Anyone got anything?...On June 10, 2024 the Liberty League and the Empire 8 announced an agreement which essentially traded Hilbert College from the E8 to the LL to balance numbers. This was done to facilitate a scheduling agreement which shook out as each team in each league scheduling two other teams in the other league. This was initially a two year deal. The match-ups that ensued were well thought out and made sense. For example Ithaca and Cortland kept their Cortaca Jug rivalry game. Rochester vs. neighbor St. John Fisher, Hilbert vs Alfred St and Hartwick in games they might have a chance to compete in...RPI vs Utica, Union vs Cortland, St Lawrence vs long time foe Alfred etc...That two year period is over. Does anyone have any insight on whether the agreement has been extended? Will match-ups change as I suspect or will they remain the same? Inquiring minds want to know. 

Basketball season is quickly approaching. Union College is scheduled to play it's opener against Plattsburgh St. on November 11th at home. Other highlights of the Garnet schedule include an appearance in the NYU Tip Off Classic where they'll face Elite 8 participant Tufts and the host Violets and a trip to Las Vegas where they'll face Worcester St and powerful Rhodes College.  https://unionathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Union will return 4 of 5 starters with the biggest news being that Liberty League Player of the Year Jack Plesser will be back after initial concerns he'd be leaving when he declared for the transfer portal in March. Other than graduated senior Christian Dufort the other two members of Union's "big 4" return. PG Tanner Tedesco and clutch g Mathew Garside. PF Brendan Reid is back after missing all of last season to injury. On a down note 6'11" Scott Schmitt, who showed promise last year, will not return. Let's Go U

Quote from: IC798891 on September 29, 2026, 10:09:20 AMUltimately, I do think the Reed-Lang combo is simply going to be too much. Lang just has this feeling of being a "man among boys" out there with his speed and physicality. It's a combination I haven't seen in an IC WR in a long time.

Not so long ago...Germinerio to Gladney...2019 

Quote from: Nescacman on September 21, 2026, 04:13:59 PM

Quote from: ItsATuftSituation on September 21, 2026, 12:31:01 PMWas in Medford to watch the Jumbos play Hamilton. Sad that Hamilton's stud first-year RB got hurt on the final play of the game. He was super dynamic, scored three times in the game. Hope he's okay but he was down for a long, long time.

Never like to hear about injuries. We hope he is OK.

Not sure if 7 carries for 33 yards (and 6 catches primarily on dump passes) warrants the term "stud" but he did score 3x and HCOF Murray was very high on Ace when we spoke to Coach on our season preview 9 Weeks NESCAC podcast. He certainly has one of the better names in the NESCAC so there is that... 

A little research shows that Etienne was previously hurt the final game of his 2024 high school junior season. A broken fibula. That would probably explain why coaches shied away from recruiting him. To his credit he rehabbed religiously and had a solid senior season. Hopefully he can recover from this latest injury. I feel for the kid.

A few years back Union was widely criticized for scheduling cupcakes to begin their season. Wins over Anna Maria, Westfield St and at that time first year Hilbert were monkey stomps. What did they accomplish you asked? I justified it by pointing out that coming off an 0-10 2015 season the Dutchmen needed to figure out how to win again and gain some confidence. Winning by a large margin allowed the coaching staff to play the whole roster. Something that was difficult to do when you're losing big. Union had also dropped their JV program so these walk overs allowed First Years game experience...The entire Liberty League subsequently dropped their JV programs, including Ithaca. Last week the Bombers reaped the benefits of playing a cupcake. They played the whole roster. It will pay benefits...What Union did paid benefits back in the seasons after the 0-10 debacle as evidenced by them getting back into the NCAA tournament in 2019, 2023 and 2025. Now their scheduling has changed. No more OOC cupcakes so they've now reconstituted their JV program... BTW the Union JV are 2-0 playing E8 foes Utica and Hartwick. Consider this... All the E8 schools have JV programs and that added experience could be why they're kicking the Liberty League's ass in matchups.

A tough couple of weeks for Union football had some good news yesterday. Union had not played a JV schedule since 2015. The same year the program hit rock bottom going 0-10 which precipitated a coaching change.    That has changed... The 2026 Union JV team played a home game on Sunday against the Utica JV and reportedly won 34-6. Nice job. They have another game at Hartwick this week...FTC

Union has posted their Game Day Program which includes this week's Two Deep... https://unionathletics.com/gameday/football-vs-20-21-susquehanna/football/1003/ ...Lots of youth including two first year's starting on the O-Line. Gioioso and Anderson were teammates at Xaverian Brothers in Massachusetts. They'll have a head start to gelling quickly...The defense is full of experience with 9 of 11 returning starters.   

Union scrimmages nearby Hartwick every year and that took place on Sunday. After starting out with each team taking repetitions of special teams play it was evident the Garnet have a very sound kicking game led by LL Honorable Mention PK Francesco Pileggi and a trio of capable punters. Caden Gore showed a burst with speed while returning both kickoffs and punts...The Garnet offense featured Cole Brisson at QB and Jah'Cire Jones at RB taking the first snaps. Each team scored a TD in goal line scenario and then they morphed into game type play. Brisson showed good accuracy with his throws with the O-line, with 2 freshmen starters, giving him ample time...Defensive should be the strength of this team and it showed well especially against the run. Things ended with the Garnet Chargers hitting a last play 45 yard TD bomb...The Garnet seemed to be relatively injury free with only a couple walking wounded and no apparent further injuries. Bring on the Susquehanna River Hawks. FTC 

It was hard to identify the new first years by number as no updated roster was available at scrimmage time. Alas the 2026 Roster was posted today... https://unionathletics.com/sports/football/roster

