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WOMEN’S HOCKEY:  (9–3–1, 5–2–1 ECAC)

The Yale women’s hockey team will kick off 2022 with a rematch against Connecticut rival Sacred Heart (10–7–1, 5–2–1 NEWHA) on Jan. 4. So far this season, the No. 7 Bulldogs took on the Pioneers twice, skating away with victories both times. During the first weekend of regular season play, the Blue and White blanked the visitors 7–0. Yale proved victorious over SHU again with a 4–1 finish at the Nutmeg Classic.

The Bulldogs will continue their ECAC schedule with a homestand against Union (3–15–1, 1–9–0) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (6–13–0, 3–7–0) on Jan. 7 and 8, respectively. Union finds itself at the bottom of the ECAC standings with only one conference win — a 2–1 victory over Dartmouth. This will be the first time the Bulldogs will face the Dutchwomen or the Engineers this season.

Yale will close out its break with an Ivy League road trip to Dartmouth (4–8–0, 2–7–0) on Jan. 14 and No. 10 Harvard (9–3–0, 6–3–0) on Jan. 15. The Bulldogs have already defeated both teams at home this season in an 8–3 smackdown to the Big Green and a 3–1 thriller to the Crimson. 

The ECAC is the most formidable conference in NCAA Division I women’s hockey this season, with five member teams ranked in the top 10, according to the latest USCHO poll. 

MEN’S HOCKEY: (2–7–0, 1–6–0 ECAC)

The Yale men’s hockey team is scheduled to face the University of Wisconsin (4–11–1, 2–6–0 Big Ten) and either Providence College (12–7–0, 6–5–0 Hockey East) or Bowling Green State University (7–4–3, 5–4–1 CCHA) at the inaugural Holiday Face-Off on Dec. 28 and 29 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Elis’ opponents for the Dec. 29 game depend on the victors of the Bowling Green-Providence game as well as the outcome of the Yale-Wisconsin matchup. The Badgers bring up the rear in the Big 10 standings — much like the Bulldogs in the ECAC. 

The Blue and White will ring in 2022 with a New Years’ Day tilt against Merrimack College (6–8–0, 3–6–0 Hockey East). The Bulldogs have only played the Warriors once in recent history — a 3–2 victory in Dec. 2013. Yale gained its first tally in the win column this season with a 4–1 triumph over another Hockey East school in the University of Vermont.

On Jan. 7 and 8, the Elis will hit the road to take on ECAC rivals Princeton (3–7–1, 2–4–0) and Quinnipiac (12–1–3, 5–0–1). In their first home weekend of the season, the Bulldogs lost to both the Tigers 6–2 and the Bobcats 3–0. With its recent conference win against Dartmouth, Yale will hope to maintain positive momentum through these matchups.

The Blue and White will finish out their winter break with a pair of games against Central New York ECAC teams Cornell (9–1–1, 6–1–1) and Colgate (8–10–0, 3–5–0). Last month, the Bulldogs traveled to New York and received a pair of 3–0 losses to the Big Red and the Raiders. Cornell currently leads the ECAC and will be some of Yale’s stiffest competition this year. The squad still has a chance at a rebound, however, as Colgate lost to Dartmouth 3–2 where the Elis were able to pick up a 3–2 win.

The Bulldogs will take the ice at Fiserv Forum, home of the Milwaukee Bucks, for the Holiday Face-Off.

SWIMMING AND DIVING: Men’s (0–2, 0–2 Ivy), Women’s (3–0, 2–0 Ivy)

The Yale men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will continue its Ivy League campaign in 2022 with dual meets against Penn and Dartmouth on Jan. 7 and 8 in Philadelphia. All three schools have already faced Brown this season. In the men’s competition, Yale and Dartmouth (1–3, 1–3) fell 126–174 and 59–237, respectively while Penn (3–2, 2–2) narrowly pulled out a 152–148 win. If the Brown meets are any indication, it appears that Penn is the team to beat. On the women’s side, however, the Bulldogs and the Quakers (3–2, 2–2) both swam to 216–84 and 179–121 victories to the Bears while the Big Green (0–4, 0–4) slipped to a 201.5–96.5 finish.

The Elis will then make a return to the Kiphuth Exhibition Pool to face Cornell on Jan. 14 and 15. This will be the men’s team’s first home meet as they traveled to New York to face Columbia while the women hosted the Lions. The Bulldogs will look to go into the spring semester on a high note with wins against the Big Red men’s (1–4, 0–4) and women’s (2–3, 1–3) teams.

In its last home competition against Columbia, the women’s team set three pool records. Iszac Henig ’23, Lindsey Wagner ’23, Ava Franks ’25 and Alex Massey ’25 finished the 200 medley relay in 1:41.07, Henig, Franks, Wagner and Ophelia Pilkinton ’23 swam the 200 freestyle relay in 1:32.28 and Henig alone swam 0:49.30 in the 100 freestyle.

