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The Bulldogs are set to play their next conference game against Brown (3–8–0, 3–5–0 ECAC) on Friday night at 7 p.m.

After putting its first conference win in the books last weekend in a 3–2 win over the Dartmouth (2–8–0, 2–5–0 ECAC) and falling to No. 17 Harvard (6–4–1, 5–2–1 ECAC) 5–3 on Saturday, the Yale men’s hockey team (2–7–0, 1–6–0 ECAC) is ready for its next faceoff in the Ivy League. 

“[I like] just the fact that we stuck with it and kept grinding away,” head coach Keith Allain ’80 said. “Time will tell but hopefully it builds confidence, and I think that’s what’s most pleasing … The guys are determined to come out on top.”

Despite trailing 4–1 Harvard after the first period, the Elis turned on the gas and showed promise in the latter 40 minutes. Forward Cole Donhauser ’23 fired a shot late in the second period for the second goal of the game and defenseman Brandon Tabakin ’23 tallied the third, his first career goal. 

Against Brown, the Yale men’s hockey team leads the series 100–76–8, but of the last three games, Brown has won two. In the October season opener for both teams in Providence, Yale fell 2–0, a shutout for goalie Luke Kania despite 32 shots on goal.

“Right now we’re taking it one day at a time,” forward Ian Carpentier ’24 said. “I think if we keep building off each other, believing in each other and building off each other that’s all it will take.”

After defeating Yale, Brown continued its ECAC schedule, with losses to Princeton, Quinnipiac, Cornell, Colgate and Harvard. The Bears found only two other conference wins in Dartmouth and Harvard. 

In its most recent game on Dec. 7, Brown fell to Boston College 5–2, where Bears goalie Mathieu Caron made 22 saves and both forward Justin Jannen and forward Michael Maloney scored. 

“I thought that it looked like we had some tired legs tonight and that’s not a good team to have tired legs against,” Bears head coach Brendan Whittet said to Brown Athletics after Tuesday’s game. “It wasn’t a great night for us, but we’ll find a way to be much better on Friday in a huge game in terms of standings implications and points in the league.”

After their game against Brown, the Bulldogs will direct their attention towards the Dec. 28 and 29 Holiday Faceoff in Milwaukee, where they will play the University of Wisconsin and either Bowling Green State University or Providence College the following day.

The Bulldogs are excited for their final conference matchup of 2022 and look forward to bringing another win to the Whale. 

“Our group is feeling great coming off our first win and we are persistent in making sure we maintain the standard of play we displayed against Vermont,” defenseman Ryan Conroy ’24 said. “We are a team that always wants to build off of our last game [and] overall we have a well rested and prepared group that is ready.”

The puck drops at 7 p.m. at Ingalls on Friday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.