Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s ice hockey team (4–10–1, 3–6–1 ECAC) earned two impressive victories and dropped three tightly contested games over Yale’s winter academic break. By beating the No. 11 nationally ranked Boston University Terriers (11–7–1, 7–3–1 ECAC), they showed their capability of beating any team in the country.  However, they also struggled to find a sense of consistency over the run of games, something that has been an issue for the Elis all season. 

“The biggest positive to take away from those five games is that when we are mentally and physically engaged, we can play with anyone,” said Head Coach Keith Allain ’80. “Our attention to detail when we are ‘on’ is very good, but we are not ‘on’ as often as we need to be. Success requires that we do the right thing over and over and over again.” 

In the first game of the holiday season on Dec. 29, the Bulldogs came ready to play. In front of a packed Ingalls crowd, Yale went toe-to-toe with national powerhouse BU and defeated them 7–5.

First-year Micah Berger ’28 led the way, notching a goal and two assists in his first game back from injury. Berger had impressed in the Bulldogs’ opening game as well, showing his offensive prowess against a different top collegiate squad, the Denver University Pioneers. After missing the following 10 games as he recovered, Berger picked up right where he left off.

“It was a huge relief to be able to contribute in my first game back,” Berger told the News. “It’s always a mix of nerves and excitement when coming back from an injury, so it was just a huge confidence boost knowing that all the work I had put in to get back was going to start paying off.”

David Chen ’26, who returned to the Bulldogs lineup in late November, also showed his value to the team. Chen led the team in scoring last season, and his offense hasn’t missed a beat this year. In the game against the Terriers, Chen scored twice and looked threatening all night long.

“David has made a huge impact on our offense,” said captain Will Dineen ’25. “He has stepped up for us in big games and has been a large reason for our power play’s success in these recent games.”

For both Berger and Chen, their seamless transition back into the high-paced Division I game has been a testament to the entire Yale hockey staff.

“Coming back from an injury is always difficult, but our coaches and trainers do a great job in preparing anyone who’s dealing with an injury to feel 100 percent once we are back to playing,” Chen said to the News. “I think what helped me the most was the progressive conditioning work that allowed me to feel up to speed once I was ready to get back into action for games.”

Sophomore Will Richter ’27 and first year Ronan O’Donnell ’28 also had multi-point games against BU, and they have both been regular contributors so far this year. O’Donnell currently leads the entire team in points, with Richter only a couple of names below in the stat chart. With their high-end skill, to go along with power forward Donovan Frias ’28 and crafty playmaker Zach Wagnon ’28, the Bulldogs have demonstrated the potential to have a high-powered offense, which the team has lacked in years prior.

“One of the biggest takeaways from this stretch and from the BU game in particular is that we have the ability to score much more than we have in years past,” Dineen said. “Our power-play has much improved, and it has shown throughout these past five games.”

The Bulldogs’ powerplay percentage currently sits at 18 percent, up five points from last year’s mark, and they are averaging more goals a game this year as well.

However, in many games this season, Yale has struggled defensively. Following the victory over BU, Yale lost to both RPI (9–10–2, 4–6–0) and Union (12–8–1, 6–4–0), giving up over four goals in both games. After a gritty 3-2 win over Dartmouth, the Bulldogs fell to Harvard (5–8–2, 4–4–2) 3-2 away in Cambridge.

Coach Allain and his staff have pinpointed the defensive side as the area the team must focus on the most in order to move up the ECAC standings in the second half of this season.

“We need to improve on all aspects of our game, but most specifically our team defense and the details of our game when we do not have the puck,” said Allain. “To be more consistent and predictable in this aspect of our game takes focus and discipline, and we need improvement here.”

The Bulldogs will try to take a step in the right direction this weekend in their home matchups against Clarkson (12–6–2, 6–2–0) and St. Lawrence (6–13–1, 2–5–1). In November, Yale defeated St. Lawrence 5–1 in Canton, NY, but was blanked by Clarkson 4–0 the following night.

Puck drop for both matchups this weekend is set for 7 p.m. at Ingalls Rink.

TOMMY GANNON
Tommy Gannon covers men's ice hockey. He is a sophomore in Branford college majoring in history and economics.