Union men's and women's hockey have 2021-22 schedules

Apr. 12—Shares0FacebookTweetEmail

SCHENECTADY — Union men's hockey coach Rick Bennett watched UMass win the national championship on Saturday with great interest, of course.

And it wasn't just natural curiosity.

You could call it a preliminary scout.

After the Union men's and women's hockey teams had their 2020-21 season canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two programs have a full schedule to look forward to in 2021-22. Now that all the necessary confirmations are in place, the schedules were finalized recently and released on Monday.

The Dutchmen will open Oct. 8-9 with games at New Hampshire, and the Dutchwomen are scheduled to start on Oct. 1-2, at RIT. Among the non-conference opponents for the Union men will be the defending national champion UMass at Messa Rink on Dec. 31, New Year's Eve, and Jan. 1, New Year's Day.

A new twist for the women's program is that the annual Mayor's Cup game against RPI at the Times Union Center will now be a non-conference game with just the trophy on the line, as the teams will play their home-and-home ECAC Hockey set early in the season, like the men do. Previously, the women's Mayor's Cup was included as part of the two-game ECACH series, with no third game.

The Minutemen are coming off the first national championship in program history, on a 5-0 win over St. Cloud State in Pittsburgh.

"Really happy for [associated head coach] Ben Barr, [head coach] Greg Carvel and all the staff," Bennett said. "I thought they had all bases covered, and I mean goaltending, defense and forward. I thought it was one of the best teams, if not the best team, that we played two years ago. So to sit here and say I'm in shock, I'm not, but it was really impressive."

UMass swept Union, 6-1 and 5-0, during the 2019-20 season, and 5-4 and 2-1 during the 2018-19 season.

Union will also bring Colorado College to Messa Rink on Oct. 15-16, which will serve as a homecoming for Kris Mayotte, the Dutchmen's starting goalie from 2002-06. He was named Colorado College's new head coach last week.

Besides the Mayor's Cup on Jan. 29, the Dutchmen will play their ECACH series against RPI on Oct. 29-30.

"It's just exciting, to know that all our intentions are to play, to move forward," Bennett said. "It's been really nice to see the spring sports play here on campus. So a lot of positive moments going on.

"For the non-conference games, those have been set for over half a year, so it was basically confirming, and everything's confirmed. It's nice to play some teams that made the tournament, and for those others that did not, it's always a challenge."

"It's funny, we've been talking as a staff, and I think our girls are just so motivated that we said, 'Hey, we're probably going to take a penalty in the first five minutes, we're going to be so engaged,'" Union women's coach Josh Sciba said. "Just to be able to compete and being able to have a definitive schedule is so motivating for them, in a year that's been filled, for athletes everywhere, so many limitations.

"So, yeah, we'll probably take a penalty in the first five minutes, but it'll be worth it, for sure."

Sciba said making the Mayor's Cup a non-conference game and separate from the ECACH home-and-home has been in the works for a few years now.

They'll play it as a double-header with the men's game, and the women's ECACH series will also coincide with the men's schedule.

"Now, coming off COVID and making sure of budgets and stuff like that and having a team across town that we play in the Mayor's Cup for a non-conference game, it makes a lot of sense, rather than using that game for another two-hour or overnight trip," Sciba said.

"Certainly, to have something out there that we're oging to be able to play, I'll tell you, it's been a long time waiting to get this opportunity to go ahead to play next fall. Our kids are tremendously excited and hungry to get back on the ice and compete. It's more motivating that we have some proof that there's a full schedule."

The ECACH men's tournament first round will take place March 4-6, the quarterfinals will be March 11-13 and the semifinals and championship game will be held in Lake Placid March 18-19.

The women's tournament does not have a first round. The quarterfinals are scheduled for February 25-27, followed by the semifinals on March 5 and the championship on March 6.

MEN'S REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE

OCTOBER

8 — at New Hampshire; 9 — at New Hampshire; 15 — COLORADO COLLEGE; 16 — COLORADO COLLEGE; 22 — at Lake Superior State; 23 — at Lake Superior State; 29 — RPI; 30 — at RPI.

NOVEMBER

5 — CLARKSON; 6 — ST. LAWRENCE; 12 at Cornell; 13 — at Colgate; 27 — at Merrimack.

DECEMBER

3 — PRINCETON; 4 — QUINNIPIAC; 10 — at Maine; 11 — at Maine; 31 — UMASS.

JANUARY

1 — UMASS; 7 — at Dartmouth; 8 — at Harvard; 14 — at St. Lawrence; 15 — at Clarkson; 21 — BROWN; 22 — YALE; 29 — vs. RPI (Mayor's Cup).

FEBRUARY

4 — at Quinnipiac; 5 — at Princeton; 11 — COLGATE; 12 — CORNELL; 18 — at Yale; 19 — at Brown; 25 — HARVARD; 26 — DARTMOUTH.

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WOMEN'S REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE

OCTOBER

1 — at RIT; 2 — at RIT; 8 — RPI, 6; 9 — at RPI, 3; 12 — at Syracuse, 6; 15 — ROBERT MORRIS, 3; 16 — ROBERT MORRIS, 3; 22 — PROVIDENCE, 6; 23 — BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 6; — 29 — CLARKSON, 3; 30 — ST. LAWRENCE, 3

NOVEMBER

5 — at Quinnipiac, 6; 6 — at Princeton, 3; 12 — CORNELL, 6; 13 — COLGATE, 3; 26 — NEW HAMPSHIRE, 6; 27 — NEW HAMPSHIRE, 3.

DECEMBER

3 — at Harvard, 6; 4 — at Dartmouth, 3; 10 — FRANKLIN PIERCE, 6; 11 — FRANKLIN PIERCE, 3.

JANUARY

7 — at Yale, 6; 8 — at Brown, 3; 14 — PRINCETON, 6; 15 — QUINNIPIAC, 3; 21 — at St. Lawrence, 6; 22 — at Clarkson, 3; 29 — vs. RPI (Mayor's Cup), 3.

FEBRUARY

4 — BROWN, 6; 5 — YALE, 3; 11 — at Colgate, 6; 12 — at Cornell, 3; 18 — DARTMOUTH, 6; 19 — HARVARD, 3.

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