[00:00:03] Speaker A: The following program is brought to you in living color on dailyGazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots podcast. Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot. Thank you, Scott Gizi, and welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Have the great show for you. A little shorter than we usually have on a Thursday, but we're going to talk some Union college hockey, both men's and women's, both had their media availability on Tuesday. We'll look back at their games over the weekend and look ahead to this weekend's games on the men's side. Union had an exhibition game, lost to Providence for one last Saturday and opened the regular season, the final one final home opener at Messer Inc. With a four three overtime victory on Sunday on a John pro cop goal.
We talked with Colin Ferguson, Kaden Villegas and Colby MacArthur. I'm going to be featuring Colby MacArthur in a column on Friday in the Daily Gazette
[email protected]. so we talked to them Tuesday at the media availability Union will be heading on the road this weekend. So Union women had their home openers split with RIT winning 40 on Friday and lost four three in overtime on Saturday. They'll head they'll be home again this weekend, 12th rank Penn State coming in. We'll hear from a assistant coach, Sean Skelly and players Matty Souter and Jill Willis, who is from South Glens Falls. Then Adam Schindler will be here with his weekly look at area college football and bad Saturday. Last week for union blew a lead, lost in overtime. Then they're Liberty League open now looking at a one in four record. And really, it could be a season where it's fading away quickly. I know it's early October, but it's, it's gonna be tough to come back. The unions want to buy this week that may get their heads heads together and we'll see what happens. We'll also talk about ualities when at Cornell last Saturday. So coming up, we're going to hear from the union, college men's and women's teams from their media availability on Tuesday. You're listening to the parting shots podcast.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Speed, skill, physicality, home to college hockey's.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: Elite teams, coaches and student athletes.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: ECAC hockey, twelve programs competing at the highest level.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: A league where champions are born and.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: World class professionals are trained, where history.
[00:02:41] Speaker C: Is abundant and a commitment to the.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Cutting edge is unrivaled.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: The best facilities, the fiercest competition, ECAC hockey.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: There's no experience like it.
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[00:03:06] Speaker D: Hi, this is Union College men's hockey head coach Josh Hojie. You're listening to the parting shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. And it's our weekly segment with the Union College men's and women's hockey. They have their media availability every Tuesday so we get a chance to talk to the players and coaches. Of course, you heard Union men's head coach Josh how to you on his weekly segment on the parting shots podcast on Wednesday. Talk about the army win. And looking ahead to this weekend's games at Stonehill and number three, Boston University. It's going to be really contrast in styles. Obviously. Stonehill, second year in division one, went two and 34 last year. Union beat them in two games at Mesa over Thanksgiving.
Stone Hill has a new coach, David Berard.
Stonehill won its opener on Sunday, beating Merrimack three two in overtime.
And we had players for Union were Colin Ferguson, Kaden Viegas and Colby MacArthur. And as I said at the top of the show, Colby MacArthur will feature him in my opening face off column, which will appear
[email protected] and the print edition on Friday. Colby came in out of the man of the Maritime Hockey League at 75 points his final year and came to union and struggling, struggled early on. He really couldn't get his footing in freshman year. But slowly but surely last season, he started to gain his confidence and gain the confidence of the coaching staff and became more of a regular player in the lineup. And he made a spectacular play in Saturday on Sunday's overtime win over army, the four three game he keeps the pie dives to keep the puck away from army and which could have led to a three on one, three on nothing down the other run to the ice and MacArthur ends up making a perfect pass to pro Cobb, who's all alone in the slot, and he just buried the shot past goaltender even Zari to win the game 58 seconds into sudden death over time. So let's hear from Colin Ferguson, Kaden Villegas and Colby MacArthur.
[00:05:20] Speaker E: Guys, you have interesting games this weekend going to Stone Hill, a small arena and then to third rank BU, a team that reached the national frozen for last year. Colin, how big is this weekend? How do you stay focused trying to make sure you take care of Stone Hill before you hit the bull.
