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The Yale women’s hockey team (4–2–0, 2–2–0 ECAC) bounced back from two conference losses last weekend with two impressive wins this Friday and Saturday against Cornell (1–4–1, 0–3–1) and Colgate (11–3–0, 3–1–0). The Bulldogs took down No. 15 Big Red 7–0 on Friday night, a team it hadn’t beaten since 2009, and then blanked the No. 4 Raiders 4–0 on Saturday.

One of the biggest changes from last weekend was in the Yale offense. After only scoring just one goal last weekend, the Bulldogs rebounded with a whopping 11 goals this weekend.

“This was a great team effort tonight, with lots of energy, hustle and crisp puck movement,” said Yale head coach Mark Bolding to Yale Athletics. “We talked about putting pucks to the net to find our offensive stride and it worked out. Nice to get the win and a complete defensive game too.”

Another headline of the weekend was the return of the Bulldogs’ first-string goalie, Gianna Meloni ’22. Meloni made her return as the starting goalie in dramatic fashion, blanking both opponents with 16 saves against Cornell and then a whopping 32 saves against Colgate.

Meloni has yet to allow a goal this season after starting her senior season with a shutout against St. Anselm in the Bulldogs’ season opener. Following that first game, Pia Dukaric ’25 had started the Bulldogs’ last three games in goal, leading some to question when Meloni would return to the starting job. However, this weekend certainly saw Meloni reaffirm herself as the starting goalie for the team.

“Our team was really solid tonight. It’s easier to play when you’re scoring and your teammates are responding to communication in the D-zone,” said Meloni following her standout performance against Colgate, “Everyone stepped up and played a complete 60 minutes, so I’m excited to see where we can go from here.”

While the goalie may be quick to deflect from her own performance, Meloni’s zero goals against average may certainly do the talking for her. 

The Bulldogs were dominant in all aspects, hounding the Colgate skaters from the very start.

Colgate head coach Greg Fargo admitted to such in a postgame interview with Colgate Athletics. “I have to hand it to Yale as they were better than us all over the ice tonight, especially in the first two periods.” 

The Bulldogs will look to turn this weekend into a streak of wins as they face Ivy competitors Harvard and Dartmouth. Two players will especially be looking to build upon a big weekend as they earned ECAC weekly honors.

Junior forward Claire Dalton ’23 was named the ECAC Player of the Week after posting two goals and four assists this weekend. Dalton currently leads Division I hockey with two points per game, totaling 12 points in the team’s six games. 

Meloni was also honored as ECAC Goalie of the Week following her perfect weekend. The Bulldogs’ goalie leads the nation in both goals against average and save percentage, with zero and one respectively. 

Meloni’s seventh and eighth career shutouts this weekend moved her into fifth place for career shutouts in Yale history.