WOMEN’S HOCKEY: Bulldogs look to bounce back on New York ECAC road trip
The women’s hockey team will try to rebound from last weekend’s losses with games against Cornell and Colgate.
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The Yale women’s hockey team (2–2–0, 0–2–0 ECAC) will look to bounce back from two losses last weekend as it takes on Cornell (1–3–0, 0–2–0) on Friday and Colgate (10–2–0, 2–0–0) on Saturday.
The Bulldogs have a busy week ahead of them as they face off against two high-powered conference teams. Yale has not lost to Cornell since 2009 and Colgate may prove to be an even tougher opponent, as they are ranked fourth in the country, according to the week eight USA Today Hockey Poll.
After scoring just once across two games last weekend, one thing is certain: the Bulldogs will need to find the back of the net.
“It’ll be a challenge for us to figure out how to be better and hopefully not play from behind. Those are tough moments too, when you’re playing from behind at home,” head coach Mark Bolding said following the team’s weekend losses.
Leading the scoring for the Bulldogs so far this season has been their top line of Charlotte Welch ’23 (0–5–5), Elle Hartje ’24 (2–3–5) and Claire Dalton ’23 (3–3–6). The trio are responsible for five of the team’s 16 goals and will certainly hope to get back on track this weekend.
The Bulldogs will also hope to see the contribution from their youngest players as they get used to the college game.
“I think [the] next games should get better, for sure,” said Vita Poniatovskaia ’25, the only goal scorer from last weekend’s games. “We have good offensive players, and I think we can definitely win a lot of games.”
Perhaps the most pressing question facing the team going into the weekend is who the starting goalie will be. While first-year standout Pia Dukaric ’25 has played in three of the season’s four games, first-string goalie Gianna Meloni ’22 is ready to make her return after being absent last week.
“I think we need to be better at preventing [the other team’s] chances and just trying to work on our execution,” said Dukaric, looking ahead to this weekend.
One opposing player to watch for the weekend will be Colgate forward Danielle Serdachny. The junior forward is currently one of the best players in college hockey as the reigning ECAC Hockey Player of the Year. She was also voted as October’s ECAC Player of the Month.
The Yale Bulldogs will travel to Ithaca, New York to face off against Cornell on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and then meet Colgate at Hamilton, New York on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.