[00:05:39] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, there's. Every weekend's big in college hockey, there's no easy game. So I think the most important thing is that this group just takes it one game at a time, and we focus on the Stone hill on Friday. And then once we've done that, then we move on to Bu on Saturday.
You know, like I said, there's no easy game in college hockey, so every.
[00:05:57] Speaker E: Weekend is a big weekend.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:00] Speaker D: We prepare for Stonehill. That's game one for us.
[00:06:03] Speaker E: That's what's on our mind.
[00:06:04] Speaker D: And then after that, we follow up to bu. It'll be fun both of those nights.
[00:06:08] Speaker E: We'll be ready for it.
[00:06:10] Speaker F: Yeah. Coach. How she always has started the year. Just focus on us for now. Obviously, you're going into Stonehill and bus first couple games of the year. Got to focus on them a little bit. But for now, we're just going to focus on ourselves and go in there and get a couple wins.
[00:06:24] Speaker E: Looking back at the game on Sunday, calling me four three overtime win, it was a tough game against army. What, did you like watching the video afterwards?
[00:06:34] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, I thought we were making a lot of plays. We were fast removing the Puckwell. I honestly think we gave them all three goals. So we have to clean up those mistakes defensively. But it's early on in the season and that's gonna happen. We're gonna make mistakes. Nobody's perfect. Rather us making mistakes now than in February. So I'm just honestly really excited about the group and new guys coming up, and I saw a lot of.
There's a lot to be excited about.
[00:07:02] Speaker E: How much can an overtime start? How much can an overtime win like that just kind of jumpstart us season? Obviously, you know, go one or two ways in there in the first game of the year, you want to start up well, so how much can that kind of jumpstart things?
[00:07:14] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, it's electric. You love being back in the mess of. With the mess of faithful. They bring it every single night and nothing gets that building rocking like an overtime win. So it was awesome. It was great to be a part of, but now we move on and we look forward to this weekend.
[00:07:29] Speaker E: And what does it say about this group? Just that you guys have the conversation, resiliency to. Every time they answered, you guys came up with your own answer until the final.
[00:07:39] Speaker D: Yeah, it's a good question. I actually like that. That was my favorite part about the whole game. Is that we would get up and then they would come back, but we just stuck with it. I think there's been times in the past where we really have just been deflated by a goal that they've scored. And I think that shows that we're a more mature hockey team and we're top ten age for college hockey. And I think that maturity showed in the game that we just stuck to it. Kemper was the grindstone, and we got the win in the end.
[00:08:10] Speaker E: Colby, for you, you came in here with a lot of good stats last year in the maritime Hockey league and the freshman year, you didn't see much action.
What was the spark that maybe got you realizing maybe junior hockey and college hockey were two different animals?
[00:08:29] Speaker F: Yeah. Come from the maritime hockey league. Obviously, the speed of college hockey and the size of people are just. It's a whole different level. I think it comes down to this trust from the coaches and trust in myself that I can play here. And obviously it took a year and a bit to get in the lineup consistently, but I think it's time to. I think I've turned it on a little bit better, and it's all about trust from the coaches and with my teammates, everything.
[00:08:57] Speaker E: Was it frustrating at first?
You weren't sitting in the stand and watching games instead of playing?
[00:09:04] Speaker F: Obviously, everyone wants to play every game. Right? But no, I think it was good for me to come from the Maritime Hockey league, where it's a high scoring league, put up some points and come here and focus on the defensive to get trust from the coaches and then chipping offensively as I get in.
[00:09:21] Speaker E: That's not a league that many college players come from. You don't see. So how did you end up with union?
[00:09:28] Speaker F: Yeah, I played in Team Canada east, which we actually won silver. We won silver. So I think that's where the kind of. They first showed interest. And then we went to nationals and we won my american market, Summerside, western Capitals. It's all those little tournaments you play in. You get recognition, but I'm very fortunate to come out of there.
