[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: The following program is brought to you in living color on elliot gazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
The Gazette News Group presents the Parting Shots Podcast. Now here's your host, Gazette News Group sports editor Ken Shot. Thank you, Scott Geezy, and welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me for the Party Shots podcast studio.
It's our weekly visit with Union Med's head hockey host, Josh Algee. Josh, welcome back. How's it going?
[00:00:37] Speaker A: It's going well. Yourself?
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Not too bad. Can't complain. Matt, before you came in, as mentioned, before you came in, I talked with Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad. I will be on my Thursday podcast. That was a thrill talking about life as a rock star.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it's got to be some interesting stories there.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll hear that tomorrow. Or the Thursday podcast. So. Well, let's look back at last weekend. It was another good one for the Garner Chargers as they kept up their offensive attack.
This time the victim was Niagara, which had to weather the Storm at MNT Bank Center. Friday's game was close to 32 come from behind victory. But Saturday's game was not close at all. A6 nothing route. Just your general observations of the weekend.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: You know, two different wins, excited to see how the guys could, could find a way to get both done.
Friday sticking with it and not getting frustrated even though the puck just wasn't falling. And then Saturday to have a, a bit of a killer instinct and you know, to keep their, their foot on the gas pedal.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Let's start with Friday's game. The Purple Eagles get the first goal when the MA scores 513 into the game. Tyler Dunbar, the Colorado College transfer, ties it at 1 with 6:07 left in the period. Union out shot Niagara 176 in the first. But it's only 1 1. Did you feel like you dominated the period?
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Well, I actually thought Niagara had a really good four check in the first, you know, 10 minutes of the game and kind of frustrated us a little bit. They were physical. They were on us right away. But just as we got used to that, I thought we started breaking pucks out better and then kind of, you know, possessed the puck and just kind of had some good quality chances offensively.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: Well, the second period gets off to a tough start as Marshall Finney tipped in a Mitchell Becker right point shot to give Niagara a 21 lead. And the score stays that way as the period ends. And again Union out shoots Niagara 157 this time in the period and 3213 through two periods, this is starting to feel like that opener against Army West Point where you're doing dominating the shots on the goal but not the scoreboard.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, the guys, you know, just kind of regrouped in the, in between the second and third and, you know, didn't feel sorry for themselves. They had, you know, a ton of chances but just again, we didn't, didn't convert and, you know, glad they kept the mindset of just focusing on their next shift and just kind of sticking with the way we had been playing.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Well, let's move to the third period. And Union catches a break over six minutes into the frame. Riley Bruik forced a turnover in the Niagara right wing corner. He gets the puck to Connor Smith in the right circle and, and Smith beats goalie Davis Rolovs to tie the score too. How big of a goal was it and would you say that changed the game's momentum?
[00:03:07] Speaker A: I think that, you know, it just kind of gave us the certainty to just, you know, stick with what we were doing. And it was a great shot. He one timed it. Just a quick release and a nice play by Riley to get him the puck. And yeah, I thought it was a, you know, I don't know if I felt like we were in control, but again, when you're down 2:1, you're not. So, yeah, you could say it was a turning point.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: Well, Union gets a power play with 654 left. That's when Jonathan Zischke is called for tripping Union, which had just one power play goal in the first three games made Ziske and the Purple Eagles pay. Etienne Lessard kept the puck in the zone at the right point. He slid it over to Brandon Burr at the top of the slot. Brandon didn't really get a lot on the shot. In fact, it was a knuckle that found its way into the net with 6:14 left to give Union a 32 lead. I think, Josh, it was sort of a broken play. Just from where I was sitting in the press box, I had a good view of, of fy press boxy. Was it really a broken play that set, that set everything up?
[00:04:01] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. It just kind of, you know, an entry where we didn't get in clean and then, you know, as you mentioned, Lessard holds the puck in and makes a nice play to get it over to Brandon. And Brandon again, you know, didn't, didn't settle it down. He just one timed it and you know, I think that's, that's a huge key for Us scoring is just, you know, having a quick release and getting pucks as quick as possible.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: Yeah, Union does give. Does not give Niagara much of a chance of getting a tying goal.
[00:04:27] Speaker C: And.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: And Union wins. 3, 2. A good start to the weekend.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a good comeback. You know, that's a couple games in a row now. We're able to show the wherewithal to come back even though things didn't go our way and, you know, a positive outcome.
