East #2: Union

Union College Dutchmen

2 seed vs. Minnesota-Duluth, East Regional (Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, CT)
ECAC Regular Season Champions
At-large bid from ECAC
Record: 26-9-4
Coach: Nate Leaman


Any way you look at it, this has been the best year in Union's history. Previously, the college didn't even have a four-goal game by any player in its record books. The 26 wins this year are a school record, as is the 2.10 GAA and the 144 goals scored. As ECAC regular season champions, the Dutchmen won the Cleary Cup for the first time. Unfortunately, they ran into a speed bump against league bottom-feeder Colgate to get bounced from the second round of the ECAC tournament. Up until that point, Union had gone 15-1-1 in their last 17 games.

The Dutchmen are led on offense by junior center Kelly Zajac (13-29--42), with freshman Daniel Carr (20-15--35) the leader in goals. On defense, freshman Matt Bodie (6-26--32) and senior Brock Matheson (3-7--10) are by far the leaders in +/- (+27 and +24, respectively). Bodie is also the top defenseman in all offensive categories.

Union College was founded in Schenectady, New York back in 1795 as a successor to the Dutch Reformed Church's Schenectady Academy, which had been formed in 1785. Union's second president was Jonathan Edwards, Jr., son of the famed preacher of the Great Awakening/author of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". Famous alumni of Union include William Seward, of Alaska-purchasing fame, and Chester A. Arthur (who may or may not have been a stuffed shaved bear). The college was all-male for its first 175 years and finally began enrolling women in 1970.