The Boys are back in town...Today 8/11 is move in day for the 2026 Union Garnet Chargers football team. Coming off a surprise Liberty League Championship will it be a rebuilding year or another run to the postseason? I'll get into more specifics of what I see before the September 5th home opener against tough Susquehanna but let's say they have some holes to fill. Obviously the biggest is how do they replace do everything LL OPY QB Patch Flanagan? Senior Cole Brisson seems to have a lock on the initial opportunity. He has the size and ability but he's only appeared in 9 games over 2 seasons as a backup. Could someone else step up? The Garnet also need to replace three All Liberty league offensive linemen so that's an issue. There's still strength at WR and RB so that will help...On defense the biggest hit came with the graduation of DT Charles Johnson, another LL 1st teamer, but overall the D should remain strong with 16/22 from last year's 2-Deep returning including LL 1st teamer LB John Droggitis....Speaking of returning two stalwarts from last year who participated in senior day activities but still had eligibility are coming back and they're key performers. DB Matt Mitchell, yet another LL 1st teamer, will be a captain for the second consecutive year. And getting back to that WR room Gil Rivera, 2nd team ALL LL, will once again give speed and scoring to the O...Excitingly the incoming class of first years is one of Union's biggest ever. 39 new Garnet Chargers will be on campus this afternoon. First looks show that there's some big boys in that group... The defense may have to be the team strength early but there's definitely enough experience and talent to surprise again this year.       

     

In case you missed this Salisbury, Kean and William Paterson fans should plan their fall trip to Vermont now because this may be their last chance to experience the splendor of fall with football in New England. In the ever changing world of college sports often one thing can have a profound effect on another. When Anna Maria announced it was closing back in April it meant the 10 team MASCAC would be losing a Football member. No big deal right, and how would that effect the NJAC? Turn to today's revelation that NJAC associate football member Vermont St. Castleton will be leaving the NJAC and rejoining the MASCAC for 2027. The loss of Anna Maria opened a spot in the MASCAC that had been controversially stripped from Castleton two years ago and led to them finding a temporary home in the NJAC. Soon they'll be going back to a league that better suits their footprint both competitively and geographically. Good for them but what will the NJAC do? Starting in 2027 the NJAC will be down to 7 teams and the status of a couple of other current members is teetering. What will the NJAC look like in 2027?     

I found this in reference to CNU QB Connor Barry transferring to Penn St. Thought I'd drop it here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvVplzsDHkw

Union has started to release the names of it's 2026 recruiting class. The first name that jumps out is Gino Gioioso a 6'3" 280# OL/DL from Xaverian Brothers in Westwood, Ma...If the name sounds familiar it's because Daniel Gioioso was a two time Liberty League 1st team defensive player 2019,21 for Union. Gino brings an even bigger Xaverian teammate to the Garnet Chargers 6'4" 330# OL Will Anderson. When Daniel Gioioso came to Union in the fall of 2017 he brought his own Xaverian teammate who became a Union great, LB Colin Lama. The next fall RB Ike Irabor came to Union from Xaverian.  Maybe greatness recycles? 

Many of you know that Union has a D1 ice hockey team with a new rink. So what happened to the old rink, the round Achilles/Messa center that's next to the football field? Here's the answer... https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1HaWo49XSA/

Quote from: The Third Division on March 04, 2026, 08:31:31 PMImagine if the 1st playoff game the nescac plays is against union.

While I would love to see Union football back in the NCAA tournament this year I'd say it's a long shot. Last year the Garnet opened with consecutive road losses to nationally ranked Susquehanna and Cortland and then ran the table to win the Liberty League. That followed NCAA bids in 2019 and 2023 all while undergoing three head coaching changes so Union fans have become expectant of excellence. The prospects are guarded this season because Union looses a strong graduating class including their QB but I'm optimistic they'll surprise us again. They again open with Susquehanna and Cortland but like last year early season non conference losses, while basically ending your chance of an at large bid, do not mean you can't win your league and get the automatic qualifier. It made them stronger. A tournament match-up with any Region 2  Liberty League or Empire 8 team would likely not happen in the first round because of seeding. The NESCAC champ, especially if they're undefeated, would get a high seed and play the representative of another Region 1 conference team  like the MASCAC or CNE with a much lower seed. Win 1 or 2 games and then maybe. It will happen eventually.

As for hockey...Union has produced many more than "2 NHL players". A search shows at least 12 guys including Shane Gostisbehere, Daniel Carr, Josh Jooris and currently Nick DeSimone(Utah Mammoths) with many others playing in the AHL. 

Concerning the use of headset/tablet to helmet communications in D3 football. The Liberty League experimented with this technology starting with the 2024 season. To my knowledge it was successfully implemented and well received by coaches and players and now I see it's on the threshold of being approved for all D3... https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/07/16/gorout-liberty-league/

I occasionally log onto this thread to keep familiar with what the scuttlebutt is in the NESCAC. As a Union College former player and lifetime fan who played back when Union football had rivalry games with Williams, Middlebury, Trinity and Hamilton I'm also looking forward to next season's NCAA playoffs when the NESCAC will finally be represented. First I have to comment on poster The Third Division's remark that "The last membership change in football came in 1977, when Union was kicked out of the conference after recruiting violations involving its hockey program." While this is basically true it's also IMO the best thing that has ever happened to Union football. They have 14 NCAA D3 tournament bids since 1983. Non of which would have happened if they stayed in the NESCAC. Since Union recruits heavily in New England many of their recruits are also recruited by NESCAC schools. I suspect you've lost a few recruits to Union because kids want to play for championships. I'm anticipating the first Liberty League/NESCAC playoff matchup...Union's D1 hockey program has also grown exponentially since their early year recruiting faux pas. Union's risen to a place where they currently rank #20 in the USCHO polls and actually won the D1 National Championship in 2014. The Garnet Chargers are doing just fine thank you.