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The Elis played their last two away games of the season last weekend against Colgate in the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, New York and were beaten both times.  

The Bulldogs (8–21–1, 7–14–1 ECAC) fell 3–2 in overtime to Colgate (16–16–4, 9–9–4) on Friday night and closed out their season on Saturday night with a 5–1 loss, despite having scoring opportunities and nine power plays over the course of the second game. 

“We are all really excited going into this weekend,” forward Ian Carpentier ’24 said ahead of the weekend matchups. “We know what we can bring in our room, and that’s all we can worry about.”

On Friday, Raiders forward Colton Young scored both of Colgate’s goals in regulation. With 8:27 remaining in the second frame, Young put the puck in the upper left corner of the net from 20 feet away. 

Assisted by defenseman Mike Young ’23 and defenseman Ryan Carmichael ’23, forward Reilly Connors ’24 tallied his fourth goal of the year at 16:56 to even the game score to a tie. 

With 53 seconds left in the second period, Young tipped the puck in from the left side of the goal on a pass during a power play to retake their game advantage.

“We are really excited… to make a run at an ECAC Championship,” Nathan Reid ’24 said ahead of the matchups. “It is do or die, so we’ll give it all we have.”

In the third period, with only seven seconds left in regulation, forward Teddy Wooding ’24 got an equalizer for Yale off an assist by forward Niklas Allain ’24 and with Reid on the bench for an extra skater, which ultimately brought the game into overtime. 

Despite the close score, Raider forward Josh McKechney skated in front of the net from the left side and slid the puck past Reid with 3:07 left on the clock in overtime. His 14th goal of the season granted Colgate its win on Friday night. 

Reid finished the game with 31 saves, and both Yale and Colgate took 34 shots on goal. 

“Obviously both teams battled hard tonight,” Raider head coach Don Vaughan told Colgate Athletics. “It was such a back and forth game as you might expect in the playoffs.”

On Saturday, scoring started with Raiders forward Paul McAvoy shooting the puck to the top right corner of the net from the left side at 13:32. 

3:13 into the second period, Colgate forward Jeff Stewart won the faceoff and passed to forward Arnaud Vachon, who sent the puck to the top shelf, adding to the Raiders’ lead. 

Just over a minute later, defenseman Dylan Herzog ’25 took a shot from the left dot on the power play, tallying a point for Yale and cutting Colgate’s lead in half. Herzog was assisted by forward Quinton Ong ’23 and defenseman Connor Sullivan ’25. 

“Keith Allain and his staff have done a remarkable job of developing that team,” Vaughan said. “We know that the hardest thing to do in hockey is to end a team’s season… It will be another battle.”

1:35 into the third period, Colgate forward Griffin Lunn sent the puck to the upper right corner of the net on a slapshot from the left side, adding to the Raider lead. 

The Elis, who were playing without team high-scorers Carpentier and forward Will Dineen ’25, pulled Reid for the extra skater with 2:38 left in the frame, which led to three empty-net goals by Colgate forwards Matt Verboon and Ross Mitton. 

In Saturday’s matchup, a combined 13 penalties were called, nine of which were against the Raiders. 

Reid had a total of 24 saves, and the Bulldogs had a 30–24 edge in shots. 

Colgate advanced to the quarterfinal round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament and will face fourth-seeded Cornell on Friday in Ithaca, New York.