrage of shots but he kept his team in both games, allowing the Dutchmen to tie the score on four separate occasions and push both matches into overtime. While the Dutchmen didn't have the firepower to win either contest, the team acquitted themselves well after a very trying campaign.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Drew Blackmun Forward   United States Graduation (retired)
Taylor Brierly Defenseman   United States Transferred to (Wilkes)
Sean Harrison Forward   United States Graduation (retired)

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Cullen Ferguson Defenseman   Canada 20 Binbrook, ON
Collin Graf Forward   United States 19 Lincoln, MA
Michael Hodge Forward   Canada 21 Calgary, AB
Connor Murphy Goaltender   United States 23 Hudson Falls, NY; transfer from (Northeastern)
Josh Phillips Defenseman   United States 20 Getzville, NY
Tom Richter Forward   United States 21 Greenwich, CT
Andrew Seaman Forward   United States 21 Winnetka, IL
Joe Sharib Goaltender   United States 20 Natick, MA
Caden Villegas Forward   United States 20 Plano, TX

Roster

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As of September 25, 2021.[3]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1   Garrett Nieto Junior G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1998-05-15 Yorba Linda, California Janesville (NAHL)
2   Josh Phillips Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2001-05-24 Getzville, New York Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
4   Dylan Anhorn (A) Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1999-01-21 Calgary, Alberta Prince George (BCHL)
5   Nic Petruolo Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2000-01-29 Neshanic Station, New Jersey Green Bay (USHL)
6   Cullen Ferguson Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-02-16 Binbrook, Ontario Aberdeen (NAHL)
7   Brandon Estes Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-02-13 Richardson, Texas Youngstown (USHL)
8   Chaz Smedsrud Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-06-04 Luverne, Minnesota Madison (USHL)
9   Gleb Murtazin Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2000-10-26 Penza, Russia Amarillo (NAHL)
10   Ryan Sidorski Senior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1999-10-02 Williamsville, New York Buffalo (OJHL)
11   Gabriel Seger (A) Junior F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1999-11-15 Uppsala, Sweden Amarillo (NAHL)
12   Fletcher Fineman Senior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 197 lb (89 kg) 1999-02-17 Lake Worth, Florida Springfield (NAHL)
13   Tyler Watkins Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-12-19 Hermantown, Minnesota Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
14   Andrew Seaman Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2000-04-21 Winnetka, Illinois Prince George (BCHL)
15   Thomas Richter Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-06-06 Greenwich, Connecticut Penticton (BCHL)
16   Christian Sanda Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-03-13 Vadnais Heights, Minnesota Coquitlam (BCHL)
17   Matt Allen Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-03-14 Smithfield, Rhode Island Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)
18   Ville Immonen Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1999-06-18 Seinäjoki, Finland Minot (NAHL)
19   Liam Robertson Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2000-05-14 Courtice, Ontario Youngstown (USHL)
20   Collin Graf Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-09-21 Lincoln, Massachusetts Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)
21   Michael Ryan Senior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1997-01-19 Marion, Massachusetts West Kelowna (BCHL)
22   Bram Scheerer Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1999-06-03 Edina, Minnesota Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)
23   Trevor Adams Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1999-08-19 Muskegon, Michigan Chilliwack (BCHL)
24   Alex Cohen Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1998-06-15 Boca Raton, Florida Northeast (NAHL)
25   Owen Farris Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 2000-06-08 Dallas, Texas MUskegon (USHL)
