Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s ice hockey team (5–14–2, 4–8–2 ECAC) lost in a shootout against Union College (15–9–2, 8–5–1 ECAC) on Friday followed by a loss to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (10–14–2, 5–9–0 ECAC) the following night 5-2. For Head Coach Keith Allain, both matchups highlighted a persistent issue that the Bulldogs have been trying to solve for several months: a lack of defensive consistency on the ice.

“We are still having too many breakdowns in our defensive zone coverage, and it leads to scoring chances against and goals against,” Allain told the News. “It starts with returning to [your] zone, understanding the situation we are facing and executing your job to the best of your ability. Communication is a huge factor in this.”

Shortly after the puck was dropped in their game against the Garnet Chargers on Friday, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead courtesy of a skillful re-direction by captain Will Dineen ’25 on a Bayard Hall ’26 point shot. Yale went up by two when first-year Micah Berger ’28 walked in from the blue line uncontested and sniped a power play goal over the Union goalie’s glove. 

Yet, Union was able to claw back the two goals in the remaining minutes of the first frame. First, wily playmaker Josh Nixon circled the offensive zone and found junior forward Parker Lindauer with a beautiful seam pass for a one-timer goal. This type of high-to-low play is something Yale has struggled to defend against. As Allain noted, it highlights the need for better on-ice communication as the opposing team switches the angle of play.

Later in the period, Yale failed to get the puck deep after a breakout and the Garnet Chargers were able to scoop up a loose puck and capitalize on an offensive rush, bringing the score to 2–2.  

After the intermission, it was first-year Ronan O’Donnell ’28 who scored to put the Elis ahead again. O’Donnell has been a consistent force for the Elis all season long.

“The puck had a weird bounce to the middle after [Kieran O’Hearn] had his shot blocked, and I just turned and fired a shot on the ice,” O’Donnell said to the News after the game.  “The goalie was probably getting back on his feet after dropping for the previous shot, so I think he was caught off guard a bit.”

The goal was O’Donnell’s team-leading eleventh of the season and it made him the first first-year player to tuck double-digit goals since Joe Snively ’19 did so in the 2015-16 season. 

When asked about his offensive mindset, it was all about quantity over quality for O’Donnell. 

“Getting shots is really important when it comes to momentum and the flow of the game so for me, the more the better,” he said. “Shots don’t have to be perfect; there’s a lot of different ways to beat goalies.”

While the Elis entered the final period up one, in a matter of minutes Union was able to equalize in a similar high-to-low play as Lindauer’s earlier goal. Jack Stark ’27 saved twenty shots in the third to keep the game level at 3-3. 

With the game still tied after sixty minutes of regulation and the five minute overtime, the game went to a shootout, where Union scored twice to secure the extra point.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs were looking to bounce back after a tough loss, making a quick journey from Schenectady to Troy, NY.  There, they squared off against RPI in front of a raucous 4,546-person crowd in the forty seventh Annual Big Red Freakout game, an annual RPI tradition. The enthusiastic crowd certainly played a big factor all night long.

“It put a great pressure on our guys to not take a shift off, to not take any moments for granted,” RPI coach Dave Smith told the Times Union. “A couple of times, I heard someone say, ‘look around boys, look around, it is awesome.’ To have over 70 hockey alums back, we see a lot on the road everywhere we go but this doesn’t happen anywhere else.”

While Yale did get out to an early one goal lead courtesy of a Will Richter ’27 shot from the slot in the first period, RPI refused to back down, and they evened it up in the dying seconds of the first. These types of late goals have been killers for the Elis in recent games, as they are particularly crucial for momentum shifts. Understanding their importance, Allain didn’t hesitate to hold himself accountable as the bench boss. 

“We have allowed too many goals at the end of periods,” he said to the News. “As a coach, I have to do a better job of having our guys understand where we are time wise and raising our level of focus during those key moments late in periods.”

RPI scored two more late goals in the second period, one of which crossed the goal line with only three seconds on the clock. In the third, they added two empty netters to close the game out with a 5-2 home victory in their sold-out arena. 

Even though the Bulldogs are never content with any loss, Stark drew high praise for his stellar performances in both games. 

“I thought Jack had an excellent weekend. He may have been our best player on Friday night and was solid again on Saturday,” Allain said.  “Jack is a goalie that brings confidence to our entire group.” 

This week, Yale will face off against Brown (9–10–2, 5–8–1 ECAC) on Thursday night at Ingalls Rink and will then travel to Providence on Sunday to complete the home and home. The Bears and Bulldogs are currently tied in the ECAC standings for eighth place.