2023–24 Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey season

2023–24 Union Garnet Chargers
men's ice hockey season
Conference6th ECAC Hockey
Home iceAchilles Center
Rankings
USCHONR
USA HockeyNR
Record
Overall16–18–3
Conference9–10–3
Home8–8–1
Road7–10–2
Neutral1–0–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachJosh Hauge
Assistant coachesJohn Ronan
Lennie Childs
Bryan McDonald
Captain(s)Ben Tupker
Alternate captain(s)Chaz Smedsrud
Tyler Watkins
Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey seasons
« 2022–23 2024–25 »

The 2023–24 Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey season was the 83rd season of play for the program, the 32nd at the Division I level and the 32nd in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Garnet Chargers represented Union College, played their home games at Achilles Center and were coached by Josh Hauge in his 2nd season.

Season

Prior to the season, Union College announced that they had changed the moniker for their athletic teams from "Dutchmen / Dutchwomen" to "Garnet Chargers."[1] Garnet has been the school's official color for 150 years, and the name "chargers" is a reference to "Schenectady’s legacy as a leader in electrical technologies."[2]

Once the season began, Union found itself in a fortunate position as eight of its top nine scorers from '23 had returned. That solid foundation helped the team's offense flourish and average nearly a full goal more per game then they had the year before. The attack was led by defenseman John Prokop, who became the first blueliner in program history to lead the team in scoring twice.[3] The bright sport on offense was the power play, which converted on 21.2% of the teams chances. However, while Union ended the season with the #3 offense in ECAC Hockey, they also had the second-worst defense. While the Chargers allowed less than 30 shots against per game, slightly below what they managed to generate, Kyle Chauvette's first year as the starting goaltender was not something to write home about. The sophomore was inconsistent throughout the season, alternating very poor stretches with solid goaltending.

The result of being pulled in opposite directions was that Union hovered around the even mark all season. Though the team was able to string wins together, every streak was countered by a lull and by season's end the team sat one game under .500. While the team had no chance for an NCAA tournament berth without a conference title, they at least began their postseason chase with a home stand. In one of their best games of the season, the Garnet Chargers rolled over Brown 6–0 and ended up with two short-handed goals in the game. In the quarterfinals, it was the team's power play that let them down. Union went 1 for 8 in the two games with Caden Villegas providing the only real offense in the series. The two losses ended Union's season and ensure the team a losing record for the fourth straight campaign.

Departures

Player Position Nationality Cause
Trevor Adams Forward  United States Left program (retired)
Matt Allen Forward  United States Graduate transfer to (Stonehill)
Owen Farris Forward  United States Graduation (retired)
Michael Hodge Forward  Canada Transferred to (Holy Cross)
Greg Japchen Defenseman  United States Transferred to (Stonehill)
Connor Murphy Goaltender  United States Graduation (signed with Calgary Wranglers)
Nick Petruolo Defenseman  United States Transferred to (Holy Cross)
Merek Pipes Goaltender  Canada Graduation (retired)
Christian Sanda Forward  United States Graduation (retired)
Bram Scheerer Forward  United States Left program (retired)
Andrew Seaman Defenseman  United States Left program (retired)
Mason Snell Defenseman  Canada Graduation (retired)
Chris Théodore Forward  Canada Graduate transfer to (Vermont)

Recruiting

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Brandon Buhr Forward  Canada 21 Burnaby, BC; transfer from Clarkson
D. J. Hart Defenseman  United States 21 Stamford, CT
Jacob Jeannette Forward  United States 20 Duluth, MN
Cole Kodsi Forward  United States 23 Boca Raton, FL; transfer from Bentley
Joe Messina Defenseman  Canada 21 Woodbridge, ON
Eli Pilosof Forward  Canada 21 Toronto, ON
Joey Potter Defenseman  United States 20 Los Angeles, CA
Aksel Reid Goaltender  United States 20 Minneapolis, MN