26   Nathan Kelly Sophomore D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-11-22 South Delta, British Columbia Chilliwack (BCHL)
27   Josh Kosack (C) Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-06-25 Oakville, Ontario Green Bay (USHL)
28   Caden Villegas Freshman F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-02-19 Plano, Texas Tri-City (USHL)
29   Michael Hodge Freshman F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 157 lb (71 kg) 2000-05-30 Calgary, Alberta Fort McMurray (AJHL)
31   Connor Murphy Junior G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1998-09-01 Hudson Falls, New York Northeastern (HEA)
33   Merek Pipes Junior G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1998-11-12 Cobble Hill, British Columbia Swan Valley (MJHL)
35   Joe Sharib Freshman G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-08-16 Natick, Massachusetts Connecticut (NCDC)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#8 Quinnipiac 22 17 4 1 0 1 1 54 71 14 42 32 7 3 139 53
#17 Clarkson 22 14 4 4 0 2 3 51 86 47 37 21 10 6 123 85
#15 Harvard * 22 14 6 2 0 0 2 46 69 46 35 21 11 3 116 82
Cornell 22 12 6 4 2 1 0 39 73 47 32 18 10 4 100 72
Colgate 22 9 9 4 1 0 3 33 55 57 40 18 18 4 111 112
Rensselaer 22 10 12 0 0 0 0 30 58 63 44 18 23 3 114 119
Union 22 9 11 2 3 1 0 27 52 66 37 14 19 4 89 110
St. Lawrence 22 7 10 5 2 0 2 26 44 60 37 11 19 7 72 110
Brown 22 6 12 4 0 1 2 25 36 61 31 7 20 4 50 100
Princeton 22 7 14 1 0 1 0 23 54 89 31 8 21 2 70 122
Yale 22 7 14 1 3 1 1 21 38 60 30 8 21 1 55 90
Dartmouth 22 5 15 2 0 3 1 21 45 71 32 7 22 3 69 110
Championship: March 19, 2022
† indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 2 4:00 PM Rensselaer* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York (Exhibition)     L 2–5  0
Regular Season
October 8 7:00 PM at New Hampshire* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire   Murphy L 1–4  3,409 0–1–0
October 9 7:00 PM at New Hampshire* Whittemore CenterDurham, New Hampshire   Murphy L 2–3  3,273 0–2–0
October 15 7:00 PM Colorado College* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy W 2–1  1,435 1–2–0
October 16 7:00 PM Colorado College* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy T 3–3  0 1–2–1
October 22 7:00 PM at Lake Superior State* Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan   Murphy L 4–7  1,109 1–3–1
October 23 7:00 PM at Lake Superior State* Taffy Abel ArenaSault Ste. Marie, Michigan   Murphy L 2–5  965 1–4–1
October 29 7:00 PM Rensselaer Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy L 2–4  1,738 1–5–1 (0–1–0)
October 30 7:00 PM at Rensselaer Houston Field HouseTroy, New York   Murphy L 0–3  693 1–6–1 (0–2–0)
November 5 7:00 PM Clarkson Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy W 4–3 OT 1,691 2–6–1 (1–2–0)
November 6 7:00 PM St. Lawrence Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Nieto T 2–2 SOL 1,594 2–6–2 (1–2–1)
November 12 7:00 PM at #13 Cornell Lynah RinkIthaca, New York   Murphy L 1–4  2,411 2–7–2 (1–3–1)
November 13 7:00 PM at Colgate Class of 1965 ArenaHamilton, New York   Murphy W 2–0  528 3–7–2 (2–3–1)
November 27 4:00 PM at Merrimack* J. Thom Lawler RinkNorth Andover, Massachusetts   Murphy W 3–2  1,746 4–7–2
December 3 7:00 PM Princeton Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy W 1–0 OT 1,250 5–7–2 (3–3–1)
December 4 7:00 PM #4 Quinnipiac Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy L 0–4  1,723 5–8–2 (3–4–1)
December 10 7:30 PM at Maine* Alfond ArenaOrono, Maine   Murphy T 1–1  2,631 5–8–3
December 11 5:00 PM at Maine* Alfond ArenaOrono, Maine   Murphy L 3–4  3,065 5–9–3
January 8 7:00 PM at #19 Harvard Bright-Landry Hockey CenterBoston, Massachusetts   Murphy L 1–4  250 5–10–3 (3–5–1)
January 14 7:00 PM at St. Lawrence Appleton ArenaCanton, New York   Murphy W 3–2 OT 492 6–10–3 (4–5–1)
January 15 7:00 PM at Clarkson Cheel ArenaPotsdam, New York   Murphy L 2–8  2,336 6–11–3 (4–6–1)
January 21 7:00 PM Brown Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy W 3–1  1,493 7–11–3 (5–6–1)
January 22 7:00 PM Yale Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy L 2–3 OT 1,572 7–12–3 (5–7–1)
January 26 7:00 PM at Dartmouth Thompson ArenaHanover, New Hampshire   Murphy W 3–2  118 8–12–3 (6–7–1)
