Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey

The Union Garnet Chargers ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college ice hockey program that represents Union College. The Garnet Chargers are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center in Schenectady, New York.^[3] The Garnet Chargers (known as the Dutchmen at the time) won the 2014 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament by defeating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 7–4.

Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey
Current season
University	Union College
Conference	ECAC Hockey
First season	1903–04
Head coach	Josh Hauge[1] 4th season, 49–51–8 (.491)
Assistant coaches	John Ronan Mike Zannella Bryan McDonald
Arena	Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center Schenectady, New York
Student section	The U Crew
Colors	Union garnet and white[2]
NCAA tournament champions
DI: 2014
NCAA tournament Frozen Four
DI: 2012, 2014 DIII: 1984, 1985
NCAA tournament appearances
DI: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017 DIII: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989
Conference tournament champions
ECAC West: 1985 ECAC: 2012, 2013, 2014
Conference regular season champions
ECAC 2: 1977 ECAC: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017
Current uniform

Dutchmen in 2023

Program history

The hockey team was founded in 1904 making it the 7th oldest college program playing in NCAA Division I ^[4] and provides the school with a long and colorful history in the sport. Men at Union have played hockey in four distinct periods: club hockey from 1904 to 1911, varsity hockey from 1919 to 1949 (from 1943 to 1948 there was a hiatus from play due to WW II), NCAA Division III hockey from 1975 to 1990 and NCAA Division I hockey from 1991–present.

Early history 1904–1911

Union's first game, played on February 3, 1904, was a victory over the Union Classical Institute. Three other games were played that inaugural season including a 1–4 loss to rival Rensselaer. Lacking a rink of its own during that inaugural season, all games were played on the opponent's home ice. The first attempt at creating an on-campus outdoor rink was made by students in 1905 when a plow and scaper was hired to form a level area with earthen banks near what is now Memorial Chapel. The club team's record in known games during those early years was 6–7–1. No collegiate games were played in the 1910 or 1911 seasons because Union's players couldn't afford the costs of travel and opponent game guarantee fees. The club team subsequently disbanded bringing a close to the earliest era of hockey at Union.

Varsity era 1919–1949

Division III era 1975–1990

Division I era 1991–present

In 2012, the team made the school's first NCAA men's ice hockey championship Frozen Four appearance, losing to Ferris State University.

In the 2013–2014 season, the team won the 2014 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament, the first in school history. The team had an overall 32-6-4 record with 12 consecutive wins leading up to the national title win. Junior Shayne Gostisbehere won the Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 Frozen Four, and signed his NHL entry level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers 3 days after the championship.

In 2017, senior Mike Vecchione was named as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Vecchione finished his collegiate career with a school record of 175 points, along with the leading number of all-time assists at 104. He led the D1 league with 21 multiple point games, 17 goals, 4 short handed goals, 4 game winning goals, and a 60.4% faceoff win percentage.^[5]

In 2023, the college changed the school's athletic nickname from "Dutchmen" and "Dutchwomen" to "Garnet Chargers" as part of a branding update.^[6] 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."^[6]

In the 2023-24 season, the team had the second-best penalty kill in college hockey, at 87.9%.

Season-by-season results

Source:^[7]

Main article: List of Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey seasons

Championships

NCAA National Championships

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up	City	Arena	Coach	MOP
2014	Union	7–4	Minnesota	Philadelphia, PA	Wells Fargo Center	Rick Bennett	Shayne Gostisbehere

ECAC Hockey Tournament championships (Whitelaw Cup)

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up	City	Arena	Coach	MOP	Notes
2012	Union	3–1	Harvard	Atlantic City, NJ	Boardwalk Hall	Rick Bennett	Jeremy Welsh	Lost to Ferris State in NCAA Semifinal
2013	Union	3–1	Brown	Atlantic City, NJ	Boardwalk Hall	Rick Bennett	Troy Grosenick	Lost to Quinnipiac in NCAA East Regional
2014	Union	4–2	Colgate	Lake Placid, NY	Herb Brooks Arena	Rick Bennett	Daniel Carr	Defeated Minnesota in NCAA Championship

