The dates Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13, 2003, will long be remembered in Union's athletic history as the weekend that the Dutchmen hockey and football teams swept Capital District rival RPI. On the ice, the Dutchmen took a 5-4 victory from the Engineers in their own barn on Friday night, and then thrilled the capacity crowd at Messa Rink on Saturday by coming away with a 3-2 win.
The football team, meanwhile, did its part by coming from behind in the final two minutes to capture a thrilling 18-13 victory in Troy. The win brought the Dutchman Shoes Trophy back to Schenectady…where they belong!
Saturday also marked the first time in history that both the hockey and football teams competed against RPI on the same day.
Coach Nate Leaman's hockey team accomplished a number of things with the twin win. First, it marked the first time in the history of the rivalry that Union accomplished a sweep over RPI. Second, it snapped a four-game losing streak at the hands of the Engineers and atoned for RPI's two-game sweep in the first round of last year's ECAC playoffs at Achilles Center. Finally, and maybe most importantly, it gave the Dutchmen sole possession of first place in the ECAC Hockey League for the first time in the 14-year history of their Division I status.
As for coach John Audino's football squad, it ended the 2003 campaign on a positive note. The Dutchmen finished 5-1 in the league, losing 33-27 in overtime at Hobart in the eighth game of the season. Union, was 6-3 overall, posted its 24th consecutive non-losing season (which includes five .500 campaigns). The Dutchmen sport an overall record of 187-56-1 (.768) during that streak. The win snapped a seven-year string in which the home team captured “The Shoes” and marked the eighth consecutive season that the trophy has changed hands (Union played at RPI for the second consecutive year due to a scheduling fluke that saw WPI, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine come into the league).
While all three wins took total team efforts, there were a few individual efforts that were recognized.
Senior Jordan Webb (Nepean, ONT) was named the ECACHL Player of the Week, making it the second straight week a Union College men's hockey player has earned the award. Meanwhile, sophomore quarterback Anthony Marotti (River Edge, NJ) picked up the Liberty League's Offensive Performer of the Week award for the second time this season.
Webb made history in front of the home crowd on Saturday night as he moved up to second on Union's Division I all-time scoring list. In Friday's game Webb scored a goal and had one assist. The goal came at 12:47 of the first period to break a 1-1 tie. He then assisted on Union's third goal of the game to help break a 3-3 tie in the second period. Webb followed that up with a pair of power play goals in the series finale. He broke open a scoreless game with back-to-back goals in the second period to give Union a two-goal lead.
Webb now has 10 goals on the season to tie him for first overall in the league. He is also first in the league in power play goals with seven.
Webb's first goal of the second game gave him 96 career points as he passed He now stands at 97 points and needs just eight more to overtake Christopher Ford.
Junior Scott Seney (Silver Spring, MD) was named to the ECACHL Honor Roll following an impressive offensive display. He recorded two goals and two assists. Both goals came in the first game and the second would prove to be the game-winner. His second assist the following night came on Union's game-winning goal. He leads the team with nine assists and has three goals on the season.
Union, 5-5 overall, looks to continue its win streak at Princeton this Friday to start a nine-game road trip.
Marotti, who was one of 15 Dutchmen named to the Liberty League's All-Conference team, completed 21-of-40 passes for 418 yards to break the mark of 362 set by Brett Russ against Plymouth State in an ECAC playoff game on November 17, 1990. He had two touchdown passes, the last being a 15-yarder to Ryan Twitchell with 1:27 left to play.
Marotti established two Union records this year when he threw five touchdowns in the game against Rochester (breaking the old mark of four) and finished with 418 yards against Rensselaer to smash the mark of 362 set by Brett Russ in 1990. In nine games this season, Marotti completed 158 of 283 passes (55.8%) for 2,319 yards, the team's third highest all-time total behind Brett Russ, who had 2,670 in 14 games in 1989, and Ben Gilbert, who had 2,337 yards in 11 games in 2001.
Marotti's 20 touchdown passes ties Dan Stewart's 1983 standard, which was accomplished in 12 games. Gilbert threw for 27 touchdowns in 11 games in 2001 and had 24 scoring passes in 11 games in 2000. Russ had 23 touchdown passes in '89. His 3,275 career yards and 28 touchdown passes each rank sixth all-time.