MEN’S HOCKEY: Elis take undefeated weekend against Union, RPI
In their final two home games of the season, the Bulldogs tallied wins against Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, adding two more ECAC conference wins to their record.
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The Yale men’s ice hockey team faced Union College on Friday and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute the following day, defeating its conference opponents at Ingalls Rink in both contests. The Bulldogs defeated Union 3–2 and won 5–2 against RPI.
In their first game last weekend, the Bulldogs (7–17–1, 6–12–1 ECAC) faced the Dutchmen (10–17–3, 7–11–1). Forward Will Dineen ’25 scored two power-play goals and had an assist, while goalkeeper Nate Reid ’24 made 31 saves to grant Yale their first win since their last match with Union on Jan. 22.
“The guys competed really hard for a full 60 minutes,” head coach Keith Allain ’80 told Yale Athletics. “That’s what it takes to win in this league [and] I was pleased to see our power play produce two goals tonight, that was the difference in the game.”
In the eighth minute, Dineen opened scoring off a set-up by forward Briggs Gammill ’25 on the power play, who played a two-point game. 17:38 into the first frame, Union defenseman Cullen Ferguson sent a shot to Reid’s pads, and forward Christian Sanda rebounded the puck and sent a backhand shot from the right side of the net to even the game score to 1–1.
With less than eight seconds in the first stanza, Dineen helped defenseman Dylan Herzog ’25 score Yale’s second and Herzog’s first collegiate goal.
“I saw the puck coming through the slot and it bounced off the boards,” Herzog said to Yale Athletics. “I just stepped into it and it went high blocker on the goalie.”
After Union was penalized for having too many players on the ice in the second period, Dineen scored Yale’s third goal on the power-play, assisted by forward Ian Carpentier ’24 and Gammill.
In the third frame, Union took 17 shots on Reid, and at 16:33, dutchmen forward Caden Villegas took the puck from the right-wing wall to the center of the left-wing circle to fire a shot that narrowed Yale’s lead to 3–2. The Dutchmen continued to put pressure on Reid, but the Bulldogs ultimately prevailed.
Over the course of the game, Union goalkeeper Connor Murphy had 22 saves and Reid made 31 stops.
“I really liked our consistent [competitive] level throughout the weekend,” Reid said. “It showed up in the results. Our powerplay getting back on track was huge, and we look forward to carrying this momentum into our game tomorrow against Quinnpiac.”
On Saturday, the Bulldogs swept the season series and celebrated their seniors with their 5–2 defeat of RPI (14–19–3, 9–11–0).
11:51 into the first frame, defenseman Kieran O’Hearn ’25 killed off a penalty and joined in on a rush, where Gammill made an airborne pass to O’Hearn. O’Hearn stopped the puck and redirected it into the back of the net for the first goal of the night and his second of the season.
Eight minutes later, forward Kyle Johnson ’22 flicked a backhander past Engineer goalkeeper Jack Watson to secure Yale’s two-score lead.
“This weekend was huge for us coming off a cold stretch,” Johnson said. “We got our momentum back. I loved how the guys really rallied around the seniors. Everyone was on board to bring their best and the results showed it.”
9:36 into the second, RPI graduate student and forward Shane Sellar took a feed from forward Zach Dubinsky and slotted the first Engineer goal of the night.
Just over a minute into the third period, Gammill increased Yale’s lead to 3–1 in a power-play goal, and two minutes later tallied his second goal of the period also on the power-play, assisted by Dineen and forward Justin Pearson ’22.
RPI graduate student and forward Justin Addamo slotted a power play goal in the fourth minute of the third frame to bring the score to 4–2. Defenseman Anthony Baxter and defenseman Simon Kjellberg had assists on the play. Also, with 6:41 left in the game, Engineer Ottoville Leppanen attempted to score on a power play but was denied by Reid.
With just over a minute left in play, forward Cole Donhauser ’23 scored on an empty net from 30 feet away.
Reid made a total of 24 saves in the game, and Yale finished two for four on the power play and led 35–26 in shots.
“The guys were really competitive, and it was a great sweep weekend,” Allain said. “One stat that shows the commitment our guys had to winning was 28 blocked shots, and that tells you [a] lot about their competitive nature.”
On Tuesday, the Elis will face No. 5 Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. in Hamden, CT.