MEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
Vermont closes the first half of the season with its second straight trip to New York State to face Union College at Messa Rink on Sunday (Dec. 20) at 4 p.m. UVM is making its first visit to Schenectady since 2005 and leads the all-time series 18-11-2 dating back to the first meeting in 1991. Pre-game coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com with Alastair Ingram on the call. Live video is also available on a pay-per-view basis at UnionAthletics.TV.

GAME COVERAGE
Video ($) | Audio | Live Stats | Game Notes | CaTV Preview

UNION CONNECTIONS
Head coach Kevin Sneddon spent 10 years coaching at Union from 1993-2003. Sneddon served as an assistant coach for five seasons before being promoted to head coach in 1998 and compiled a record of 50-99-18. The Dutchmen qualified for the ECAC playoffs in three of Sneddon's last four years and hosted their first-ever ECAC home-ice playoff series in 2003. Associate head coach and Schenectady native Kevin Patrick spent four seasons as an assistant at Union from 1998-2002 under Sneddon. UVM equipment manager Charlie Mackey also worked at Union during Sneddon and Patrick's tenure before moving to Vermont in 2004.
 
SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN
Union is riding a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) to reach the .500 mark on the season at 6-6-4, but it sits just 2-5-1 in ECAC play. The Dutchmen are led offensively by sophomore Spencer Foo with 13 points on six goals and seven assists with a team-high 48 shots on goal. Sophomore Ryan Scarfo has scored a team-best nine goals, while senior Matt Wilkins paces the squad with seven assists on the year. Junior Alex Sakellaropoulos has started 13 games between the pipes with a 5-4-4 record, 2.20 goals against average, and .925 save percentage. Rick Bennett is in his fifth year as the head coach of the program and led the Dutchmen to the 2014 NCAA Championship in Philadelphia.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Vermont enters the 32nd meeting of the all-time series having won four of the last five meetings. The Catamounts are 4-7-2 on the road at Messa Rink but own a 14-3-0 record against the Dutchmen at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The teams met in the NCAA East Regional two years ago in Bridgeport as Matt Hatch and Max Novak each registered a pair of goals in a 5-2 Union victory. Kevin Sneddon is 4-2-0 against Union since taking over the Vermont bench, and his last trip to Messa Rink resulted in a 4-0 shutout win on Jan. 7, 2005.
 
PACKY TO THE RESCUE
Freshman Packy Munson was named the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Week on Monday after the first two starts of his Catamount career. Munson became the first Catamount goaltender to post a shutout in his first collegiate start in more than a decade as the rookie netminder led Vermont to a dominant 4-0 victory over 13th-ranked St. Lawrence last Friday night. The Minnesota native stopped all 23 shots he faced to match the feat of Joe Fallon, who shut out Sacred Heart 6-0 on Oct. 8, 2004 in his first-ever start. The rookie then posted 28 saves on Saturday night against St. Lawrence on the road and kept UVM within striking distance in a 4-1 losing effort.
 
SPLIT WITH THE SAINTS | Friday Highlights
Vermont split a home-and-home series against No. 13 St. Lawrence last weekend with each school winning convincingly on its home ice. Munson posted the team's second shutout of the year in a 4-0 victory on Friday night in Burlington. The line of Kevin Irwin, Jarrid Privitera, and Brian Bowen combined for seven points, highlighted by a three-point night from Irwin to tie a career-high. Malcolm McKinney also lit the lamp for the Catamounts. The Saints responded on Saturday night with a 4-1 win at Appleton Arena, led by a pair of first period goals from Mike Marnell. Jarrid Privitera notched his team-best eighth goal in the loss.
 
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont returns to Gutterson Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Dec. 29 and Wednesday, Dec. 30 to host Lake Superior State, Colgate, and Brown in the annual Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup. All four games will be streamed live for free at CatamounTV.com, and radio coverage for the UVM action begins at 6:30 p.m. each night on WVMT 620-AM and SportsJuice.com. For tickets, log on to UVMathletics.com/Tickets or call 802-656-4410.