Roster

As of August 2, 2023.[4]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2 Connecticut D. J. Hart Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2002-02-23 Stamford, Connecticut Lincoln (USHL) —
3 Georgia (U.S. state) Cal Mell Sophomore D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2011-01-30 Alpharetta, Georgia Janesville (NAHL) —
4 New York (state) Josh Phillips Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2001-05-24 Getzville, New York Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL) —
5 Pennsylvania Joey Potter Freshman D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-05-09 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Fairbanks (NAHL) —
6 Ontario Cullen Ferguson Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-02-16 Binbrook, Ontario Aberdeen (NAHL) —
7 North Carolina Nick Young Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2001-09-12 Raleigh, North Carolina St. Cloud (NAHL) —
8 Minnesota Chaz Smedsrud (A) Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-06-04 Luverne, Minnesota Madison (USHL) —
9 Connecticut Thomas Richter Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-06-06 Greenwich, Connecticut Penticton (BCHL) —
10 Minnesota Ethan Benz Sophomore F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2001-03-29 Shakopee, Minnesota St. Cloud (NAHL) —
11 Prince Edward Island Colby MacArthur Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-11-02 Summerside, Prince Edward Island Summerside (MHL) —
12 Michigan Carter Korpi Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-07-28 South Lyon, Michigan Wichita Falls (NAHL) —
13 Minnesota Tyler Watkins (A) Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-12-19 Hermantown, Minnesota Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL) —
14 British Columbia Brandon Buhr Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2002-07-07 North Vancouver, British Columbia Alberni Valley (BCHL) —
15 Ontario Josh Nixon Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2000-05-09 Mississauga, Ontario Lake Superior State (CCHA) —
17 Florida Cole Kodsi Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-06-17 Delray Beach, Florida Bentley (AHA) —
18 Finland Ville Immonen Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1999-06-18 Seinäjoki, Finland Minot (NAHL) —
19 Ontario Liam Robertson Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2000-05-14 Courtice, Ontario Youngstown (USHL) —
20 Ontario Eli Pilosof Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-06-10 Toronto, Ontario Pickering (OJHL) —
21 Wisconsin John Prokop Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-05-13 Wausau, Wisconsin Des Moines (USHL) —
22 Minnesota Jacob Jeannette Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2002-12-13 Duluth, Minnesota Tri-City (USHL) —
23 Ontario Joseph Messina Freshman D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-02-01 Woodbridge, Ontario Langley (BCHL) —
24 New York (state) Nate Hanley Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-05-30 Rocky Point, New York Cedar Rapids (USHL) —
26 British Columbia Nathan Kelly Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-11-22 South Delta, British Columbia Chilliwack (BCHL) —
27 Ontario Ben Tupker (C) Senior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1999-12-23 Collingwood, Ontario Cornell (ECAC) —
28 Texas Caden Villegas Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 167 lb (76 kg) 2001-02-19 Plano, Texas Tri-City (USHL) —
30 Minnesota Aksel Reid Freshman G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-08-05 Minneapolis, Minnesota Springfield (NAHL) —
35 Massachusetts Joe Sharib Junior G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2001-08-16 Natick, Massachusetts Connecticut (NCDC) —
36 New Hampshire Kyle Chauvette Sophomore G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2001-10-05 Goffstown, New Hampshire Youngstown (USHL) —

