Posted on Oct 7, 2005

Colorado Springs, CO (Oct. 7, 2005)- With summer workouts, preseason practices, and intrasquad scrimmages out of the way, the Union College men's hockey team will open up its 2005-06 campaign at the Ice Breaker Invitational in Colorado Springs, CO this evening. The Dutchmen, who begin their 15th season at the Division I level, will play tournament host and 2005 NCAA Frozen Four participant Colorado College for their season-opener at 8:07 p.m. MT.

Colorado College comes in with a No. 6 ranking in the USCHO.com preseason poll and is No. 7 in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine rankings. For the second straight season Union will open its season against the Tigers at World Arena. It marks the first time in the team's Division I tenure that the Dutchmen have begun back-to-back seasons against the same opponent at the same arena. In 1992 they hosted Army before playing at Army to start the 1993-94 season. In the second game Union will play Air Force on October 8th at 5:07 p.m. MT. This will be the first meeting between these two teams since January 27, 1996 when Union defeated the Falcons at home, 10-0.


Nate Leaman begins his third season as head coach of the Dutchmen, who finished with a 13-22-2 overall record last season and were eighth in the ECACHL with an 8-13-1 mark. They won their first six league games, to set a Division I school record for longest winning streak in league play, and compiled a seven-game unbeaten streak early in the season. Union earned home ice advantage in the playoffs for the third straight time in 2005. The series featured three overtime games, marking the first time in league playoff history that has occurred.

Scott Seney

Union returns 19 players to its roster, including three of its top four scorers from a year ago. Leading the Dutchmen is senior co-captain Scott Seney (Silver Spring, MD) who paced the team with 18 assists and tied for second on the team with 27 points. He put up nine goals and has led the team for the past two seasons in game-winners. Also up front is senior Jonathan Poirier (St. Jerome, QUE) and junior Olivier Bouchard (Quebec City, QUE). Both players notched 11 goals last season to finish tied for second. Poirier added 16 assists for 27 points while Bouchard had 13 helpers and 24 points. Bouchard's numbers have only gotten better from year-to-year. As a sophomore he had 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points, besting his freshman numbers by four goals, two assists, and six points. Sophomore Josh Coyle (Brooklyn, OH) put up balanced numbers for Union in his first season after finishing second among freshman in scoring with 11 points on five goals and six assists.

Sean Streich

Defensively junior co-captain Sean Streich (Kimberley, BC) anchors the Dutchmen blue line. He is the first junior to wear the “C” for Union since Jay Varady was named captain for the 1999-00 season. Streich has played in every game for Union since his freshman campaign. Last season he finished third among defensemen in scoring with five points on one goal and four assists. Also returning for the Dutchmen defense is sophomore Michael Beynon (Nepean, ONT) who led all defenders as a freshman with 11 assists and 12 points. Senior Bryan Campbell (Hannon, ONT) returns to the team after taking a year off to help bolster Union's D-core. As a sophomore Campbell finished second among defenders with 10 assists.

Kris Mayotte

Union's greatest attribute should be between the pipes with two proven goaltenders returning for the Garnet. Senior Kris Mayotte (Pittsburgh, PA) made 25 or more saves in 12 games last season and finished with a 3.34 goals against average and a .891 save percentage. Sophomore Justin Mrazek (Regina, SASK), who was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, had a solid effort in the playoffs last season to finish with a 2.17 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.


Union will welcome eight newcomers to its roster this season. Offensively freshman T.J. Fox (Oswego, NY), Augie DiMarzo (West Haven, CT), Matt Cook (Belle Mead, NJ), and Chris Potts (Phillipsburg, NJ) are all hard workers and proven offensive threats with their previous teams. Fox led the Chicago Steel of the U.S. Hockey League in scoring last season with 21 goals and 29 assists, and was the team's top scorer in the playoffs. Fox played in the USHL All-Star game. DiMarzo was the New England Prep League Division I scoring champion last season with 28 goals and 38 assists and helped lead Avon Old Farms to its second straight NEPL Division I title. Cook and Potts were co-captains at Tabor Academy. Cook was in the top 20 in prep school scoring with 19 goals and 25 assists while Potts was in the top 25 with 21 goals and 19 assists.


Defensively Leaman has enlisted the talent of newcomers Lane Caffaro (Slave Lake, ALB), Rory Farrell (Westfield, MA), Mike Harr (Norwood, MA), and Brendan Milnamow (Wilton, CT). Caffaro was one of the top-scoring defensemen in the Alberta Junior Hockey League last season with 11 goals and 33 assists. He was a first-team AJHL All-Star. Farrell, the 6-3, 210-pounder served as a team captain for Des Moines of the USHL. Harr had five goals and 12 assists for the Boston Junior Bruins of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, who won the regular-season title and league championship last season. Milnamow, a 6-3, 195-pounder was team captain for Taft School.


This season's success will hinge on the leadership of the Dutchmen returnees and the adaptability of its newcomers. Union will look to increase it's scoring and do a better job of keeping the opposition away from the net. With its opener against one of the top teams in college hockey, this team will find out right away how they stack up and how well the preseason preparation has paid off.