[00:09:55] Speaker E: Was it Josh recruited you?
[00:09:56] Speaker F: I was actually recruited with TJ ministry junior and Rick Bennett. But how g. When he got the job, called me right away and he said he still wanted me, so I'm very grateful.
[00:10:08] Speaker E: When did you start getting more confident? Last season. When do you think everything clicked for you?
[00:10:14] Speaker F: Yeah, I think just the more you practice with guys, right. These guys are all, do you want hockey players like, you come from the Maritime Hockey League and you don't see many of those guys, the more you practice with them and the games I got into, it really just comes down to confidence.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Talk about that.
[00:10:33] Speaker E: You were on the ice there at the start of the overtime on Sunday. You made the play. To just describe what happened on that play and just being able to set up John with the game winner.
[00:10:43] Speaker F: Yeah, Parker actually made a really good play at the blue line, got me the puck and I hit John backdoor. Goldie made a really nice save, and instead of staying high f three, I thought John was going to bear that one. So I kind of crept down. So it was kind of a desperation dive to get the pucks. They would have went down probably two on zero. So it ended up being really lucky. And obviously, you get John in a breakaway, he's probably going to score. So.
[00:11:04] Speaker E: Yeah, we had all the three army players with you there. So you saw John open there. It was pretty easy pass.
[00:11:10] Speaker F: Yeah. Get John the puck. Good things happen.
[00:11:14] Speaker E: Colin, you've been here with Colby, his three years here. What influence have you seen?
[00:11:21] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, like you said, I honestly think that, like, coming in freshman year, he didn't, like, step in right away, which is like pretty normal. Like he was just getting accustomed to the league. I think I had to do the same thing. I think every player goes through that.
And then I really saw the beginning of last year, the plays he was making him practice and how well he saw the ice, that there really was something there. And it just came down to, like, getting that opportunity. I think that that's huge in hockey.
I saw something in him from, like, day one last year. I roomed with him, too, so you kind of understand that.
I don't know, like canadian guy, he loves the game and he's not going to settle for sitting in the stands. So it just came down and once you got the opportunity, he took it and run with it. And I'm excited for him and I hope he keeps doing that.
Yeah. Freshman year, Mac, he came in and obviously was trying to find his role, but even when he wasn't in the lineup, he was still the best teammate he could possibly be. And then over these past two years, he's really grown as a player and just exceeded what some might have thought he'd done. But he's just taken it to a whole other level.
It just comes with his confidence.
[00:12:29] Speaker E: You can see it.
[00:12:29] Speaker D: He's making high level plays in practice and in games, too. So it's what we need out of him. We need him to be a big player for us this year. And really produce.
[00:12:40] Speaker E: So it's good to see he's playing with that confidence and we expect that the whole year. Do you expect to have a breakout here offensively this year?
[00:12:46] Speaker F: Yeah, hopefully. Obviously it's trusted in every scenario, whether it's 675 pk power play, whatever helps the team win, really.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: Now let's move over to the Union women's side. The corner Chargers split their two game series against Rit last weekend. They won the home opener for nothing. They play look good in that game and then they'll slip back a little bit on Saturday and drop the 43 overtime decision to the Tigers. So Union standing two and two so far on the season. The Garner Charger have a big test this weekend. 12th ranked Penn State comes to Mesa for two games. Union actually went up to Penn State last year, won the two game series and won the first game up there. Of course, that unfortunately proved to be the final win of the season because they'll drop the next 13 after that. So. So it's gonna be interesting. Test for the Garner Chargers this weekend against Penn State.
Head coach Tony Macy again was not at media availability. He missed last weekend's games cause of an illness. He seems to still trying to be on the men here, so we did not have him available for Tuesday. Sean Skelly once again took Tony's place. Also joining Tony on the Dais was Maddie Suiter, who scored two goals in that Friday game, and South Glen's falls native Jill Willis, who scored her first collegiate goal in Saturday's game. So let's hear from Sean Skelly, Maddie Souter and Jill Willis.