SQUASH: Women’s (2–0), Men’s (3–0)

With their last games in November, the Yale men’s and women’s squash teams look to return to the court in 2022. The No. 4 women’s team will take on No. 11 Stanford (0–5) on Jan. 8. Stanford has no men’s team, so the No. 7 Yale men’s squash team will have the Friday off. The men will make their 2022 debut alongside the women on Jan. 9 against Drexel in a match rescheduled from Dec. 4. The Dragons’ No. 5 men’s (5–2) and No. 7 women’s (7–1) teams will try to end the Bulldogs’ undefeated streak ahead of their long stretch of Ivy League matchups.

After both teams swept Brown on Nov. 18, the Elis will continue their Ancient Eight schedule with games against Cornell and Columbia on Jan. 15 and 16, respectively. Last month, both Big Red No. 9 men’s (2–1) and No. 8 women’s (2–2) teams fell to the University of Virginia 5–4. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs picked up wins against the Cavaliers to open their season. In the preseason Ivy Scrimmages, the Yale men’s squash team picked up a win against No. 6 Columbia (4–1). While the Lions beat UVA 6–3, they fell to Cornell 5–4. Meanwhile, the No. 6 Columbia women’s team (2–1) lost to UVA and beat Cornell in close 5–4 matches.

Both Eli squash teams have gone undefeated into the New Year in four of their last five seasons.

FENCING: Men’s (3–2), Women’s (6–0)

Yale’s men’s and women’s fencing teams will continue their season in 2022 when they travel to State College to compete in the Penn State Invitational on Jan. 8 and 9. 2021 has been a year of change for the Bulldog fencing teams as they welcome new interim head coach Marat Israelian after the abrupt dismissal of previous head coach Haibin Wang. 

In their first competition since March of 2020, the Blue and White fencing squads competed in individual bouts at the Garret Open hosted by Penn State. At the tournament, the Elis managed to secure four top ten finishes. Linda Liu ’23 placed 10th in epee and in foil, rookie Erica Hooshi ’25 earned eighth place while teammate Emme Zhou ’23 followed by taking ninth. In their first team based competition this season, the women’s team went undefeated 6–0 while the men’s squad finished 3–2.

Yale’s women’s fencing team is currently ranked tenth in the country in the CollegeFencing360.com coach’s poll. 

MEN’S BASKETBALL: (6–5, 0–0 Ivy)

Yale’s men’s basketball team is gearing up for a busy winter break. The Bulldogs have seven games slated over the holiday season including their Ivy play debut against Columbia on Jan. 2.

The Blue and White will start their academic break with a home game against Howard (5–4, 0–0 MEAC) on Dec. 23. The Bulldogs only faced the Bison once — an 89–75 win in a Jan. 2020 matchup.

Five days later, on Dec. 28 the Elis will tip-off against Saint Mary’s College of California (8–2, 0–0 WCC) for their last nonconference game of the season. The Elis faced a 78–62 defeat in their last meeting with the Gaels in 2012.

On Jan. 2, the Bulldogs will go up against their first Ancient Eight team this season against Columbia (3–7, 0–0) at the John J. Lee Amphitheater before facing off against Dartmouth (3–3, 0–0) on Jan. 7, Harvard (6–4, 0–0) on the ninth, Cornell (8–1, 0–0) on Jan. 15 and their last game of the break against Brown (8–4, 0–0) on Jan. 17.

The Elis are the preseason favorites to claim the Ancient Eight title, according to the Ivy League Preseason Media Poll.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (5–4, 0–0 Ivy)

The Elis will play a total of six games over the winter break. On Dec. 28, Yale will face Army (4–3, 0–0 Patriot) for its last nonconference game of the season and its last of the 2021 calendar year. The Blue and White start 2022 with a game against Ivy League opponent Columbia (8–2, 0–0) on Jan. 2. This game marks the start of conference play for Yale’s team. On Jan. 7, the Bulldogs will face off against Dartmouth (0–7, 0–0), before playing rival Harvard (3–6, 0–0) the next day. On Jan. 15, Yale will play Cornell (4–5, 0–0) before its final game of the break against Brown (3–6, 0–0) on the 17th.

Yale’s women’s basketball team was picked fourth in the Ivy League Preseason Media poll.

GYMNASTICS (0–0)

Yale’s varsity gymnastics team will begin its season over winter break on Jan. 9 with a home meet against LIU, Brown and West Chester. On Jan. 14 the bulldogs will travel to Penn State University for a one day meet.

The last time the Elis competed was in March 2020.