The Union College men's ice hockey team remained at No. 3 in both the final USCHO.com and the USA Today and USA Hockey Magazine polls, the highest final ranking in the program's 21-year history at the Division I level. Union's previous high in the final national rankings was No. 12, which the team achieved in the April 11, 2011 editions of both polls. Union earned 871 points in the USCHO.com poll, and 424 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.

No. 3/3 Union (26-8-7, 14-4-4 ECAC Hockey) earned its first ever trip to the Frozen Four with wins over UMass-Lowell and Michigan State in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament, before falling to Ferris State, 3-1 in the national semifinals last Thursday. Union earned its first ever Whitelaw Cup as ECAC Hockey Tournament champions and its second consecutive Cleary Cup, capturing the ECAC Hockey regular-season title.

Union posted a 12-2-4 record in its last 18 ECAC Hockey contests. Head coach Rick Bennett recorded the most wins by a Union head coach in his first season, and became the only Union coach to record 20 wins in his debut year. With 26 wins, Union matched the school single-season record set in 2010-11. Bennett also became the first Union coach to beat a non-conference top-five team in the USCHO.com poll when the Dutchmen earned a 3-1 at No. 5 Merrimack on Dec. 17. On Nov. 27, Bennett also led Union to a 6-3 win over No. 11 Michigan in the team's first ever trip to Yost Arena.

Union has appeared in the USCHO.com poll for 63 consecutive weeks since the Dec. 7, 2009 rankings, extending a school record. Union was ranked in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top-15 Poll in 24 out of a possible 26 weeks this season.

The preceding information was provided by Jeffrey Weinstein of Union College Athletics.

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