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The Bulldogs (1–1, 1–1 ECAC) toppled Brown University (1–1, 1–1 ECAC) in their season opener on Saturday at Ingalls Rink to start their year off with a win. However, the Bears exacted their revenge when the two teams faced off the next day in Providence.
In the first game, the Blue and White claimed a 2–0 home victory over the Bears. Despite a slow start, the Elis tallied two goals in the second period, one by forward Niklas Allain ’24 and the other by forward Briggs Gammill ’25, to start off the season on the right foot.
“The win meant a lot to our group to open the season,” forward Ian Carpentier ’24 said. “We know our identity, and if we keep playing the right way, this should be a really fun and successful year for us.”
Over the course of the first frame, neither the Bulldogs nor the Bears tallied a goal. Goalkeeper Nate Reid ’24 was in the cage for Yale and faced seven shots, while the Elis attempted 17 on Brown goalkeeper Mathieu Caron.
Forward Will Dineen ’25 and defenseman and captain Michael Young ’23 led the Bulldogs’ attack in the first period, with four and three shots on goal, respectively.
“It was an all around team effort and a good way to start the season,” Young said. “It was great to see the crowd out at Ingalls, and we’re trying to keep the momentum going.”
Despite the 26-shot first period not generating any goals for either team, the Bulldogs finally connected on the powerplay in the second period.
Defenseman Connor Sullivan ’25 and forward Cole Donhauser ’23 assisted Niklas Allain in scoring the Bulldogs’ first goal of the season. Just over seven minutes into the second frame, Donhauser fired a backhanded shot at the goal, which was collected and put away by Niklas Allain.
“I think it was a really good team win and the guys were rewarded for the work they put in this fall,” head coach Keith Allain ’80 said to Yale Athletics. “You have to give special teams credit for working hard on both sides of the puck.”
After six more minutes of back-and-forth play with shots on goal by both the Elis and the Bears, Reid saved an attempt from Brown forward Nathan Plessis, allowing Quinton Ong ’23 to repossess the puck.
Ong gathered the puck in the corner and passed to Gammill, who broke in front of the net and put the puck away to score the Bulldogs’ second and final goal of the game. Forward David Chen ’26 also assisted the play and earned his first point in his collegiate career.
“Given all the penalties, special teams were working well, with both goals on the power play and none given up on the penalty kill,” Young said.
Just over two minutes later, the Bulldogs’ defense stepped up their game, as Brown’s offense shot six consecutive times in a minute. Reid saved three of the six, while defenseman Kieran O’Hearn ’25 and forward Reilly Connors ’24 blocked the remaining ones.
In the third and final frame, the Bulldogs were on the defense as they undershot Brown 9–6. Reid, however, had a strong performance and refused to give up the Blue and White’s lead.
Over the course of the game, the Elis boasted 35 total shots on Brown, in contrast to Brown’s 22. The Blue and White won 41 of the game’s 58 faceoffs. Reid saved all shots, picking up his first shutout of the season and second shutout of his collegiate career.
Dineen and defenseman Dylan Herzog ’25 led Yale’s offense with five total shots on goal throughout the game, followed by Ong, Young, Donhauser and Chen with three each.
During the final 40 minutes of the game, Brown led in penalties with nine, while Yale only had four. Between the two teams there were 18 minor penalties, three majors and three game misconducts throughout the game.
However, Brown managed to flip the script on Yale when they faced off again on Sunday.
After posting a shutout in the first game, Reid surrendered a tough goal to Brown defenseman Jackson Munro after just one minute and 54 seconds had elapsed in the first period. The goal came after the Bulldogs had fended off a 2-on-1 opportunity. The Bears recovered a loose puck in the corner, which they slid back to Munro at the point. Reid, shielded by a Brown forward in front of the net, never had a chance at a save.
Following a Brown kneeing penalty less than a minute later, the Bulldogs had a chance to even the score. However, in what would become the defining trend of the game, the Blue and White could not capitalize on the power play. For the course of the game, the Bulldogs had five power plays, but did not manage to generate a shot on any of them.
When Donhauser and Young each had a penalty with 9:42 remaining in the period, Brown had a prime opportunity to grow their lead.
The Bears capitalized quickly on the two-man advantage as Matt Sutton found Cole Quisenberry right in front of the net, where he beat Reid high on the glove side.
The Bulldog defense then prevented Brown from scoring for the remainder of the first and second periods. The Bears offense, though, outshot Yale 13–2 in the second frame.
Sullivan, who had an assist in the first game, broke through for the Yale offense, as he slotted in a shot from the right wing in transition.
Yale kept the pressure up, generating six shots over the following seven minutes, but the Bears defense held strong, as they blocked four and saved the other two. With two and a half minutes remaining, Keith Allain made the decision to pull his goalie to get an extra skater on the ice.
When Brown’s Quisenberry got a penalty with two minutes left, it gave the Bulldogs one final opportunity to score, but their power play was unsuccessful, and the score remained 2–1 until the final buzzer.
The Bulldogs look forward to tallying their second win of the season next week.
The Elis will take the road to compete at Dartmouth on Friday in Hanover, N.H. and Harvard on Saturday in Cambridge, Mass.