The competition and the records keep
falling by the wayside as the men's hockey team streaks towards its best-ever
ECAC finish since the program was elevated to Division I status prior to the
1991-92 season. Last weekend the Dutchmen completed their first-ever North
Country sweep as they defeated Clarkson, 5-3, and St. Lawrence, 4-3, in
overtime. Not only was it Union's fifth-straight win, it was the Garnet's
fourth consecutive road victory.
Here are some of the
records that have been rewritten thus far:
The four
consecutive road wins is a record. Prior to that, the Dutchmen's best
performance on the road came in 1993-94 when Union won at Princeton, Yale, and
Brown before tying Harvard.
The win over St.
Lawrence was the team's second overtime victory of the season. The last
time that happened was in 1999-2000 against Brown (a 2-1 win) and Rensselaer (a
3-1 victory).
The current five-game win streak has
come at the expense of ECAC teams. The previous mark was four, which the
team accomplished twice.
Union now has six victories on the road, breaking the previous
standard of five set in 1993-94.
Nathan Gillies had a big weekend and was selected as
the ECAC's “Forward of the Week.” The honor was the first in Gillies' collegiate
career, and he is the second Dutchmen to earn the honor this season.
The 5'9, 190 lb. left wing had a hand in five of nine Union goals against
Clarkson and St. Lawrence, scoring three and assisting on both game-winners. His
line accounted for six goals and he was on the ice for seven goals, including
all four against St. Lawrence. Gillies' two goals against SLU were his first in
10 games against the Saints.
The Cambridge, Ontario, native set a team record
with his third short-handed goal, which came against the Saints and tied
the game at 1-1. The previous record was two, held by three players.
Gillies is third in overall team scoring (14-13-27) and second in league
scoring (9-7-16). He leads the Dutchmen and the ECAC with those three
short-handed tallies and with his five-point weekend, has surpassed his
scoring total from last season (10-12-22).
“Nathan has emerged as our true voice and inspiration for this
year's mission,” said head coach Kevin
Sneddon.
“His leadership has
been strengthened by his elite level of play during the
past month and he will be instrumental to our success in the ECAC down
the
stretch.
“What is special about Nate is that he's not in search of accolades and he
doesn't read press clippings,” Sneddon continued. “He goes about his business
everyday like it's his last because he loves to compete, he loves the
camaraderie among the team, and wants to do whatever he can in order for the
team to enjoy success.”
As a freshman, Gillies played in 27 of the Dutchmen's 33 games and scored
seven points on a goal and six assists. His sophomore campaign saw him skate in
25 of the season's 34 games while his point production increased to 14 on five
goals and nine assists. Last year Gillies played in all but one of the
Dutchmen's 32 games and scored 10 goals with 12 assists for 22 points. He had
two powerplay tallies, one short-handed goal and one game-winning goal during
the 2001-02 season.
Gillies had also been named to the ECAC Honor Roll earlier in his career:
once as a sophomore, twice as a junior, and once as a senior. Gillies and the
Dutchmen, who are in third place in the ECAC with an 8-5-2 record (12-11-4
overall), will put their five-game winning streak on the line this Friday
against. Brown. Faceoff is set for 7 p. m. at Achilles Rink.