[00:04:39] Speaker B: Well, let's hear from the goal scorers. Brandon Burr, Connor Smith and Tyler Dunbar.
Guys, for two periods, you had 32 shots on goal with just one goal going into that third period. Brandon, how frustrating was that, or were you guys getting frustrated?
[00:04:57] Speaker D: I mean, it's definitely not ideal when we're not scoring those chances, but we were getting those chances, so we weren't too worried. Like, when our coach came, Houch came in third period, he's like, just keep sticking with it. It's gonna come. Don't get frustrated.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: So we did.
[00:05:08] Speaker D: So it worked out.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: It got out. Where was the stick of the process to keep firing pucks until something happened?
[00:05:14] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, like you said, we had 32 after the second. I think if we're getting 32 shots on that, we're doing something right. So, I mean, he came in after the second period, coach did and the second said, just to keep doing what you're doing, it's going to go in. And that's what happened.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: Talk about your goal there. I mean, look, they probably. Nice drop pass off the turnover.
[00:05:31] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, it was a good 4 check from Boos, and then their defense had kind of mishandled the puck and then Bru came flying off the bench and I was calling for it and he found me.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: Did it seem a sense of relief to get it to 2:2 at that point, maybe change momentum a little bit? Yeah, for sure.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: I think.
[00:05:47] Speaker E: I mean, not just for Arlene, but the whole team. I think it just got us going and then Brandon responded a couple minutes later, so clearly got us going.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Yeah, Brandon, talk about that because it seemed like it was a broken play and was it enough to. Puck shot. Oh.
[00:06:03] Speaker F: Oh, yeah.
[00:06:03] Speaker D: Knuckle puck five. Well, I'm struggling raising it right now, but it's working, so I'll take it.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: It seemed like I said it was a broken play, but the puck is barely kept in the zone. Just some of those things just.
You're fortunate to get that.
[00:06:17] Speaker D: Yeah, I'd say so. I think puck clock's been on my side recently.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: So pretty lucky. Tyler, for you. Your first goal with Union.
How does that feel?
[00:06:26] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean, it feels great. Obviously been wanting this one to come for a while, so happy to get it done at home too. That was fun.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Does it feel good now? Just. I know it's just second game you're at home, but you feel to get a win finally here in this building. What is it?
[00:06:40] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean, it's awesome. Love the energy tonight and you know, there's definitely no better feeling than winning at home.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: Grant, your thoughts on that?
[00:06:49] Speaker D: Yeah, no, the energy was great. Like, it's definitely nice breaking the new building, finally getting that win.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: You guys had 40 shots over 40 shots of both last three games. And then the Army West Point just missed out on 40. Do you like the way the offense is going right now?
[00:07:05] Speaker E: I mean, yeah, for sure. Not many nights you're going to be.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Able to put up 40.
[00:07:08] Speaker E: And we've done it pretty much every night, so I think we're clearly showing how offensive we can be.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Just got to keep continuing to put.
[00:07:15] Speaker E: The puck in the net and hopefully one goes in a little earlier tomorrow, but we'll see.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: Brandon, how do you feel about that?
[00:07:21] Speaker D: Yeah, I think Smitty said it perfectly. I mean, it's not easy doing that and kind of found our identity just getting pucks there. And hopefully again, Smitty said come a little over there next.
[00:07:33] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean, I agree.
As long as we're getting the chances, I feel like we're in a good spot and we have been so far and hopefully we're able to build off this.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: Let's take a break. We'll look back at Saturday's game and talk about what the team is doing this weekend without a game to play. And we'll talk about the team's victory song that comes from 1983. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:07:57] Speaker H: It's the most historic conference in college hockey.
It's a battle night in and night out.
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ECAC hockey, there's no experience like it.
[00:08:29] Speaker F: If you really want to know what's going on in your community, you have to read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side. We're right down the middle and we're gonna get to the truth. Our reporters and photographers are out in the field. Bringing you updates every minute with trust, accuracy and integrity from the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism. We're finding out what's going on in community where nobody else is covering. It's who we are. It's what we do.
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[00:09:18] Speaker B: Hi, this is.
[00:09:18] Speaker I: Union College hockey alum Brock Matheson. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Gazette News Group editor Ken Schott, joined by Union Maze head coach Josh Hause. Well, let's Talk about Game 2 against Niagara on Saturday and was a great game for the Garner Chargers, winning in a Route 6 nothing. The power play ignited the scoring, getting the game's first three goals.