Standings

2023–24 ECAC Hockey Standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#6 Quinnipiac † 22 17 4 1 0 2 0 54 99 39 39 27 10 2 160 79
#9 Cornell * 22 12 6 4 1 2 3 44 74 45 35 22 7 6 115 65
Colgate 22 13 7 2 2 2 2 43 85 68 36 16 16 4 120 112
Dartmouth 22 9 6 7 1 1 3 37 66 60 32 13 10 9 92 91
Clarkson 22 12 9 1 4 2 1 36 62 58 35 18 16 1 95 97
Union 22 9 10 3 1 1 2 32 75 75 37 16 18 3 123 121
St. Lawrence 22 8 10 4 1 1 1 29 49 64 39 14 19 6 90 118
Harvard 22 6 10 6 1 2 3 28 49 64 32 7 19 6 70 106
Princeton 22 8 11 3 4 0 2 25 70 90 30 10 16 4 89 114
Yale 22 7 13 2 1 2 1 25 46 57 30 10 18 2 63 91
Brown 22 6 14 2 2 3 1 22 43 69 30 8 19 3 61 98
Rensselaer 22 6 13 3 0 0 0 21 58 89 37 10 23 4 93 150
Championship: March 23, 2024
† indicates conference regular season champion (Cleary Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Whitelaw Cup)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 7 3:00 pm at Rensselaer* Houston Field House • Troy, New York (Exhibition) ESPN+   T 2–2 SOL  
Regular Season
October 8 7:00 pm at Army* Tate Rink • West Point, New York FloHockey Chauvette W 6–0  2,033 1–0–0
October 13 9:00 pm at Colorado College* Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado SOCO CW Chauvette L 3–7  3,607 1–1–0
October 14 7:00 pm at Colorado College* Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado   Chauvette L 2–6  3,611 1–2–0
October 20 7:00 pm Connecticut* Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 4–1  2,100 2–2–0
October 21 4:00 pm Connecticut* Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 0–5  1,821 2–3–0
November 3 7:00 pm Rensselaer Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York (Rivalry) ESPN+ Reid L 6–8  1,979 2–4–0 (0–1–0)
November 4 7:00 pm at Rensselaer Houston Field House • Troy, New York (Rivalry) ESPN+ Chauvette W 5–1  3,250 3–4–0 (1–1–0)
November 10 7:00 pm at St. Lawrence Appleton Arena • Canton, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 4–3  1,150 4–4–0 (2–1–0)
November 11 4:00 pm at Clarkson Cheel Arena • Potsdam, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 1–4  2,621 4–5–0 (2–2–0)
November 24 7:00 pm Stonehill* Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 5–2  1,283 5–5–0
November 25 7:00 pm Stonehill* Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 4–0  1,115 6–5–0
December 1 7:00 pm Princeton Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 7–2  1,338 7–5–0 (3–2–0)
December 2 4:00 pm #5 Quinnipiac Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 0–5  1,532 7–6–0 (3–3–0)
December 6 7:00 pm #8 Maine* Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 1–3  1,192 7–7–0
December 8 7:00 pm at Vermont* Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont ESPN+ Sharib W 5–4  2,061 8–7–0
December 9 7:00 pm at Vermont* Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont ESPN+ Sharib L 1–4  2,122 8–8–0
December 30 7:00 pm at Bentley* Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts FloHockey Chauvette L 3–4  1,275 8–9–0
January 5 7:00 pm Brown Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 2–3  1,822 8–10–0 (3–4–0)
January 6 4:00 pm Yale Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 2–4  1,904 8–11–0 (3–5–0)
January 12 7:00 pm Clarkson Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 5–1  2,056 9–11–0 (4–5–0)
January 13 4:00 pm St. Lawrence Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette T 2–2 SOW 1,684 9–11–1 (4–5–1)
January 19 7:00 pm at Dartmouth Thompson Arena • Hanover, New Hampshire ESPN+ Chauvette W 5–1  1,429 10–11–1 (5–5–1)
January 20 7:00 pm at Harvard Bright-Landry Hockey Center • Boston, Massachusetts ESPN+ Chauvette W 5–4  3,095 11–11–1 (6–5–1)
January 27 6:00 pm vs. Rensselaer* MVP Arena • Albany, New York (Mayor's Cup)   Chauvette W 5–3  5,698 12–11–1
February 2 7:00 pm at Yale Ingalls Rink • New Haven, Connecticut ESPN+ Chauvette L 1–3  1,371 12–12–1 (6–6–1)
February 3 7:00 pm at Brown Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island ESPN+ Chauvette T 4–4 SOW 330 12–12–2 (6–6–2)
February 9 7:00 pm Colgate Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 5–3  1,992 13–12–2 (7–6–2)
February 10 7:00 pm #13 Cornell Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 1–6  2,230 13–13–2 (7–7–2)
February 16 7:00 pm at #9 Quinnipiac M&T Bank Arena • Hamden, Connecticut ESPN+ Chauvette L 2–6  3,076 13–14–2 (7–8–2)
February 17 7:00 pm at Princeton Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey ESPN+ Chauvette T 2–2 SOL 1,196 13–14–3 (7–8–3)
February 23 7:00 pm Harvard Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 6–2  2,197 14–14–3 (8–8–3)
February 24 4:00 pm Dartmouth Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 4–5  2,024 14–15–3 (8–9–3)
March 1 7:00 pm at #13 Cornell Lynah Rink • Ithaca, New York ESPN+ Chauvette W 3–2  3,855 15–15–3 (9–9–3)
March 2 7:00 pm at Colgate Class of 1965 Arena • Hamilton, New York ESPN+ Chauvette L 3–4  1,100 15–16–3 (9–10–3)
ECAC Hockey Tournament
March 9 4:00 pm Brown* Achilles Rink • Schenectady, New York (First Round) ESPN+ Chauvette W 6–0  2,035 16–16–3
March 15 7:00 pm at Dartmouth* Thompson Arena • Hanover, New Hampshire (Quarterfinal Game 1) ESPN+ Chauvette L 1–3  1,625 16–17–3
March 16 7:00 pm at Dartmouth* Thompson Arena • Hanover, New Hampshire (Quarterfinal Game 2) ESPN+ Chauvette L 2–4  2,007 16–18–3
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[5]

