The Skating Dutchmen go into this weekend's regular-season finale at Colgate and Cornell needing a win or tie to qualify for the ECAC post-season tournament for the fifth time in their 10-year Division I history. Union is currently in ninth place, two points in front of 10th-place Vermont and three points in front of 11th-place Colgate.
The ironic thing about Friday's game at Colgate is that the six seniors on this year's team were recruited while Red Raider assistant coach Stan Moore was the head coach at Union. A win or tie by the Dutchmen over Colgate would secure Union's play-off spot while eliminating the Red Raiders. That won't be easy, though, as Union is just 1-8 at Starr Rink in the last 10 years and is 2-9-1 on the road this season.
The Dutchmen are riding the crest of a streak that has seen them post a 5-2-1 ECAC record since beating Vermont, 3-1, at Achilles on February 2. Their
current streak has left the Garnet with an 8-10-2 league record and a 12-14-4 overall mark for third-year head coach Kevin Sneddon.
Union, which has scored 81 goals this year, has nine players in double digits with junior Jeff Wilson (London, Ont./A.B. Lucas School) leading the way with 11-10-21. Junior goaltender Brandon Snee (Philadelphia, PA/The Hill School) boasts a .900 save percentage and a 3.05 goals against average. His lone shutout of the year came on November 10 against Cornell, 2-0.
The Dutchmen's other Division I play-off appearances came in 1993-94, 1994-95, 1996-97 and last year when they lost to eventual Frozen Four participant St. Lawrence, 8-4 and 4-3 in overtime. The Dutchmen have never advanced out of their first-round play-off series and are 1-7 in postseason, beating Rensselaer, 4-3, in their initial play-off game in 1993-94.