Two came in the first period. Parker Lindauer tips home a Ben Muthers Bog shot at 9:09. The goal was originally credited Muthers bog, but we, we found out later, in fact found out on Tuesday from the sports information department that the goal was changed after the well, after the game. I thought Lindauer had scored it originally because he was the first one in the congratulatory line. Then Lindauer scored another power play goal 207 later, Talon Dunbar got the last one late in the second period to make it three nothing. The power play entered the weekend Josh with just one goal. You had four in the two games. How good was it to get the power play going, especially against a Niagara team that had been perfect on the penalty kill in its first three games? Yeah, let me turn your mic up there a second.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: It's one of those things where our power play was getting good looks and, you know, felt like they should have had some, but it didn't fall for him. And then, you know, this weekend kind of just got the benefit of it and, you know, a nice couple tips, getting to the net with the rebound, some traffic in front, you know, a lot of different ways that we scored. But you know, the key was getting the puck to the net, getting guys in front of their goalie and just finding ways to finish.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: Now the route was on in the third period as Carter, Korpi, Dunbar and Muthersbog scored to put the game away.
Was that about as perfect of a game as a team could play, 55 shots on goal all season high.
It was just like you killed all the penalties and you didn't give up any goals.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: Yeah, a lot of things to continue to build on. I thought, you know, Friday was a good game, but you know, the chances we gave up some turnovers where we're giving up odd man rushes and that's been a thing for us that we've been focusing on is, you know, not giving up free chances. And we have done that a lot. And Saturday night, that was the first game where we didn't give up any, you know. You know, we gave up some chances, but it wasn't freebies. Like it was stuff that Niagara earned. So was, was happy with that.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: You know, lost in the shuffle was that goalie Cameron Corpy recorded his first career shutout, making 24 saves. I looked up his Michigan stats from last season late in that third period and I saw some zeros next to it, but I thought he had two shutouts. But it turned out those zeros from games he played in relief. I mean, how good was he on Saturday?
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Yeah, he's, he's big. He's. He's so calm. I mean that's just.
Anytime there's anything that's a panic situation, he, he settles us down. And I thought, I thought he was outstanding on Saturday. He made, you know, every single save and, you know, made them all look fairly easy.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Well, let's hear from Dunbauer, Lynn Dower, Dunbar, Lynn Bauer, Ruth is bog and Cameron Corpi.
Guys, was this a about as perfect of a game as you can play? We'll start with Parker.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: I mean, I wouldn't say perfect, but it was pretty good. Like start to finish, 60 minute game, lots of shots, great defensive work, great goaltending, pretty good. I think we have better though.
[00:12:38] Speaker G: Yeah, I agree with everything Lindy said.
I thought we were really good for the majority of 60 Minutes tonight and. But obviously there's still another level we want to reach.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Ben, how important was it, the power play going? My first three goals were man advantage, especially getting two in the meter.
[00:12:57] Speaker I: Yeah, that was big. I mean, Lindy had a couple big goals to start us off, so obviously that gave us a little boost tonight and we needed that.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: Guys are just firing it all cylinders right now. Over 50 shots on point tonight.
You guys have been, you know, this 430 games with about 40 or more.
How much of this shooting mentality is helping you guys?
[00:13:23] Speaker I: Yeah, you know, it's big. Obviously getting that many shots and wearing down their goaltender is big and you know, it's coming from all, all four lines and the defense included. So yeah, everyone's kind of going right now and. And, you know, take these next two weeks to get ready for rpi if.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: We get with the three goals.
Feeling comfortable now?
[00:13:42] Speaker G: Yeah. I mean, it's been really easy to get comfortable from the beginning, but that's definitely a helper. Makes you feel like you fit in.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
Parker, for you, just you guys, three point life for you guys. What does that mean?
[00:13:58] Speaker C: I mean, it's good for your confidence, but, like, at the end of the day, like, I was just glad to see everybody contributing, like, up and down the lineup, like, all four lines contributed.
We had defense jumping in too, and obviously Cam staying on his head when I turned a couple pucks over, too.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Cath, for you getting to shut out your third career first year was. How does that feel?
[00:14:23] Speaker A: Feels good.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: It took a while, but just glad I could help the boys out for you guys. Man, once you got six, nothing was that at that point there, you trying to, you know, keep shot going.