January 29 2:00 PM vs. Rensselaer* Times Union CenterAlbany, New York (Mayor's Cup)   Murphy W 2–0  4,222 9–12–3
February 1 7:00 PM Long Island* Times Union CenterAlbany, New York   Murphy L 1–4  1,252 9–13–3
February 4 7:00 PM at #2 Quinnipiac People's United CenterHamden, Connecticut   Murphy L 1–2  2,939 9–14–3 (6–8–1)
February 5 7:00 PM at Princeton Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey   Murphy W 7–3  1,256 10–14–3 (7–8–1)
February 11 7:00 PM Colgate Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy L 4–6  1,325 10–15–3 (7–9–1)
February 12 7:00 PM #16 Cornell Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy L 2–5  1,721 10–16–3 (7–10–1)
February 18 7:00 PM at Yale Ingalls RinkNew Haven, Connecticut   Murphy L 2–3  903 10–17–3 (7–11–1)
February 19 7:00 PM at Brown Meehan AuditoriumProvidence, Rhode Island   Murphy T 2–2 SOL 537 10–17–4 (7–11–2)
February 25 7:00 PM Harvard Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy W 5–3  1,551 11–17–4 (8–11–2)
February 26 7:00 PM Dartmouth Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York   Murphy W 3–2 OT 1,537 12–17–4 (9–11–2)
ECAC Hockey Tournament
March 4 7:00 PM Princeton* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York (First Round game 1)   Murphy W 3–2  1,473 13–17–4
March 5 7:00 PM Princeton* Achilles RinkSchenectady, New York (First Round game 2)   Murphy W 5–1  1,435 14–17–4
Union Won Series 2–0
March 11 7:00 PM at #17 Clarkson* Cheel ArenaPotsdam, New York (Quarterfinal game 1)   Murphy L 2–3 OT 1,847 14–18–4
March 12 7:00 PM at #17 Clarkson* Cheel ArenaPotsdam, New York (Quarterfinal game 2)   Murphy L 4–5 OT 2,077 14–19–4
Union Lost Series 0–2
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[4]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Brandon Estes D 37 7 22 29 10
Collin Graf C/RW 37 11 11 22 10
Gabriel Seger C/LW 34 7 14 21 21
Dylan Anhorn D 29 7 13 20 6
Liam Robertson C 35 13 6 19 18
Chaz Smedsrud LW 37 5 11 16 10
Tyler Watkins F 34 4 12 16 4
Josh Kosack RW 37 8 6 14 12
Michael Hodge F 34 5 5 10 12
Cullen Ferguson D 37 0 10 10 22
Owen Farris F 22 3 5 8 12
Caden Villegas F 32 3 5 8 10
Matthew Allen C 25 2 5 7 6
Christian Sanda F 24 3 3 6 25
Ville Immonen C 37 3 3 6 12
Nicolas Petruolo D 27 1 5 6 26
Andrew Seaman F 23 3 2 5 4
Gleb Murtazin RW 16 2 1 3 12
Bram Scheerer LW 8 0 3 3 25
Nathan Kelly D 32 0 3 3 6
Ryan Sidorski D 35 0 3 3 22
Trevor Adams F 13 0 2 2 4
Tom Richter F 11 1 0 1 0
Michael Ryan D 16 1 0 1 0
Joe Sharib G 1 0 0 0 0
Alex Cohen C 3 0 0 0 2
Garrett Nieto G 3 0 0 0 0
Josh Phillips D 12 0 0 0 10
Fletcher Fineman D 14 0 0 0 0
Connor Murphy G 37 0 0 0 4
Bench - - - - - 4
Total 89 150 239 309

[5]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Joe Sharib 1 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0.00
Connor Murphy 37 2123 14 18 3 94 1060 3 .919 2.66
Garrett Nieto 3 115 0 1 1 8 42 0 .840 4.18
Empty Net - 22 - - - 8 - - - -
Total 37 2268 14 19 4 110 1103 3 .903 2.91

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[6]

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Josh Kosack ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year [7]
Brandon Estes ECAC Hockey Third Team [8]

References

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  1. ^ "Report: Union men's hockey coach Bennett being investigated after allegation, placed on paid administrative leave". USCHO. January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  2. ^ "Union men's hockey coach Bennett steps down after 'an allegation about his coaching style and practices that was substantiated through an investigation by the college'". USCHO. January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  3. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Union College. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Union 2021-22 Team Schedule". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "Union College 2021-2022 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  6. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. ^ "Josh Kosack Named 2022 Student-Athlete of the Year". ECAC Hockey. March 17, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "ECAC Hockey Announces 2022 Third-Team All-League". ECAC Hockey. March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.