Ending its short run in the ECAC tournament and season, the men's hockey team fell to Union College in the ECAC quarterfinals on March 15 and 16.
Following a 3-2 series against Harvard University in the first round, the Big Green faced a tough matchup against Union (21-12-5, 10-8-4 ECAC), an experienced team that reached the Frozen Four last year and entered the game fresh off of a first-round bye. Facing Union's skilled defense on the road, the Big Green failed to deliver offensively in the first game of the series, dropping 4-1.
"I think certainly in the ECAC, and maybe in college hockey, Union has some of the best defensemen," assistant captain Matt Lindblad '14 said. "They're tough, skilled, and transition well."
"They're pretty special on the backend as a team," forward Tim O'Brien '16 added.
The Big Green stayed calm and hoped to rebound as it entered the second game, a must-win matchup that proved to be the season's last.
"We thought we got outplayed," forward Eric Robinson 14 said. "We didn't really panic though. We were in the same situation when we lost our first game against Harvard, but obviously Union is a good team and they came back again in the second game."
Facing elimination, the Big Green conceded the contest's first three markers. Despite goals from Dustin Walsh '13 and Eric Neiley '15, the men failed to catch up and ended the game behind 5-2.
"One of our keys is to compete every shift, every period," Lindblad said. "I thought we were close in the second game, but it kind of slipped out of our hands."
Union went on to win the championship against Brown University, and became the second school since St. Lawrence University in the 2000-2001 season to win back-to-back championships.
Aside from a disappointing finish, the Big Green delivered more than one highlight reel's worth of big wins and goals this season.
"I think just game-wise specifically, beating the University of New Hampshire at home when they were ranked No. 2 in the country [was a highlight]," O'Brien said. "The win was just awesome because even though no students were at school we were still sold out and got awesome support from the community."
Robinson fondly recalled the Big Green's home matchup against rival Princeton University.
"It was nice for Mike Keenan ['13] to get the first goal," Robinson said. "It's a memory that everyone appreciated. Also no one throwing tennis balls after the second goal was a highlight."
As end of season awards are announced, the Big Green has seen further highlights, including All-Ivy first team recognition for captain Keenan and Tyler Sikura '15, and second team honors for Lindblad. Keenan earned a spot on the All-ECAC second team, and the ECAC named Sikura a finalist for Best Defensive Forward, given to the attacking player who best exemplifies two-way play. The ECAC awarded the Big Green with the Turfer Athletic/Joe Marsh Sportsmanship Trophy, given to the league's most gentlemanly squad.
Looking forward to next season, the Big Green will miss the presence of several key seniors, including Keenan, who is moving on to a tryout contract with the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but hopes to build on this year's experience.
"Obviously we're losing a lot of good players, but we're also gaining a lot of experience," Robinson said. "We have two large groups of underclassmen, and we feel like we'll have a lot of leadership and a lot of experience."
