LEAGUE SCHEDULE BEGINS: After dropping their only game last week to 11th-ranked Michigan, 5-2, Rensselaer opens its ECAC Hockey schedule this weekend against area-rival Union College ... The Engineers travel to Schenectady on Friday (7pm), before hosting the Dutchmen at the Houston Filed House on Saturday (7pm).

FOLLOWING THE ACTION: All RPI men's hockey games can be heard live on WRPI, 91.5 FM, and on the Internet on www.wrpi.org ... Home games can also be seen – for free – on RPI TV ... The video stream can be found at www.rpitv.org.

RIVALRY WEEK: The Engineers face their Route 7 rivals from Union for the 93rd and 94th time this weekend ... The two schools square off in the Mayor's Cup at the Times Union Center on January 23. 

FIRST HOME LOSS: The Engineers fell to 11th-ranked Michigan on Saturday at the Houston Field House ... Senior Zach Schroeder and junior Jake Wood each scored goals that brought the Engineers within a goal of the visiting Wolverines, but Michigan was able to create some separation, thanks to Brendan Warren's second of the game and an empty net tally by Tyler Motte.

TICKETS: Tickets to all Rensselaer home games are available through the Houston Field House box office or by calling 518-276-6262.

POINTS LEADERS: Freshman Evan Tironese has a goal and three assists for a team-high four points ... Junior Riley Bourbonnais (3 goals) and sophomore Mike Prapavessis (3 assists) have three points each ... Five players have two points, including junior Jake Wood, who has two goals.

BETWEEN THE PIPES: Senior Jason Kasdorf has started all five games this season and is 1-4-0 with a 3.05 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

ALL-TIME VS. UNION: Rensselaer holds a 48-34-10 lead in the all-time series with Union, which dates back to February 26, 1904 ... The Engineers won the inaugural meeting, 6-2, in Albany.

RECENTLY: Union has won 11 of the last 14 meetings, dating back to the 2011-12 season ... The Dutchmen won 10 straight before RPI earned a 2-1 win the 2014 Mayor's Cup at the Times Union Center ... Following a three-game winning streak by the Engineers, Union took home last season's neutral site meeting, 8-3.

CAPITAL SKATES: The Capital Skates was originally awarded to the winner of the Capital Skates Classic – a non-conference game between RPI and Union, which was first played in 1996 ... There were five games played under this format, running up until the 2000-01 season, after which it was discontinued ... The Engineers won 3 of 5 during that stretch ... In 2007-08, the Skates were brought back in a series format and Union promplty took home the first three, before a split in 2010-11 ... After three more Dutchmen victories, the Engineers finally won the trophy last season, taking the regular season series with wins of 6-1 and 2-1 in overtime.

2014-15 VS. THE DUTCHMEN: RPI earned a sweep of the regular season series over Union for the first time since 2004-05 ... The Engineers opened with a 6-1 win in Troy, which saw Riley Bourbonnais notch a hat trick, while Mark Miller and Drew Melanson each had two assists ... Jason Kadorf made 24 saves for the win ... The following night in Schenectady, Mark McGowan netted a late third period goal to tie the game at 1-1, and Viktor Liljegren scored the overtime winner for the Engineers ... Kasdorf had 34 stops, including 12 in each of the first two periods.