Union hockey team will start season without Ingoldsby (with videos)

PHOTOGRAPHER: Ken Schott

Freshman Mike Ingoldsby was establishing himself as one of Union’s top defensemen last year when he suffered a concussion 11 games into the season.

Ingoldsby missed the next eight games. He returned to the lineup Jan. 7-8 against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, and even picked up his first collegiate point, an assist, against the Golden Knights.

That would be the last time Ingoldsby would be seen on the ice.

The defending ECAC Hockey regular-season champion and 11th-ranked Dutchmen, who open the season Saturday at Army, will have to get along without Ingoldsby for a while. First-year coach Rick Bennett announced Monday at media day at Messa Rink that Ingoldsby will miss at least the first half of the season with lingering effects of post-concussion syndrome. Ingoldsby isn’t enrolled in school for the fall term.

“He just kind of evaluated himself, and he’s had a couple of doctor’s appointments here,” Bennett said. “We won’t find out until the end of October, hopefully. He’s

going to see some specialists.

“But, for right now, he won’t be with us for the first term, which, obviously, is a tremendous loss for us, especially back on defense. Any time you lose a top-four defenseman in your program, it hurts. He’s a phenomenal kid. He’ll be back.”

The concussion happened in the Nov. 13 game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Ingoldsby came back that January weekend, and played like nothing was wrong. That’s why the coaching staff was shocked a couple of days after the Clarkson game when Ingoldsby said he was still having problems.

“He played the first night, and was great. He was one of our better defensemen that weekend,” said Bennett, who was the associate head coach last season under head coach Nate Leaman. “He came in that Monday for practice and said, ‘I can’t go.’ And that was the end of it.”

The 22-year-old Ingoldsby, who was unavailable for comment, came to Union from the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Oakville Blades, where he had three goals and 25 assists in 2009-10. Ingoldsby had a defensive rating of plus-6.

Bennett was very impressed with the way Ingoldsby had been playing prior to the concussion.

“I had the luxury of being back there with him and watching him grow,” Bennett said. “He was excellent. On some nights, he could have been [the number] 1 or 2 [defenseman]. That’s not a knock against the guys that are here or [former Dutchmen] Brock Matheson. He was really good.

“I know his points didn’t show it, but he showed up in other aspects of the game that you just don’t see.”

Ingoldsby teammates hope he can be healthy enough to play in the second half of the season.

“Obviously, we love to have him,” said senior defenseman and Union captain Nolan Julseth-White. “We know he’s in a tough position. We just want him to get healthy and get back as soon as possible. We give him our support and just move forward from there.”

NOTEBOOK

Bennett said freshman defenseman Charlie Vasaturo, who didn’t play in Saturday’s Garnet-White game because of a lower-body injury, is expected to participate in contact drills in practice today. Vasaturo had been wearing the no-contact red jersey in practices. . . .

The Dutchmen will raise their ECACH regular-season championship banner and the NCAA tournament participant banner before their home game against American International on Oct. 29, which is homecoming weekend. . . .

Time Warner Cable Sports channel 3 will televise five Dutchmen home games this season. The games are Nov. 12 against Yale, Jan. 7 against Dartmouth, Jan. 27 against Clarkson, Feb. 17 against Princeton and Feb. 18 against Quinnipiac. . . .

The “Union College Hockey Coach’s Corner Live from Bombers Burrito Bar” in downtown Schenectady is moving from Tuesdays to Wednesdays this season, and it will take place every other Wednesday. The 30-minute show will be on at 6 p.m. on WVKZ-AM (1240) and WABY-AM (1160).