Men's Hockey Renews Rivalry Against Yale with Weekend Series

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Brown Bears (9-10-2, 5-8-1 ECAC) renew the ancient rivalry with the Yale Bulldogs (5-14-2, 4-8-2 ECAC) with a home-and-home series, beginning with a road game on Thursday before a home game at Meehan Auditorium on Sunday.

Thursday's game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+ in the United States and on Stretch Internet internationally. Sunday's game is set for a 2 p.m. puck drop and will broadcast locally on NESN in addition to streaming on ESPN+ and Stretch Internet.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Brown enters the weekend series with a 9-10-2 overall record and 5-8-1 ECAC record. The Bears are 5-1-0 over the last six games.
Brown's offense averages 2.5 goals per game to rank eighth in the conference and 44th nationally. Captain Max Scott leads the team with 11 goals and sophomore Tyler Kopff leads the team with 15 assists. Freshman Brian Nicholas leads the Bears with 21 points.
Brown's power play has nine goals in 57 attempts (15.8%) to rank eighth in the conference and 51st nationally. Nicholas leads the team with four power play goals and eight power play points.
Defensively, Brown is tied for the conference lead and 10th in the nation with 2.4 goals against per game.
Sophomore Lawton Zacher holds a 2.17 goals against average and .930 save percentage in 17 starts.
Brown's penalty kill clicks at 75.8% (50-66) to rank tenth in the ECAC.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

Yale enters the season series with a 5-14-2 overall record and 4-8-2 conference mark.
The Bulldogs most recently skated to a tie at Union before falling to RPI in the Big Red Freakout at Houston Field House.
Offensively, Yale averages 2.3 goals per game to rank 10th in the conference and 53rd nationally.
Freshman Ronan O'Donnell leads the team with 11 goals and 19 points in 20 games. Freshman Zach Wagnon leads Yale with 11 assists.
Yale's power play clicks at 19.2% (14-72) to rank sixth in the conference and tied for 35th nationally.
Defensively, the Bulldogs allow 4.0 goals per game to rank last in the ECAC and tied for 61st nationally.
Between the pipes, Jack Stark holds a .880 save percentage and 3.71 goals against average in 15 starts. Noah Pak holds a .891 save percentage and 3.35 goals against average in four starts.
Yale's penalty kill ranks last in the NCAA at 68% (51-75).

INSIDE THE SERIES

The Bears and Bulldogs meet for the 195th and 196th times in series history.
Yale holds the series edge, 108-78-8, along with a 42-29-4 record at Ingalls Rink.
The Bears hold a 33-30-3 record at Meehan Auditorium.
It has been more than 19 years since the last tie in the series, which came on January 14, 2006 - a 3-3 final in New Haven. The two teams have played 43 times since then.

W.W.W.W.W.

Brown's overtime win at Rensselaer marked the fifth consecutive win for the Bears.
It's the first five-game win streak since 2009-10 and just the seventh such win streak dating back to the start of the 1977-78 season.
It's the 26th time in program history the team has won five straight games.

SHORTY, SHORTY

Zackary Tonelli recorded shorthanded goals in consecutive games last weekend.
He is the 11th Bear in the last 25 seasons to record multiple man-down goals in a season.
Tonelli joins Jack Maclellan as the lone Bears to record shorthanded goals in consecutive games. Maclellan tallied them in consecutive games against Yale in the 2010 ECAC Quarterfinal series.

NICHOLAS HEATS UP

Freshman Brian Nicholas capped off the hat trick and four-point night with the overtime winner on Friday (Jan. 31) at Rensselaer.
Nicholas picked up ECAC Rookie of the Week honors for the performance against the Engineers.
Additionally, Nicholas was named the ECAC Rookie of the Month for January. He compiled six goals and 10 points in 10 games played.

NICHOLAS IN THE RANKINGS

Among freshman, his 1.00 points per game lead the ECAC and rank fifth in the NCAA. Overall, he is tied for the ECAC lead and tied for 39th in the NCAA.
His 0.48 goals per game rank second in the ECAC and fourth in the NCAA among rookies.

IN PROGRAM HISTORY

Nicholas cracked the Brown freshmen records with his performance at RPI.
His 10 goals are tied for the eighth most in program history among rookies.
His 21 points are tied for the 10th most in program history among rookies.

TOSSING HATS

Nicholas's hat trick marked the 15th for the Bears dating back to the start of the 1999-2000 season.
With Scott and Nicholas both with hat tricks this season, 2024-25 is just the third time the Bears have posted two hat tricks in the same season.
Tommy Marchin is the lone Bear in the last 25 years with multiple hat tricks.

ASSIST MAN

Sophomore Tyler Kopff posted a career night with a goal and four assists in the overtime win at Rensselaer.
He is the first Bear with four assists in a game since Max Scott tallied four helpers on October 29, 2023 against Stonehill.
He is the first Bear with five points in a game since both William Corcoran and Max Willman posted five-point efforts in an 8-8 tie against Arizona State on December 30, 2016.
Kopff leads the Bears with 15 assists this season and is tied for 10th in the ECAC. His 0.81 points per game are tied for 19th in the ECAC.

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