[00:14:17] Speaker E: Sean, can you give us an update on Tony's situation? You coached this weekend, last weekend. You got the coaching again this weekend?
[00:14:28] Speaker C: Yeah, right now he's just unavailable.
Myself and Tina and Courtney are running the show right now and yeah, that's all I can comment right now.
[00:14:39] Speaker E: Is he looking at the games following you guys?
[00:14:42] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh yeah. He's very intrigued in everything that's going on and just from afar right now.
Yeah, he's, he's still coaching.
[00:14:53] Speaker E: How would you assess the game against RT? In watching both of those on ESPN plus the Friday game, you guys were just tenacious and going out. Maybe Saturday was a little off on that situation, but you know, we end up losing it overtime. So how would you assess the weekend?
[00:15:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I would say Friday we came out with tons of energy. I thought we executed a lot more at a higher pace. We were making plays. We finished some bucks.
We limited them on offense as well. So I thought it was a really good 60 minutes performance. Obviously, home openers should have a little more energy and then getting to the back to back on Saturday, I thought we were a little late on some of our plays and allowed them a little more opportunity to have substantial ozone time, which in return got us a little more tired. And, yeah, I think they generated a little bit more than they got on Friday.
I would say it was a big. You call it the TSN turning point, the no goalie interference call late in the second period that tied the game and then they scored the next shift. So I thought that was a huge momentum swing for them.
We had a lot of resilience, though, in the third and to make it a tie. Game three three and over time, just a tough break. Clara falling and then it ended up being a three on two and Earl scored at high School.
[00:16:23] Speaker E: Patty, how would you assist the weekend?
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think Friday we came out pretty hard and I think that we're making quick plays and moving our feet a lot. And I think we. We kind of lost that a little bit in Saturday and I think that we were almost second guessing ourselves a little bit. So I think going into this weekend, we need to get back to how we were on Friday.
[00:16:44] Speaker E: You scored two goals in that Friday game, or how good did that feel?
[00:16:49] Speaker B: It was definitely really good. I got told during the intermission that it was actually my 100th game, which I did not know. So that was very exciting that I was able to do that in my 100th game.
[00:17:00] Speaker E: Jill, for you, why would you assess the weekend?
[00:17:03] Speaker B: I agree with both of them. Friday was definitely more of a fun game for us. High pace. Making the right play is just simple and I think we. On Saturday, it was a bit more complicated for us and we just got to get back to our game for Penn State.
[00:17:16] Speaker E: But you had your first career goal being from South Glenn's falls.
How did it feel to be able to score in our own weekend debut?
[00:17:25] Speaker B: It definitely felt amazing. Still think about it, but there's many more to come, so I'm excited for that.
[00:17:30] Speaker E: How did you end up choosing union?
[00:17:33] Speaker B: Honestly, it wasn't that hard of a decision. As soon as I stepped on campus, I knew that this was the one for me and I was recruited by Josh, but I still. These coaches are amazing, so it just feels like home.
[00:17:44] Speaker E: Well, let's look ahead to this weekend. Nationally ranked Penn State's coming to town. You weren't here with the team last year, but they won up there. They split the series up there at Penn State.
How big of a test is this for the team?
[00:17:58] Speaker C: Yeah, it's obviously our toughest test so far this year. I think we got to get back to our game, which really, we played the second game against RMU and really Friday night against RIT.
If we can play on our toes and not on our heels and be able to execute with high pace the way that we want to play the game really every night, I think we got a really good chance to, I guess you could call it pull the upset or surprise some people. I don't think it would surprise anybody in our dressing room. I think we understand what we have to work with and what our potential is, and I think, again, it's just everybody maximizing their potential and showing up on Friday and then we'll work to Saturday.
