Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s hockey team (0–2–0) dropped their first two games of the 2024–25 season to the No. 1 Denver Pioneers (8–0–0) this past weekend. However, the Bulldogs remain optimistic as the team showed much improvement throughout this opening series against, arguably, the toughest opponent on collegiate ice. 

“I think our team grew as the weekend went on,” said Head Coach Keith Allain. “Keep in mind, Denver is not only the number 1 ranked team in the nation, but it was also their seventh and eighth games. Our guys adjusted to game speed at a very high level and got better with each period that we played.  I also like our compete level, we forced them to earn their ice and again this improved as the weekend went on.”

On Friday night, Jack Stark ’27 started strong, making 25 saves in his season debut. Yale’s first line consisted of captain Will Dineen ’25, junior forward Kalen Szeto ’26 and senior Briggs Gammill ’25.

With last year’s leading point-getter David Chen ’26 out of the lineup and facing off against a top collegiate netminder in Matt Davis, the Bulldogs struggled to capitalize on their chances. Friday’s game ended in a 0–6 shutout. Nevertheless, there were many positives to draw on for Coach Allain and his staff as they look forward to upcoming matches.

First, the power-play chemistry looked solid and showed significant signs of improvement over where it was at the beginning of last season.

“Our power play did a very good job despite having limited opportunities,” said Allain. “We did a good job creating scoring chances. Now we need to cash in, just be a little more precise with our passes and quicker and more accurate with our shot opportunities.”

One of the five members on the first unit power play was first-year Micah Berger ’28, who looked calm and composed in Friday’s matchup and led the team with nine total shots. He was joined by four other first-years who also made their collegiate debuts that night: Zach Wagnon ’28, Donovan Frias ’28, Julian Frias ’28 and Ronan O’Donnell ’28. For Allain, all five contributed positively to the team’s performance.

“I thought our freshmen did a good job jumping right into the deep end of the pool in NCAA College Hockey,” said Allain. “We played five on Friday and would have played all 5 again Saturday but had one get a little banged up.  It is an excellent class, a group that we feel raises both our skill level and our overall compete.  I expect each and every one of them to make a significant contribution before the season is over.”

On Saturday night, the Elis lost 5-1, but Denver was limited to only two even-strength goals all night by Stark and company. With the team playing so evenly matched against such a top opponent, staying out of the box will be critical in future games against the Bulldogs’ tough ECAC and out-of-conference schedule. That’s a message that Allain preached after Saturday’s loss.

“There are several areas that we are looking to improve heading into this weekend but key among them are our breakouts and our discipline,” said Allain. “We need to do a better job getting out of our end cleanly, it will limit the time we have to defend and increase our opportunities to create offense.  From a discipline standpoint we need to play a hard physical game but minimize the time we spend in the penalty box.”

Saturday’s lone Yale goal was scored by sophomore forward Will Richter ’27, who the team will rely upon this year to be a consistent contributor and two-hundred-foot player. Richter played well in both games, and his experience gained last year, and his summer training this offseason have prepared him to make a big jump in his sophomore campaign.

“My main focus in the summer was to become a more complete hockey player,” said Richter.  “I placed a lot of emphasis on working to get bigger, faster, and more conditioned. Our hard work in the summer and throughout preseason allows us to maintain intensity for 60 minutes every night.”

Richter and the rest of the Bulldogs will travel to Ithaca, NY, this weekend to face off against a top-ranked Cornell squad on Friday. They will square off against Colgate on Saturday in Hamilton, NY, at 7 p.m.