The men’s hockey team fell to Dartmouth 6-1 in its opening game of the 2025-26 campaign.
Liza Kaufman
Staff Reporter
Yale Athletics
The men’s hockey team (0–1–0, 0–0–0 ECAC) opened its season on the road Sunday night against Dartmouth (2–0–0, 0–0–0 ECAC) in Hanover, ultimately falling 6-1 to Dartmouth after a four-goal second-period surge.
The Big Green came out flying, dictating the pace from the opening faceoff and keeping Yale pinned in its own zone. Riding the momentum of a 5-2 win over Stonehill (1–7–0, 0–0–0 NEC) the night before, Dartmouth jumped ahead early with two first-period goals that opened the floodgates for a dominant offensive performance.
For the Bulldogs, Sunday’s game was the start of the 2025–26 campaign and a new era for Yale hockey under interim head coach Joe Howe.
Despite Yale taking the first two shots of the game, Dartmouth tallied the first goal. Yale goalkeeper Jack Stark ’27 blocked a shot from Ryan Schelling at 1:36, but less than a minute later, Hayden Stavroff continued his dominant play from the night before, scoring on even strength to give the Big Green a 1-0 lead.
Yale won the next faceoff, and defenseman Hughie Hooker ’28 ripped a shot that was blocked by Dartmouth goalkeeper Emmett Croteau. The puck went end to end for much of the period, with Stark totaling 12 saves in the first frame. At 6:08, the Bulldogs came inches from scoring when forward Micah Berger ’28 hit the pipe, just narrowly missing the back of the net. With under a minute left in the period, the Big Green’s Nikita Nikora found the back of the net to advance Dartmouth’s lead to 2-0 at the end of the first period.
Despite the Big Green taking an advantage in the opening 20 minutes, the Bulldogs returned to the ice determined to get on the board. However, the Bulldogs were no match for the dominant Dartmouth offense that scored four more goals in the next 20-minute period.
After Donovan Frias ’28 won the opening faceoff, Iisai Pesonen ’27 sent the puck flying, but it bounced off the pipe. Stark stood tall in the net, blocking Dartmouth’s shot on a power play. However, at the 11-minute mark, Dartmouth once again found itself in a power play and capitalized on it, extending its lead to 3-0. Beginning at the 15 minute mark, the Big Green went on a three-goal campaign when three players each found the back of the net, putting the game out of reach for Yale. The goals finished the period with Dartmouth leading 6-0.
The final period proved to be better for Yale. Stark finished with 23 saves before yielding the net to Noah Pak ’28 in the final period, who stopped all 12 shots he faced in relief. The Bulldogs tightened their defense, keeping the Big Green scoreless for the remaining 20 minutes. On the offensive side, Frias found the back of the net at 5:21 to score Yale’s first and only goal of the game on even strength.
Although the game ended in a loss for the Bulldogs, Dylan Hunt ’29 tallied his first collegiate assist on Frias’ goal and fellow first-year James Shannon ’29 won eight of 16 draws in his collegiate debut.
The Bulldogs will return to Ingalls Rink this weekend for a home-opening doubleheader during their alumni weekend. They will host Quinnipiac University (5–2–1, 0–0–0 ECAC) for the annual War on Whitney on Friday, before facing Princeton (2–0–0, 0–0–0 ECAC) on Saturday.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m on Friday.