Courtesy of David Schamis

The Yale women’s hockey team (8–1–1, 4–1–1 ECAC) broke their undefeated streak in a disappointing weekend during an otherwise victorious season.

The No. 3 ranked Bulldogs faced off with two highly ranked Eastern College Athletic Conference rivals following their victory in the Henderson Collegiate Hockey Showcase last week. The Blue and White tied 4–4 against No. 10 Cornell University (7–3–2, 5–2–1 ECAC) on Friday before falling 5–3 to No. 6 Colgate University (15–2–1, 6–1–0 ECAC) on Saturday.

The ECAC stands out as one of the best leagues in the country, with six of the top 15 ranked teams in the country, four of which are in the top 10. But still the Bulldogs have been prepared for the strong field since the start of the season.

“Every single ECAC weekend is a grind, and to finish near the top of the league we will have to be dialed in every single Friday and Saturday night, whether it’s the first weekend of the season or the last,” defenseman Emma Seitz ’23 said.

Friday night against Cornell at Ingalls proved to be a frustrating one for the Bulldogs. After holding a 4–1 lead in the second period, Yale was forced to settle for a 4–4 tie.

The result was worse on Saturday afternoon when Colgate ended the Elis’ undefeated streak in a 5–3 game. The loss means that no undefeated teams remain in all of Division I. Colgate was able to exact some revenge after their last season came to an end in a 2–1 loss to Yale in the NCAA tournament regional final.

“I was pleased with our team’s focus from the start of the game tonight and their willingness to play the right way from beginning to end,” Raiders head coach Greg Fargo said to Colgate Athletics. “We got some good looks offensively and took advantage of them.”

The “good looks” Fargo saw his team getting are not a regular occurance for teams facing the Bulldogs this year. Entering the weekend, the highest number of goals opponents had scored against Yale was three, yet that total was exceeded in both games.

Despite losing their perfect record, the Bulldogs remain one of the best teams in the nation with their blend of experienced veterans and exciting underclassmen.

Atop the Yale leaders in points sits Elle Hartje ’24, who scored or assisted on all three goals against Colgate, and rookie Jordan Ray ’26, who had at least a point in each of the first nine games for the Bulldogs.

While Hartje was a standout player entering the season, she also believes that the younger players on the roster like Ray will be crucial to the Elis success this year.

“We are building this program into a championship team, and the underclassmen are huge parts of our success,” Hartje said. “Our coaches work super hard to recruit the right kids that will fit in with and better our team as a whole. We keep getting questions about how we are going to respond after last year’s success, and I think that the production from the younger players is proof that we have every intention to be even better this year than last.”

The Bulldogs will look to get back in the win column next weekend when they host RPI and Union at Ingalls in their final two games before the winter break.