Runners-up in 2010

ECAC Hockey Regular season Championships (Cleary Cup)

Year	Conference record	Overall record	Coach
2010–11	17–3–2	26–10–4	Nate Leaman
2011–12	14–4–4	26–8–7	Rick Bennett
2013–14	18–3–1	32–6–4	Rick Bennett
2016–17†	16–4–2	25–10–3	Rick Bennett

† Shared with Harvard

Players

Current roster

As of September 21, 2024.^[8]

No.	Nat.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		D. J. Hart	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2002-02-23	Stamford, Connecticut	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—
3		Cal Mell	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2011-01-30	Alpharetta, Georgia	Janesville Jets (NAHL)	—
4		Josh Phillips	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-05-24	Getzville, New York	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
5		David Côté	Freshman	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	2003-10-08	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec	Steinbach Pistons (MJHL)	—
6		Cullen Ferguson (C)	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-02-16	Binbrook, Ontario	Aberdeen Wings (NAHL)	—
7		Nick Young (A)	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	2001-09-12	Raleigh, North Carolina	St. Cloud Norsemen (NAHL)	—
8		Connor Smith	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2003-06-06	Hugo, Minnesota	Oklahoma Warriors (NAHL)	—
9		Thomas Richter	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-06	Greenwich, Connecticut	Penticton Vees (BCHL)	—
10		Ethan Benz	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-03-29	Shakopee, Minnesota	St. Cloud Norsemen (NAHL)	—
11		Colby MacArthur	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-11-02	Summerside, Prince Edward Island	Summerside Western Capitals (MHL)	—
12		Carter Korpi	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-07-28	South Lyon, Michigan	Wichita Falls Warriors (NAHL)	—
14		Brandon Buhr	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-07-07	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Alberni Valley Bulldogs (BCHL)	—
15		Josh Nixon	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-05-09	Mississauga, Ontario	Lake Superior State (CCHA)	—
16		Lucas Buzziol	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2004-04-05	Mississauga, Ontario	Alberni Valley Bulldogs (BCHL)	—
17		Parker Lindauer	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	2001-05-17	Madison, Wisconsin	Maine (HEA)	—
18		Ben Muthersbaugh	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2004-02-15	Gilford, New Hampshire	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)	—
19		Drew Sutton	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-02-10	Hortonville, Wisconsin	Oklahoma Warriors (NAHL)	—
20		Eli Pilosof	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-06-10	Toronto, Ontario	Pickering Panthers (OJHL)	—
21		John Prokop (A)	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-05-13	Wausau, Wisconsin	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)	—
22		Jacob Jeannette	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2002-12-13	Duluth, Minnesota	Tri-City Storm (USHL)	—
23		Joseph Messina	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-02-01	Woodbridge, Ontario	Langley Rivermen (BCHL)	—
24		Nate Hanley	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-05-30	Rocky Point, New York	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL)	—
26		Brendan Miles	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-12-12	Farmington Hills, Michigan	Michigan (Big Ten)	—
27		Riley Brueck	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2003-05-07	Chesterfield, Missouri	Oklahoma Warriors (NAHL)	—
28		Caden Villegas (A)	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	167 lb (76 kg)	2001-02-19	Plano, Texas	Tri-City Storm (USHL)	—
31		Lucas Massie	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2003-04-11	Claremont, California	Lincoln Stars (USHL)	—
35		Joe Sharib	Senior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-08-16	Natick, Massachusetts	Connecticut Jr. Rangers (NCDC)	—
36		Kyle Chauvette	Junior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-10-05	Goffstown, New Hampshire	Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)	—

Awards & honors

As of April 2017^[9]