[00:18:42] Speaker E: Matt, you were there for the upset last year. What was the key to winning that first game up there at Penn State?
[00:18:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I remember we played that full 60 minutes and, well, 65 plus overtime. We ended up winning that game in overtime. And I think that we were just rolling every line after shift after shift and it really showed how, like, skilled we were, we could keep up with them. And I think that that built a lot of confidence into us and I think that that's carrying over from the girls who are returning, turning into this weekend as well.
[00:19:12] Speaker E: And what point will it be to play like that starting Friday?
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Very, very, very important. I think that we will need all players in on it in order to win this weekend.
[00:19:25] Speaker E: Coach, obviously, this is an off season where you guys came in a little bit later because of Josh leaving and you guys get brought in, you're leading.
[00:19:37] Speaker D: The way, you and the assistants.
[00:19:38] Speaker E: So just how have you guys kind of taken on that challenge of you guys are already kind of getting used to a lot working your way into the season and now here you guys are leading the way.
[00:19:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's a day by day process. Luckily, like for myself, I come from a background of being a head coach for the last six years before coming here, and that was something that I think was really attractive for Tony and trying to get me here. It's been fantastic, obviously, getting to know all our players each and every day, trying to establish those relationships and try to buy into the way that we want to play the game. And I think they've done a great job of that. Obviously, there's going to be hiccups along the road and a lot of change and we have a lot of new players as well. And I think it's exciting at the same time for our staff and we'll, we'll all get back together here soon and, you know, it'll be like nothing happened.
[00:20:36] Speaker A: Let's head to the gridiron, talk college football with Adam Schindler. He'll look back at union's bad loss of St. Lawrence and Ulmuddy's victory over Cornell last Saturday. You're listening to the parting shots podcast.
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[00:21:36] Speaker D: Hi, this is Joe Watson, two times.
[00:21:38] Speaker A: Stanley cup champion with the Philadelphia Flyers.
[00:21:41] Speaker D: You're listening to parting shots podcast with.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: Daily Gazette sports editor and upstate New York's number one flyer fan, Kenshaw.
[00:21:50] Speaker E: Make sure you tune in.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. Let's hit the gridiron now. Area college football talk with the Gazettes Adam Schindler. And Adam it's a bye week for the Union football team, but maybe it's a bye bye to their season after really a devastating, maybe in a way, inexcusable loss, 27 24 overtime to the union to St. Lawrence last Saturday at St. Lawrence. The game, they were up comfortably, and then it got away from him.
[00:22:15] Speaker G: Yeah, this was just not a game that worked in any way for them. They're up 24 to ten early in the fourth quarter and then just everything fell apart. Gave up two touchdown drives. Offense couldn't get anything going. Really kind of started with the drive that ends up with the field goal that makes it 24/7 they start at the St. Lawrence 15 yard line after a botched punt snap leads to an intentional grounding penalty on the St. Lawrence. Punters trying to throw the ball away. They only move the ball four yards. They get a field goal. They're up 14. They're up 24 ten. At that point, you're still thinking it's pretty comfortable because the St. Lawrence offense really hadn't been able to do anything for most of the day. And then union lets them march down the field twice.
Union then can't get anything going.
They have a chance. They get to ball about the 25 yard line in the fourth quarter, that last drive of the game with a chance to set up a winning field goal. And it's a division three kicker, so you're probably not especially. They'd replaced their kicker heading into the last two games. Francesco Pelegi has been taking over field goals and extra points for them. They reach a point where you're probably not comfortable having him try a 45, 50 yard field goal. And then without any timeouts left, they just run out of time and run out of space. Don't even get a chance to win the game in regulation. Don't score an overtime and then turn it over.
[00:23:46] Speaker A: Wasn't there like a sack or something there?
[00:23:48] Speaker G: Yeah, there was an intentional grounding penalty.
