Seeking to raise the profile of the program, Union brought in a former college star player to lead the team.

[2] The daily practices held by coach Gardner had observers expecting the team to continue improving and they were supposedly set up for success with their opening game against Rensselaer.

[3] Union had soundly defeated RPI to end their season last year, however, the Engineers took to the opportunity to exact their revenge and handed the Dutchmen a 0–4 drubbing.

Slattery missed the trip due to an illness, which hampered the efforts of the defense, however, Gilmour was able to get the first goal of the season for the team.

To make matters worse, poor weather continued to plague the program and caused a second cancellation, this time against Amherst.

The defense was completely helpless in front of the blue and buff attack, surrendering 13 goals in one of the worst games in program history.