Hobey Baker Memorial Award Mike Vecchione - Hat Trick Finalist, F: 2017 Troy Grosenick - Top 10 Finalist, G: 2012 Shayne Gostisbehere - Top 10 Finalist, D: 2014 Daniel Ciampini - Top 10 Finalist, F: 2015 Spencer Foo - Top 10 Finalist, F: 2017 Spencer Penrose Award - AHCA Coach of the Year Nate Leaman: 2011 Rick Bennett: 2014 USCHO Coach of the Year Rick Bennett: 2014 College Hockey News Coach of the Year Rick Bennett: 2014 NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player Shayne Gostisbehere, D: 2014 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team Matt Bodie, D: 2014 Daniel Ciampini, F: 2014 Shayne Gostisbehere, D: 2014 Colin Stevens, G: 2014 NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player Max Novak, F: 2014 Jeremy Welsh, F: 2014 Tim Taylor Award - ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year Bruce Delventhal: 1994 Stan Moore: 1997 Nate Leaman: 2010, 2011 Rick Bennett: 2012, 2017 ECAC Hockey Player of the Year Shayne Gostisbehere, D: 2013 (co-recipient) Mike Vecchione, F: 2017 Ken Dryden Award - ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year Trevor Koenig, G: 1997 Keith Kinkaid, G: 2011 Troy Grosenick, G: 2012 Colin Stevens, G: 2014 ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman Andrew Will, D: 1997 (co-recipient) Brock Matheson, D: 2011 Shayne Gostisbehere, D: 2014 ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward Adam Presizniuk, F: 2011 Kelly Zajac, F: 2012 ECAC Hockey Student Athlete of the Year Oliver Bouchard: 2007 Matt Cook: 2009 Stephane Boileau: 2011 Josh Kosack: 2022

ECAC Hockey Tournament Most Outstanding Player Jeremy Welsh, F: 2012 Troy Grosenick, G: 2013 Daniel Carr, F: 2014 ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team Mike Schreiber, D: 2010 Daniel Carr, F: 2012, 2013, 2014 Shayne Gostisbehere, D: 2012 Troy Grosenick, G: 2012, 2013 Jeremy Welsh, F: 2012 Greg Coburn, D: 2013 Max Novak, F: 2013 Matt Bodie, D: 2014 Shayne Gostisbehere, D: 2014 Colin Stevens, G: 2014 Mike Vecchione, F: 2014 AHCA First Team All-Americans (DI) - East 1995-96: Trevor Koenig, G 2010-11: Keith Kinkaid, G 2011-12: Troy Grosenick, G 2013-14: Matt Bodie, D; Shayne Gostisbehere, D 2014-15: Daniel Ciampini, F 2016-17: Mike Vecchione, F; Spencer Foo, F AHCA Second Team All-Americans (DI) - East 2011-12: Matt Bodie, D; Jeremy Welsh, F 2012-13: Shayne Gostisbehere, D 2013-14: Daniel Carr, F; Colin Stevens, G AHCA Second Team All-Americans (DIII) - East 1985-86: Wayne McDougall, G 1999-89: Ron Kinghorn, G 1989-90: Terry Campbell, F Academic All-American Second Team 2009-10: Stephane Boileau 2013-14: Cole Ikkala Academic All-American Third Team 2011-12: Troy Grosenick 2012-13: Troy Grosenick 2013-14: Matt Bodie 2016-17: Mike Vecchione Union College Athletics Hall of Fame[10] Wayne McDougall, G: 2005 Steve Baker, G: 2007 Gil Egan, F: 2008 Craig Ferrero, F: 2009 Tod Fobare, F: 2010 Terry Campbell, F: 2015 Charlie Morrison, Head Coach: 2015 1983-84 Men's Hockey Team: 2015 Dalton Menhall: 2017 Jack Rankin: 2019