The problem was they had 7 seconds left. They're on about the 30 yard line. They're in kind of no man's land. Patch Flanagan's pressured, tries to get rid of the ball. I think the clock had run out anyway. So the fact that it was intentional grounding didn't really matter, but just really not a. Not an endgame sequence that had worked for him. And then defense did its job on its possession in overtime. But St. Lawrence after the unit, after Patch Flanagan threw an interception and then St. Lawrence moves the ball a couple yards, kicks a manageable field goal to win the game.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I know there's no immediate availability this week because the team is up. But who's to blame?
[00:24:31] Speaker G: Who's to blame?
The passing game still has not found its rhythm very clearly. Patch Flanagan again, under 50% completion for about 100 yards. But the offense moved the ball. The offense moved the ball. Patch Flanagan and a lot of it's. Yes, added by an 87 yard touchdown run. He ran the ball for 200 plus yards in this game. One of the great union college single game rushing performances of all time and almost certainly the best ever single game performance by a quarterback.
The 87 yard run, by the way, the fourth longest run from scrimmage in the 130 year history of Union college football.
The problem this year has seemed to be on defense and the fact that when their pass, at least in this game, when their pass rush didn't get home, they just struggled to cover and make plays in the secondary and they let St. Lawrence move the ball through the air in the fourth quarter. St. Lawrence's rushing offense essentially did nothing throughout this entire game. They netted twelve yards. And yes, some of that was the botched punt play. But this union team, it just kind of got into a shell, couldn't get home. They got pressure on, on the St. Lawrence quarterback, Daniel Lothar, a few times, but they couldn't get home. And then some of those broken plays just turned into plays where they couldn't have. They couldn't cover down the field. St. Lawrence drives for two touchdowns and unions one and four.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: That's a question.
Maybe, is Patch Flanagan maybe better off being a running back?
[00:26:05] Speaker G: I mean, he's made some places. I think the big problem they have, that's the difference between the last two years. Union has a lot of possession receivers, and they haven't found the guy who can stretch the field. Two years ago, they had Andre Ross and Nicholas Donnemande, which was the best receiving combination in the Liberty League. Even on that team that struggled, they could blow the top off a defense at any point. Last year, Landers green kind of filled that role. All those guys have either transferred or graduated at this point. And while Robbie Tolbert, Isaiah Russell, Tommy Leonard, Gil Rivera, they're all sort of solid possession or slot receivers, they haven't been able to make teams respect the big play in the passing game, which has let these teams really crash down defensively, crowd the box, and if you're not going to be super, super efficient throwing the ball that way, then it's a hard way to try and put things on your running game.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: Yeah, we say Russell had three receptions for 32 yards, Robbie Tolbert three for 30. You look at, say, Lawrence, Oscar ball went seven for 97.
[00:27:07] Speaker G: Yeah, and that's a tight end. So that's another thing that union has not really developed in that offense. But the bigger thing you have to look at is they're not generating anything downfield. I mean, their longest pass play was 17 yards. And in this day and age, you need to be able to generate explosive plays in the pass.
[00:27:23] Speaker A: And St. Lawrence was 32 yards. So that tells a story right there. Wait, what does John Drock have to do during his bye week to get this team back?
[00:27:32] Speaker G: I mean, this is a. I think, you know, you get down to brass tacks, you know, you strip everything down. You figure out, okay, what's worked for us, because in pretty much every game they've had things that worked for them. And let's not forget, they were up 24 ten in this game. Even though they, they struggled a bit in the red zone, they moved the ball. I mean, they ran the ball for 298 yards. They averaged seven and a half yards of carry. And even if you throw away the patch, Flanagan 87 yard run, it's 39 carries for 211 yards, which is a really, really good game any way you cut it.
And I think you're five games in, you've played four games on the road, you've lost all four on the road. You figure out what you're doing. Well, you probably figure out, okay, are there some personnel that we either need to feature more or some guys that we haven't featured that we need to start getting in there? Is it time for some younger guys who are deeper down on the bench to get a look?
