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The Yale men’s ice hockey team faced adversity on Friday in their matchup against Quinnipiac University, the second-ranked team in the country, losing 5–1. However, they rallied for a big win the next day in their Saturday matchup against Princeton University. 

While the Bulldogs (6–17–4, 5–13–2 ECAC) had a tough time against Quinnipiac (26–3–3, 18–2–0 ECAC) at M&T Bank Arena, they turned it around for a 4–0 shutout of Ivy rival Princeton (12–15–0, 8–12–0 ECAC) on the second day of back-to-back away games. 

“I thought we had a greater start against the number two team in the country on the road Friday night, as we held the lead 35 minutes into the game, but we were not able to finish it off,” head coach Keith Allain ’80 said. 

The Bobcats came into Friday on a six-game winning streak yet had a slow start to the game. The Blue and White found the back of the net first with a tally by forward David Chen ’26, assisted by forward Briggs Gammill ’25 and defenseman Bayard Hall ’26 just over seven minutes into the first frame. 

The remainder of the game was dominated by Quinnipiac, as they scored five consecutive goals throughout the second and third periods. The first two goals were scored by bobcat forward Sam Lipkin within a minute of each other.

Defenseman CJ McGee also found success in the second frame, while forwards Collin Graf and Cristophe Tellier added tallies in the third to raise the final score to 5–1. 

“Last weekend was a rollercoaster with losing a tough one to Quinnipiac but bouncing back against Princeton the next day,” Gammill said. 

Goalkeeper Luke Pearson ’25 made 23 saves in the goal for the Bulldogs, while Bobcat goalkeeper Yaniv Perets made 15 as the Bulldogs struggled to maintain pressure in the offensive zone. Forward Ian Carpentier ’24, defenseman Ryan Carmichael ’23, Gammill, Chen and Hall each made two shots on goal during the contest. 

Despite the loss to tough competition on Friday, the Bulldogs were resilient and worked to improve their play on Saturday against Princeton. 

“The men rebounded with a great team effort Saturday to defeat a Princeton team that beat us at home earlier in the season,” Allain said.

Late in the game against Quinnipiac, Allain made a change in net, swapping in goalkeeper Nate Reid ’24. While it didn’t affect the outcome of that game, Reid’s play was critical against Princeton. Whether because of the change in goal or just higher intensity against a longtime rival, the Bulldogs came out with renewed energy against Princeton. 

Just over 10 minutes into the first period, Carpentier skated around the back of the goal on a 5-on-3 power play and launched the puck into the net for Yale’s first goal of the night. Carpentier was assisted by Hall and defenseman Ryan Conroy ’24. 

There was a lull in scoring until 8:43 into the second frame, when forward Niklas Allain ’24 deflected the puck to stretch the Bulldogs’ lead to two. Gammill grabbed the puck and slid it to defenseman Brandon Tabakin ’23, who sent the puck towards the cage.

“In the game against Princeton, I thought that we had a complete team effort,” Conroy said. “Nate was solid throughout the game and made some big saves early which gave us our momentum.”

Less than three minutes later, Chen intercepted a sloppy pass by Princeton in the neutral zone and broke away. He added the third tally of the night. 

To complete the victory, Carpentier scored his second goal of the contest in the final two minutes on an open goal. 

“Our special teams did their jobs on both sides of the puck, and 5-on-5 we stuck to our game plan,” Conroy said. “We were all on the same page, and that’s why we got the result we wanted.”

This marked Yale’s first win over Princeton since 2020 and their first shut-out since the start of the season, when Yale beat Brown 2–0. 

Chen and forward Teddy Wooding ’24 led the team with four shots on goal each during the game, closely followed by Allain and forward Henry Wagner ’24 with three each. 

“Nate Reid was our backbone against Princeton and played a great game,” Gammill said. 

In total, Reid tallied 40 saves for the Bulldogs, earning him ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week honors. 

The Blue and White look forward to another two strong performances for their final two games of the season.

“We continue to work hard every day and I firmly believe our best hockey is ahead of us,” Keith Allain said. 

The Yale men’s ice hockey team will face Colgate on Feb. 24 and Cornell on Feb. 25 at Ingalls Rink and will be celebrating Senior Weekend.