The Dutchmen hockey team will play 34 games during the 2004-05 campaign against teams from all six NCAA Division I conferences, 16 of which will be home contests at Messa Rink, it was announced on April 14.
Highlighting the season are trips to Colorado College of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and Wayne State of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) for two-game series, and an appearance in the Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Pot Tournament hosted by Providence College on Thanksgiving weekend. The Coffee Pot will also feature Providence (Hockey East), Merrimack (Hockey East) and Holy Cross (Atlantic Hockey).
Union's lone non-league road trip will be a single Monday night game at the University of Connecticut on January 3. That game is one of two mid-week contests to be played by the Dutchmen during the 2004-2005 season. Union will host Harvard in a league game on Tuesday, February 1, breaking from the traditional travel-partner weekend-pairing with Brown in order to accommodate the Crimson's participation in the 2005 Beanpot Tournament.
Union will host four non-conference schools in 2004-05 from the CCHA, Hockey East, and Atlantic Hockey League. Bowling Green (CCHA) will visit Union for the first time for a two-game home-opening series on October 22-23, followed by a single game with Lowell on October 30. The top two teams from Atlantic Hockey during the 2003-2004 season, Mercyhurst (second) and Holy Cross (first) will visit Messa Rink on January 1 and February 4 respectively.
The combined 2003-2004 record of Union's four non-league home opponents next season was 68-60-22 (.527), with Holy Cross representing the Atlantic Hockey League in the NCAA Tournament.
The Dutchmen will begin Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) play at home versus St. Lawrence and Clarkson November 5 and 6. They will take on rival Rensselaer the following weekend in a home-and-home series, Friday night at RPI followed by a Saturday game at Union. (Union will take on RPI in football for the 102nd time that same weekend, playing the Engineers in Troy on Saturday afternoon.)
The Dutchmen will close out the regular season with Yale and Princeton at home. Senior night will follow Union's game with Princeton on February 26.
“Our staff is pleased with the challenging 2004-2005 schedule,” said Union head coach Nate Leaman. “We will be a young team to start the season and our trip to Colorado College will be a great experience and will give our team a chance to bond early in the season.”
Leaman continued, “We will play 18 games away from our building and that will be a true test, but hopefully it will prepare us for postseason play and the hostile environments that you face as a team during playoff hockey.”
For 2004-05 ticket information please contact the Messa Rink Box Office at (518) 388-6134.