2021–22 Union Dutchmen ice hockey season

After losing the entirety of their previous season to the COVID-19 pandemic, Union got a slow start to their season. Neither the offense nor the defense were effective during the first month of the season but, once November rolled around, the Dutchmen began to show some promise. Inconsistent play had the team floating in the middle of the ECAC Hockey standings and by the winter break the team well out of the running for the NCAA tournament.

On January 19, the Union administration received an allegation regarding the conduct of head coach Rick Bennett. He was placed on paid administrative leave the following day when an investigation began and assistant coach John Ronan took over day-to-day responsibilities.[1] Nine days later, after the investigation confirmed the allegation about 'coaching style and practices', Bennett resigned from his position.[2] At the same time, Ronan was confirmed as the interim head coach and would remain in that position until at least the end of the season.

There was a brief uptick in the team's play during the transition but the team flagged in February, slipping down into the bottom third of the conference. Union managed to win its final two regular season games which pushed the team up to 7th and enabled the club to have a home date for the first round of the conference tournament.

The strong play that had suddenly appeared at the end continued into the postseason and Union was dominant in their two wins over Princeton. The team appeared to have turned a corner under Ronan and gave Clarkson everything they had. Against the second-seeded Golden Knights, Murphy was under a wither barrage of shots but he kept his team in both games, allowing the Dutchmen to tie the score on four separate occasions and push both matches into overtime. While the Dutchmen didn't have the firepower to win either contest, the team acquitted themselves well after a very trying campaign.

As of September 25, 2021.[3]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Garrett Nieto	Junior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1998-05-15	Yorba Linda, California	Janesville (NAHL)	—
2		Josh Phillips	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-05-24	Getzville, New York	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
4		Dylan Anhorn (A)	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1999-01-21	Calgary, Alberta	Prince George (BCHL)	—
5		Nic Petruolo	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-01-29	Neshanic Station, New Jersey	Green Bay (USHL)	—
6		Cullen Ferguson	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-02-16	Binbrook, Ontario	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
7		Brandon Estes	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-02-13	Richardson, Texas	Youngstown (USHL)	—
8		Chaz Smedsrud	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-06-04	Luverne, Minnesota	Madison (USHL)	—
9		Gleb Murtazin	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-10-26	Penza, Russia	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
10		Ryan Sidorski	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-10-02	Williamsville, New York	Buffalo (OJHL)	—
11		Gabriel Seger (A)	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1999-11-15	Uppsala, Sweden	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
12		Fletcher Fineman	Senior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	197 lb (89 kg)	1999-02-17	Lake Worth, Florida	Springfield (NAHL)	—
13		Tyler Watkins	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-12-19	Hermantown, Minnesota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
14		Andrew Seaman	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-04-21	Winnetka, Illinois	Prince George (BCHL)	—
15		Thomas Richter	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-06-06	Greenwich, Connecticut	Penticton (BCHL)	—
16		Christian Sanda	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-03-13	Vadnais Heights, Minnesota	Coquitlam (BCHL)	—
17		Matt Allen	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-03-14	Smithfield, Rhode Island	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
18		Ville Immonen	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-06-18	Seinäjoki, Finland	Minot (NAHL)	—
19		Liam Robertson	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-05-14	Courtice, Ontario	Youngstown (USHL)	—
20		Collin Graf	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-09-21	Lincoln, Massachusetts	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
21		Michael Ryan	Senior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-01-19	Marion, Massachusetts	West Kelowna (BCHL)	—
22		Bram Scheerer	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1999-06-03	Edina, Minnesota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
23		Trevor Adams	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-08-19	Muskegon, Michigan	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
24		Alex Cohen	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-06-15	Boca Raton, Florida	Northeast (NAHL)	—
25		Owen Farris	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	2000-06-08	Dallas, Texas	MUskegon (USHL)	—
26		Nathan Kelly	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-11-22	South Delta, British Columbia	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
27		Josh Kosack (C)	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-06-25	Oakville, Ontario	Green Bay (USHL)	—
28		Caden Villegas	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-02-19	Plano, Texas	Tri-City (USHL)	—
29		Michael Hodge	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	157 lb (71 kg)	2000-05-30	Calgary, Alberta	Fort McMurray (AJHL)	—
31		Connor Murphy	Junior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-09-01	Hudson Falls, New York	Northeastern (HEA)	—
33		Merek Pipes	Junior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1998-11-12	Cobble Hill, British Columbia	Swan Valley (MJHL)	—
35		Joe Sharib	Freshman	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-08-16	Natick, Massachusetts	Connecticut (NCDC)	—

[5]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[6]