Scoring statistics

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
John Prokop D 36 8 27 35 43
Caden Villegas F 37 12 18 30 4
Josh Nixon RW 36 9 18 27 33
Nate Hanley C 37 4 22 26 10
Brandon Buhr F 35 11 13 24 4
Ville Immonen C 36 8 16 24 18
Liam Robertson C 34 10 13 23 20
Chaz Smedsrud LW 37 14 8 22 6
Ben Tupker LW 34 9 10 19 24
Cullen Ferguson D 37 3 15 18 60
Tyler Watkins F 36 8 8 16 4
Carter Korpi F 35 10 3 13 36
Colby MacArthur RW 29 4 6 10 4
Nathan Kelly D 35 1 7 8 23
Nick Young D 37 2 5 7 26
Jacob Jeannette RW 33 0 7 7 37
Cal Mell D 35 0 7 7 12
Ethan Benz F 15 4 1 5 10
D. J. Hart D 22 1 4 5 25
Cole Kodsi LW 16 3 1 4 8
Joseph Messina D 22 1 3 4 10
Joey Potter D 21 0 3 3 4
Thomas Richter F 2 1 0 1 0
Eli Pilosof C 1 0 0 0 2
Aksel Reid G 1 0 0 0 0
Josh Phillips D 2 0 0 0 2
Joe Sharib G 4 0 0 0 0
Kyle Chauvette G 36 0 0 0 0
Total 123 215 338 433

[6]

Goaltending statistics

Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Joe Sharib 4 135:27 1 1 0 5 60 0 .923 2.21
Aksel Reid 1 21:39 0 1 0 1 4 0 .800 2.77
Kyle Chauvette 36 2044:28 15 16 3 104 865 3 .893 3.05
Empty Net - 39:08 - - - 11 - - - -
Total 37 2240:42 16 18 3 121 929 3 .885 3.24

Rankings

Main article: 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings
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 26 (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 Hockey 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 weeks 11 and 25.[7]
Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

Awards and honors

Player Award Ref
John Prokop AHCA East Second Team All-American [8]
Ben Tupker Wayne Dean Sportsmanship Award [9]
John Prokop ECAC Hockey First Team [10]
Liam Robertson ECAC Hockey Second Team [11]

References

  1. ^ "Union drops Dutchmen/Dutchwomen nickname, to be known as Garnet Chargers moving forward". USCHO. August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Singelais, Mark (August 3, 2023). "Union changes nickname to Garnet Chargers". Albany Times Union. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  3. ^ "Union Men's Hockey History & Tradition". Union Garnet Chargers. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  4. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Union College.
  5. ^ "2023-24 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". Union Garnet Chargers. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  6. ^ "Union College 2023-2024 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Top 25 men's college hockey players earn distinction as CCM/AHCA Hockey All-Americans for 2023-24 season". USCHO.com. April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  9. ^ "Tupker Named Wayne Dean Sportsmanship Award Recipient". Union Garnet Chargers. March 21, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  10. ^ "All-League Third Team Honorees Unveiled". ECAC Hockey. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  11. ^ "ECAC Hockey Releases Second Team All-ECAC Honorees". ECAC Hockey. March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.