[00:14:36] Speaker C: I mean, we wanted more too. Like, we stressed shooting the puck and not giving up, and that was kind of an identity game for us. At the end of the game, like, we don't want to give up and just sit back, so we wanted to keep pressing our foot on the gas. And obviously we scored a couple more after we were up like 4 0, which was huge. And then obviously it's rewarding to see Cam get a shutout.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: Too bad for you. How does it feel to get this game, getting stuff going here offensively?
[00:15:05] Speaker I: Yeah, you know, it's good. Obviously, like. Like Lindy said, everyone was contributing up and down the lineup and, you know, to see. See the jump in everyone's game tonight was. Was big to get the sweep.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: Tell me, tell me the awards of the electric happening mythic song.
[00:15:20] Speaker C: Yeah, that kind of came from coach Zanella.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: He.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: It was his idea. We want to bring it back. This is like the electric city. So, I mean, the boys love it. I hope the fans love it, and we want to keep hearing it game after game. So that's the plan.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: Well, the choice of Electric Avenue, the 1983 hit song by Eddie Grant, is the victory song for the Garnet Chargers. I must admit, it pleases me that this generation of kids know good classical music. I played that song a lot during my college radio years at WVYC at York College. I was there from 1981-85. 83 was a great year for music. What led to the team to picking that song?
[00:16:02] Speaker A: We as a staff, we're sitting around kind of coming up with different things we wanted to try to implement in the new building and whatnot. And we thought about how it would be cool if the, the student section was called like Electric Avenue. And so we put it on the wall and in our coaches board and just, we're just kind of bouncing off different ideas. And then I think the players, you know, kind of saw that and talked to, you know, the assistants about it and next thing you know, they, that is what they, they picked for their win song. So kind of a, you know, kind of a cool way to, you know, start some, start a new building off and a new tradition.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: So you're going to take it higher then?
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Well, Union has this weekend off which seems odd after playing just five games.
You'll be back in action next weekend with the ECZ hockey season opening two game series against rpi. I mean, is this a good time for bye weekend?
[00:16:55] Speaker A: You know, I like it. It gives us a chance to, you know, take a deep breath, really refocus and you know, we've spent some time this week working on skills and just doing a few different things to, you know, really try to make sure we're ready for next week because it's obviously going to be a very difficult match. When you play a rival in rpi.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: Are you happy with the way the team's playing? I mean the offense is, you know, getting shots on goal.
Four straight games of 40 or more shots on goal. Of course I mentioned earlier the 55 was a season high on Saturday night.
The power play was clicking. So I mean, are you happy with the way things are going right now?
[00:17:29] Speaker A: I think the guys are playing with a lot of confidence and there's a lot of belief in, you know, us behind the bench with them. And so I just think it's, it's one of those things when you have a lot of depth and you're trying to get everybody going to get a lot of guys to get rewarded is good. So yeah, I feel good about where the team's at.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: Well, we like to take questions from our listeners. We have a few of them this week. Allison Bennett asked, what are you working on during this bye week?
[00:17:56] Speaker A: You know, again, kind of working on our skill, skill development, continuing on our offensive play, just tracking back into the defensive zone and making sure that, you know, we're responsible. And then, you know, again, maybe not as physical, but a lot of pace here this week.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: Anthony Sacks has a couple of questions. His first one was, was Brendan Miles not dressing last weekend injury related?
[00:18:19] Speaker A: You know, for us just trying to Get a lot of different guys in is kind of been the focal point.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: And the second one. What are your expectations for Alex Lorenza in terms of role, his role and playing time this season?
[00:18:30] Speaker A: You know, Alex is a really high skilled, you know, young forward who, you know, his strengths would be his hockey iq, his ability to find plays in space.
He is, you know, a little bit lighter as coming in as a first year. So adding strength is going to be really important for him and something that we'll, we'll continue to focus on throughout the season. I think it's, it's one of those things he has enough talent to play in our top six and be a, you know, a goal scoring power play guy. But, you know, right now with his strength, it's hard for him to be on a checking defending line. So it's a little bit of, you know, learning how to play that way. But also he's a guy that's going to be a top six forward for us in the future. So we got to get him some of that experience. So, you know, as he's going, he might be in and out like you've seen right now, but we expect him to be a point producer, a guy that can, you know, really elevate and, you know, play with, you know, a lot of high end skill guys.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: Jim Calonne asked, how do you account for the significant early season shots total per game? Is it a better breakout, new personnel, and do you expect it to continue when facing Quinnipiac, Cornell, etc. I mean, you guys, the team averaged 29 shots per game last year. So far it's 46.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: You know, obviously when you're playing Quinnipiac and Cornell, they're some of the elite defensive teams in the country. So to sit here and say we're going to get, you know, 50 against them would be, I mean, that's, I don't know if anybody's got 50 against them and you know, in years, so.