When you're at this point, you just don't know. And the fact that they've got a bye week and a home game against Buffalo State, who's a team that's really traditionally struggled at the bottom of the Liberty League, they absolutely cannot afford, if they want to make anything out of this season, to let things go next weekend.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: Where is this team's confidence.
[00:28:54] Speaker G: At this point? I would say it can't be particularly high when they've lost, you know, in four games, in four pretty different ways. But, you know, confidence is. Confidence is one win away and one good quarter away from. From changing.
[00:29:09] Speaker A: Well, speaking of confidence, I think you all but got its confidence back last Saturday, headed out to Ithaca to take on Cornell, the upper the Ivy League, and came away with a 31 ten win. Much needed win, even. It's not a coastal athletic association, but it's a win.
[00:29:25] Speaker G: Yeah, this was a win that this team needed, and it was the first time that UAlbany looked like the 2023 UAlbany. You know, they made big plays on offense, you know, big plays in the passing game. The running game was really, really good, even though Griffin Waddell seems to still be a little bit hampered by what appears to be an offseason shoulder injury, which meant that Faisal, Aidan and Jojo Ugae kind of really took command. But this was the hey, we needed to get back and show we could do this. And this was a game that early on, it actually looked a lot like the way union was struggling the first half. Ualbany dominated this game. They moved the ball up and down the field, and then they couldn't do anything in the red zone. They settled for a 37 yard field goal. They were stopped on a brotherly shove quarterback sneak attempt at the end zone, which was probably down to whenever the whistle blew because it sure looked on replay like Miles Burkett had at one point reached the ball over the plane of the goal line. But don't know when the. Couldn't really tell when the whistle blew on the replay. So it's a tough overturn on the last play of the first half. And then they also settled for an 18 yard field goal from the 1 yd line. So a game where they were move the ball all day and they had six points at halftime, were down seven to six. But first offensive play of the second half for Ualbany was 52 yard touchdown pass to Jakari Carter. They kept up the momentum and really. Yeah, they looked like the team they want to be.
And like, this was the recipe from 2022, other than getting up early 2023. The big thing was they got up early in a lot of their games, pulling away in the second half. And obviously, a couple of late, it was a close game that they pulled away with two touchdowns in the last three minutes.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: Now they had to go back on the road for that cA, game at Bryant. What do we know about Bryant?
[00:31:23] Speaker G: Yeah, Bryant's, you know, a team that's one of the newer additions to the, to the CAA just had a big in state rivalry win over Brown. They've been, they've been up and down this season. They're two and three, and this is a two, a two week stretch here where Ualbany can really kind of turn its season around. They've got back to back. They're all CAA the rest of the way from here, and they've got two middle, bottom of the pack teams coming up in Bryant this week and then home against Elon for their homecoming game. They can win these two games. All of a sudden, they're four and three. They're two and one in the CAA, and you're feeling a lot better about yourself because that's essentially the situation they were at this point last year. It's just they'd played those two FBS games last year, and they looked really. They'd played two really tight games and they'd. And they'd already had their really impressive win over a really good Villanova team. This, you know, but this is a situation that if you can get those two wins, your four and three going into New Hampshire, who's one of the better teams in the CAA? You're feeling a lot better about yourself, but this Bryant game will be very telling. It's another road game. They've played a, a lot of road games so far. This will be, you know, four out of six on the road, and, you know, they can, they can make things go and they've, they've found some things offensively and if their running game can continue to be what it was and if their run defense continues to be what it was against Cornell, this team is going to be feeling a lot better.
[00:32:47] Speaker A: I mean, it's nice. They lost the main, their first conference game, so you got to one on one after Saturday, just puts them right back in the, in the thick of things.