Historic records

Records vs. Current ECAC Hockey Teams

As of the completion of the 2023–24 season

School	Team	Away Arena	Overall record	Win %	Last Result
Brown University	Bears	Meehan Auditorium	25–28–15	.478	6-0 W
Clarkson University	Golden Knights	Cheel Arena	30–40–5	.433	5-1 W
Colgate University	Raiders	Class of 1965 Arena	33–49–4	.407	3-4 L
Cornell University	Big Red	Lynah Rink	23–49–10	.341	3-2 W
Dartmouth College	Big Green	Thompson Arena	36–31–7	.534	2-4 L
Harvard University	Crimson	Bright-Landry Hockey Center	20–39–6	.354	6-2 W
Princeton University	Tigers	Hobey Baker Memorial Rink	43–27–9	.601	2-2 SOL
Quinnipiac University	Bobcats	People's United Center	17–26–5	.406	2-6 L
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Engineers	Houster Field House	47–56–12	.461	5-3 W
St. Lawrence University	Saints	Appleton Arena	36–40–5	.475	2-2 SOW
Yale University	Bulldogs	Ingalls Rink	29–35–7	.451	1-3 L

In-season tournaments

As of April 2017^[9]

Event Name	Host City	Season	All-Time Record
Badger Showdown	Madison, WI	2003–04	0–2
Capital District Mayor's Cup	Albany, NY	2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17	3–2
Brice Alaska Goal Rush	Fairbanks, AK	2010–11	1–1
Catamount Cup	Burlington, VT	2012–13	1–1
Concordia Invitational	Montreal, QE	1993–94	2–0
Dodge Holiday Classic	Providence, RI	2005–06	1–1
Dunkin Donuts Coffee Pot	Providence, RI	2004–05	0–1–1
Frozen Holiday Classic	Bridgeport, CT	2014–15	1–1
Governor's Cup	Albany, NY	2008–09, 2007–08, 2006–07	1–4–1
Ice Breaker Cup	Denver, CO	1999–00	0–2
Icebreaker Invitational	Colorado Springs, CO	2005–06	1–1
J.C. Penney Classic	Orono, ME	1996–97, 1998–99	2–2
Ledyard Bank Classic	Hanover, NH	2015–16	2–0
Mariucci Classic	Minneapolis, MN	2000–01, 2005–06, 2010–11	2–3–1
Omaha Stampede	Omaha, NE	2008–09	1–1
Pete Kelly Cup	Fredericton, NB	2007–08	1–1
Rensselaer Invitational	Troy, NY	1991–92, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2009–10	2–6
Shillelagh tournament	Notre Dame, IN	2008–09, 2014–15	2–2
Sheraton/TD Banknorth Tournament	Burlington, VT	2006–07	1–1
UConn Classic	Storrs, CT	2009–10	1–1

Program records

Individual – career Most goals in a career: Gil Egan, 83, (1981–85) Most points in a career: Mike Vecchione, 176, (2013–17) Most assists in a career: Terry Campbell, 119, (1987–91) Most power play goals in a career: Daniel Carr, 34, (2010–14) Most game winning goals in a career: Wayne Simpson, 16, (2009–13) Most shots in a career: Wayne Simpson, 447, (2009–13) Most wins in a career: Kris Mayotte, 46, (2002–06) Best goals-against-average in a career: Troy Grosenick, 1.89, (2010–13) Most saves in a career: Brandon Snee, 3,085, (1998–02) Best save percentage in a career: Troy Grosenick, .930, (2010–13) Individual – season Most goals in a season: Mike Vecchione, 29, (2016–17) Most points in a season: Mike Vecchione, 63, (2016–17) Most assists in a season: Spencer Foo, 36, (2016–17) Most power play goals in a season: Daniel Carr, 12, (2010–11) Most game winning goals in a season: Max Novak, 8, (2013–14) Most shots in a season: Shayne Gostisbehere, 159, (2013–14) Most wins in a season: Colin Stevens, 28, (2013–14) Best goals-against-average in a season: Troy Grosenick, 1.65, (2011–12) Most saves in a career: Kris Mayotte, 987, (2005–06) Best save percentage in a career: Troy Grosenick, .936, (2011–12)

