SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – After going 1-0-1 in the first home series since February 2020, the Union College men’s hockey team swept the weekly ECAC Hockey Awards as announced by the conference.
Senior Brandon Estes was named the Player of the Week, while junior Connor Murphy and Collin Graf earned Goalie of the Week and Rookie of the Week honors, respectively.
This is the first time that Union has swept the weekly awards since March 2014 when Daniel Carr ’14 (Player), Colin Stevens ’15 (Goalie), and Mike Vecchione ’17 (Rookie) were all recognized. It also is the first time since 2015 (excluding last season’s COVID season) that one team swept all three weekly awards during the regular season.
Estes had one of the best offensive weeks of his career in two games against Colorado College, scoring one goal and adding three assists for four points from the blue line. The senior played a role in both Union goals in Friday’s 2-1 win, earning the primary assist on the game’s first goal and then netting the game-winner later in the second period. Then in Saturday’s 3-3 tie, he picked up the primary assist on both of the team’s first two goals.
Murphy was excellent in net for Union in a 1-0-1 weekend against Colorado College, posting a 1.92 goals against average and .945 save percentage with 69 saves in two contests. The junior stopped all 16 shots in the third period to finish with 34 stops in Friday’s 2-1 win, and came back with 35 stops the next night in a 3-3 tie.
Graf played a role in both Union goals in Friday’s 2-1 win over Colorado College. The first-year scored his first collegiate goal on the power play to give Union the lead, then picked up the primary assist on the game-winning goal later in the second period.
(Union College Men’s Hockey Photo)