[00:32:57] Speaker G: Yeah, they're, they're in an. Absolutely. You know, the CAA is a chaos leak every single year. There's always, you know, strange games. Even last year when Ualbany, you know, they dominated most of their games. They had a really close early game against Towson on the road and Towson was not anywhere near the top of the league by the end of the season. And they lost to New Hampshire.
And New Hampshire, again, was not one of the teams that was really in the conversation for a league championship. So Maine had been a team that until the last couple of years had been one of the constant bugaboo teams. Maybe it was just a hiccup. And this Ualbany team, which is finding its identity with a whole lot of new starters, maybe they're a second half team. And it wouldn't surprise me. They're a team that even in the likes of like 2022 when they struggled offensively or struggled defensively, were playing much better football at the end of that season. So this could be a team that could find its sea legs and especially if the running back combination and the offensive line find a is right and the passing game is as efficient as it was, you know, where Miles Burkett was, you know, plus 65% completion percentage against Cornell. That's the recipe for this team.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: Well, we'll see what happens. And of course our eagles back in action Sunday. I did hear that Jalen Hurts had a turnover in the bi week. Oh, good for him.
So we won't talk about the Phillies. By the time we put this up, they could be eliminated or have a game five on Friday. So don't worry about that, Adam, appreciate we'll do this again next week.
[00:34:21] Speaker G: Absolutely.
[00:34:21] Speaker A: That's Adam Schindler. We're back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winners in the Daily Gazettes. You pick them football contest. There's a familiar name you might hear in that winner's contest and the auto racing contest. You're listening to the parting shots podcast.
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Hi, this is Union college head football coach John Drock. You're listening to the parting shots podcast with the Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott. Back to wrap up the podcast. And before we get into the winners of the you pick them and auto racing contest, just a little message for Elon Musk, the person who bought Twitter, turned in an ex and really has ruined the social media platform. Why do you musk minions keep shutting me down while I'm posting about the union hockey. I don't understand that. I'm not posting any misinformation. I'm posting facts. People want to see what I'm posting, what I'm. What's going on with the hockey game?
I don't know what the heck is wrong. I got to pass a test to prove I'm human.
I don't. I don't get it. What's your problem?
Seriously?
I'm doing good work. People love what I do, and you're trying to shut me down.
Please get a grip.
I'm not. I'm not. Like I said, I'm not putting out this information.
Stop making shut. Trying to temporarily shut down my.
My account. It's really stupid of you. You and your musk minions. I don't. I don't get it. Just leave me alone. Try to go after people are posting disinformation. Maybe start with yourself.
The week five winner in the Daily Gazettes, you pick a football contest was Michael Masatilli of Schenectady with a twelve and two record. Michael wins a dollar 100 Hannaford gift card. Congratulations, Michael. The vip winners were my buddy John Keller for the second straight week. He's from KD O'Burns and Adam Schinder, my colleague here at the. They were both ten and four. I was eight and six. To improve the 45 and 33, and Adam is 46 and 32, I'll announce the you pick Em football contest winner's name. And that winner's name will appear in Thursday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailyGazette.com and click on the you pick em football banner.
The week 31 winner in the Daily Gazette's auto racing contest was Charles Krahula of Schenectady, or I think he's a Schenectady with 35 points. Charles wins a dollar 50 gift card. Congratulations, Charles. The vip winner was Nick playtel Grand premier tire with 45 points. I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the auto racing contest banner.
Just because Covid-19 mandates are easing, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, and do it for your friends.
Don't forget to download the Daily Gazette app and sign up for our e edition so you never miss a headline. Subscribe today at www.dailygazette.com. we have a lot of great specials going on when credibility matters, trust the Daily Gazette. That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots podcast. I want to thank members of the union, college, Benzema and women's hockey teams and Adam Schindler for being part of the show. If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email to be at shot. That's sch o t taily gazette.com. follow me on x as long as Elon Musk doesn't shut me down and threads at slapshots.
The views expressed on the parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schatz. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the parting Shots podcast studio in schedule, New York. Good day, good sports.