Team – game Most goals in a game: 11 vs. Clarkson (2/5/10) Most goals allowed in a game: 10 vs. Penn State (3/25/17) Most goals combined in a game: 15 vs. Clarkson (11/13/93) & Merrimack (11/1/91) Most shots taken in a game: 75 vs. Quinnipiac (3/12/10) Most shots allowed in a game: 63 vs. Bemidji State (10/26/02) Fewest shots taken in a game: 13 (5x) last time vs. Cornell (11/18/05) Fewest shots allowed in a game: 9 vs. Cornell (2/11/11) Most penalties in a game: 27 vs. Cornell (12/4/98) Most penalty minutes in a game: 116 vs. Cornell (12/4/98) Longest game: 150:22 in 5 OTs lasting 5 hrs., 56 minutes vs. Quinnipiac (3/12/10) Team – season Most wins in a season: 32 (2013–14) Most conference wins in a season: 18 (2013–14) ECAC Hockey Most consecutive wins in a season: 12 (2013–14) Longest unbeaten streak in a season: 17 (2013–14)

Head coaches

Josh Hauge

All-time coaching records

As of completion of the 2023–24 season^[9]

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1903–1904, 1905–1911	No Coach	7	6–7–1	.464
1919–1924	Ambrose Clark	4	7–10–0	.412
1924–1925	Henry Gardner	1	1–3–0	.250
1925–1930	H. A. Larabee	5	9–14–3	.404
1930–1933	William Harkness	3	4–8–1	.346
1933–1935	H. L. Achilles	2	4–7–0	.364
1935–1936, 1939–1942, 1947–1949	Arthur C. Lawrence	6	10–30–2	.262
1936–1939	Duke Nelson	3	3–11–2	.250
1975–1977	Ned Harkness	3†	45–8–2	.836
1978	Bob Driscoll	1†	0–13–0	.000
1978–1988	Charles Morrison	10	123–147–9	.457
1988–1996	Bruce Delventhal	8	89–111–21	.450
1996–1998	Stan Moore	2	24–35–7	.417
1998–2003	Kevin Sneddon	5	50–99–18	.353
2003–2011	Nate Leaman	8	138–127–35	.518
2011–2022	Rick Bennett	10‡	192–133–45	.580
2022	John Ronan	1‡	8–8–1	.500
2022–Present	Josh Hauge	3	49–51–8	.491
Totals	17 coaches	83 Seasons	762–822–154	.483

† Bob Driscoll coached the final 13 games of the 1977–78 season after Ned Harkness resigned.
‡ Rick Bennett was suspended on January 19, 2022 and John Ronan coached the final 17 games of the season.

Garnet Chargers in the NHL

See also: Former NCAA players in the National Hockey League

As of July 1, 2025.^[11]

= NHL All-Star team

= NHL All-Star[12]

= NHL All-Star[12] and NHL All-Star team

= Hall of Famers

Player	Position	Team(s)	Years	NHL Games	Stanley Cups
Steve Baker	Goaltender	NYR	1979–1983	4	0
Daniel Carr	Left Wing	MTL, VGK, NSH, WSH	2015–2023	117	0
Nick DeSimone	Defenseman	CGY, NJD, UTA	2022–Present	58	0
Spencer Foo	Right Wing	CGY	2017–2018	4	0
Mario Giallonardo	Defenseman	COR	1979–1981	23	0
Shayne Gostisbehere	Defenseman	PHI, PHO, CAR, DET	2014–Present	689	0
Collin Graf	Right Wing	SJS	2023–Present	40	0
Troy Grosenick	Goaltender	SJS, LAK	2014–2022	4	0
Josh Jooris	Right Wing	CGY, NYR, ARI, CAR, PIT	2014–2018	213	0
Duane Joyce	Defenseman	DAL	1993–1994	3	0
Keith Kinkaid	Goaltender	NJD, MTL, NYR, BOS, COL	2012–2023	169	0
Sam Morton	Right Wing	CGY	2024–Present	1	0
Mike Vecchione	Center	PHI, WSH	2016–2022	3	0
Jeremy Welsh	Defenseman	CAR, VAN, STL	2011–2016	27	0

• 
  Nick DeSimone
• 
  Josh Jooris
• 
  Keith Kinkaid
• 
  Jeremy Welsh

See also

• Union Garnet Chargers women's ice hockey
• Union Garnet Chargers