ECAC Playoff Preview: Brown @ Union

The ECAC hockey playoffs continue tomorrow night with Union College hosting Brown (4 PM ET) and RPI traveling to Clarkson (7 PM ET). The first two matchups were played today as St. Lawrence defeated Yale 4-2 and Harvard took down Princeton 1-0 . 

Preview Brown @ Union 

The Chargers finished 6th in the ECAC with a 9-10-3 conference record to earn a first-round home game and on the other bench, the Bears landed in the 11th spot with a 6-14-2 conference record. 

I had a chance to catch up with sophomore forward from Union, Nate Hanley. Hanley discussed the impact and importance of playing at home in Messa Rink at Achilles Center to open up the playoffs. 

“It’s definitely going to be big time. Last year so many people came for our playoff game and it was an exciting environment,” said Hanley. “I can’t wait to play in it, hopefully, it’s nice and electric like last time.”

Previous Matchups 

This will be the third time these two teams face off this year. The first matchup came back in the beginning of January when the Bears were victorious in overtime 3-2. The Bears locked down defensively, allowing only 19 shots on goal compared to their 34 shots. Union struggled to convert on the power play going 0-4, but did score on a short-hander.

The Chargers would get their revenge a month later in the second matchup. The Bears held a 4-2 lead late in the game, but captain Ben Tupker buried a goal with 4:49 left to cut the lead in half, and then just as the clock hit under a minute the Chargers tied it up to send the game to overtime. Nobody could convert in OT so they went to a shootout and that’s where Union completed the comeback as they scored on their first two attempts to seal the win (Hanley had the game-winner in shootouts).

Tale of the Tape

Union (15-16-3)		Brown (8-18-3)
3.4	Goals Per Game	2.1
28.8	Shots Per Game	26.2
30-137 (21.9%)	Power Play	14-92 (15.2%)
113-131 (86.3%)	Penalty Kill	69-86 (80.2%)
11.9	Penalty Minutes Per Game	7.0
51.8%	Faceoff %	48.4%
Prokop (35)	Points Leader	St. Louis (24)

Union Beats The Big Red 

The Chargers are carrying some momentum heading into the playoffs after taking down no.14 in the country, Cornell last week. The Big Red scored just under two minutes into the game, but Union settled in and converted on both of their power plays which helped them come away with the win. 

Hanley discussed how the win motivated the team this late in the season. 

“We’ve been having trouble beating the top teams, especially in away environments. We have struggled against teams like Quinnipiac and Cornell for the past two years,” said Hanley. “We lost to Cornell 10-1 last year so I think coming back and being able to beat them when they’re a top team is gonna help propel us in the right direction since it’s playoff time.”

Hanley 2023-24 Regular Season Stats: 34 GP 4 Goals 22 Assists 26 Points 16 Blocked Shots