But I do think a lot of, a lot of it is because we're not spending as much time in our defensive zone.
So I attribute that to some of the, you know, the depth we have at our back end. I think that's really a strength for us. Right now we have nine defensemen that can play.
You know, you look at what some of the new guys are doing in the minutes they're playing and the points they're putting up.
You know, in the past it's really kind of been John Prokop and then, you know, Nick Young defending and you know, Cullen, Ferguson, defending, and, you know, those guys are chipping in, but they're not offensive guys. It was mostly Johnny.
You know, this year I think we have a lot of different guys, and I think you've seen Nick Young even take a step offensively. So whether it's Tyler, Dunbar, you know, Lessard, Felicio, you know, Rose, even Miles, and, you know, I could go down the whole list. They've all chipped in union.
[00:20:52] Speaker B: Bob 1 on X is asking what changes were made over the last few weeks. Seem to be playing and passing better.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: So, yeah, I think our offensive identity against army was that that falls 100% on me.
You know, we were working on our habits and details and making sure we were competing at a high pace.
We didn't spend enough time with our offense and making sure that, you know, we had a plan and everybody knew where to go. And I think the guys really, you know, adjusted and have, you know, been playing off of each other and just the level of play they're. They're playing with a lot of confidence, and I think that's why you're seeing it.
[00:21:30] Speaker B: Well, thanks to everybody for those questions. If you have a question for Josh, you can email them to Shot. That's S C H o t
[email protected] or you can post them on Facebook on my personal page and the Parting Shots podcast page. You can also send them via bluesky X&threads at Slap Shots. Union came up with a couple of award winners on Monday, and you were pushing for Tyler Dunbar to be Player of the Week. He was named Defenseman of the Week and NTN Lassar was named Rookie of the Week. So how happy are you that they got the recognition?
[00:22:02] Speaker A: Yeah, glad to see those guys get rewarded. I thought, you know, they were definitely difference makers on the weekend. And, you know, I thought there was a lot of different guys that were, you know, worthy candidates. Obviously, they got to spread it around the league, though.
[00:22:14] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's good for them. The Daily Gazette ECAC hockey face off selections are back for another season. I'll post my picks usually on Wednesdays and then you can send your pics to me. I'll post those picks before the first game, usually on Fridays to play. Send your picks to shotdailygazette.com and Josh, as we wrap this up, it was not a good weekend for your Minnesota teams. Against my Philadelphia teams. The Flyers beat the Wild 21 in overtime on Saturday, and then the Eagles beat the Vikings 28:22 on Sunday and Carson Wentz looking like vintage 20:20 Carson Wentz for some of that game, I'm not sor.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I. Fortunately for me, my son had a hockey game, so I was checking the box score but was getting a little frustrated with the interceptions.
[00:22:56] Speaker B: I wasn't. It was. It was. Well, it was. It was a closer game that should have been. But, you know, you have Carson wins, you're stuck with him for us to see. I'm sorry about that. So. Well, Josh, thanks for coming in. We'll do this again next week as we get set to for the RPI series.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: Sounds great.
[00:23:09] Speaker B: All right, thanks. That's Josh Howsey. Coming up on Thursday's podcast, I'll have interview from Union media availability on Tuesday. On the men's side, we'll have forward Parker Lindauer and defenseman Nick Young. On the women's side will be head coach Tony Macy, forward Matty Leany and defenseman Stephanie Bourke. Union college football head coach John Drock stops by to talk about his team's 3 and O start in Liberty League play and Saturday's game at Ithaca. And I'll step out of the sports realm to speak with Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad. The legendary rock and roll band will be playing at Rivers Casino Event center next Thursday, so I hope you tune in.
The views expressed on the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Gazette News Group. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Gazette News Group. I'm Daily Gazette News Group sports editor Ken Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good hockey.
