Men’s Hockey Fights Back to the Postseason, Eyes Home Playoff Game

Wesleyan Men’s Hockey has been through the gauntlet the last few years. After finishing first in the NESCAC in 2022–23, the team has missed the playoffs for the last two seasons. The Cards had entered this season not only with a point to prove but were hoping to find their way back to the upper echelon of the NESCAC.

The Cardinals opened their season on Nov. 14 last year in Medford, Mass. against the Tufts Jumbos. Jack Marottolo ’26 scored the team’s first goal of the season on a power play, but that was the lone high point for the Red and Black as they fell 4–1. The Cardinals had a chance to salvage the weekend the following day against Conn. College. The Camels struck first, but the Red and Black bounced back with three unanswered goals behind an all-underclassman effort. Robert Martiniello ’28 put in the first, and Jack DesRuisseaux ’29 gave the Cards the lead in the third period. The Camels had a golden opportunity when the Cards were whistled for a delay of game, earning a power play. The Red and Black flipped the script, though, as Owen Mahar ’29 scored a shorthanded goal. The Camels ultimately cashed in on the power play, but the Cards held on to the victory 3–2, their seventh win in the last eight against Conn. College.

Ethan Davidson ’26 emphasized how crucial it is to secure wins on Saturdays.

“The Saturday games after losing Friday are so huge because obviously you want to win both games, but more than that, you don’t want to lose both,” Davidson said. “If you do, it makes that week so much worse, so if you can end the week on a high note, it really carries over and helps you keep the momentum going.”

The next weekend followed a similar pattern. The Cards were trounced in their home opener Friday night by Hamilton 6–1, but they made it a successful weekend by knocking off Amherst the following evening. Marottolo scored three minutes into the contest before the Mammoths evened it in the final seconds of the first period. Will Rassier ’29 secured the game-winning goal in the second period off a beautiful sequence: Davidson connected with captain Hayden Hanes ’27, who sent it over to Rassier, who buried it over the shoulder of the Mammoths’ keeper. The Cards’ backline held firm, keeping the Mammoths off the board through the final two periods. Ethan Fehrenbaker ’28 recorded a career-high 39 saves. Despite being outshot 40–17, the Cards improved to 2–2 in NESCAC play.

After Thanksgiving break, the team returned to action for the out-of-conference portion of their schedule. It began at home against Albertus Magnus College in a high-scoring affair. Both teams found the back of the net twice in the first period. After a scoreless second, Drew Haxton ’28 put the Cards ahead 3–2 a minute into the third. The Falcons responded with two goals to take the lead. The Red and Black had a golden chance to force overtime when a Falcon was booked for boarding, sending him to the box for five minutes. The Cards managed eight shots on the power play, but the Falcons turned them all away and iced the game with an empty-netter in the final minute, handing the Cards a 5–3 loss.

They dropped their next three out-of-conference games, all on the road, falling to Salve Regina University, Endicott College, and Plattsburgh State University by a combined score of 4–10. They ended the road trip on a high note, snagging their first win of the new year in a 3–2 overtime victory against Suffolk University. Under overtime rules, the two teams play three-on-three. Haxton starred, tying the game at two in the second period before delivering a pass to Dylan Margel ’29 in OT, who put it away to give the Cards a 3–2 win.

“Overtime is mayhem, it’s so stressful,” Davidson said. “You’re really tired at that point in the game. And it’s three on three, so everything is magnified. One mistake has such an impact; if you get beat that’s it. So to win with an overtime game is so exciting and just sets the morale really high for the rest of the week.”

The Cards’ last out-of-conference game came against Saint Michael’s College at Spurrier-Snyder Rink. It was a game of missed opportunities, as they went 0 for 7 on the power play and mustered only 13 shots, losing 2–0 and falling to 3–7 on the year. While the record was bleak, the team refused to see it that way.

“NESCAC play is a little bit different than the out-of-conference games that we play,” Hanes said. “And also it’s a good opportunity to try out different tactics because obviously we want to win, but it doesn’t count for our NESCAC record. So, although we lost all of those games, we figured a lot out. Sure, we had lost four straight, but we were in the middle of the pack in the NESCAC, so we weren’t too down on ourselves.”

The Red and Black needed a bounce-back, and they got one in emphatic fashion. Hosting Williams on Friday, Jan. 9 at Spurrier-Snyder, the Cards’ offense overwhelmed. Captain Danny Judge ’26 and Connor Sutherland ’27 both scored in the first period, with Davidson assisting on each. Three more followed in the second, from Hanes, Captain Jack Bosco ’26, and Margel. Bosco added another in the third. When the final buzzer sounded, 12 different Cardinals had recorded at least a point in a 6–1 rout, tying the program’s largest margin of victory against the Purple and Gold.

They followed it up the next day with a 4–2 win against the Middlebury Panthers. It was another hot start, with Hanes assisting on the first goal of the game before netting the next two himself to open a 3–0 lead. The Panthers made a push, scoring late in the second and early in the third to narrow the deficit to one, but Haxton put the game away by dancing through three defenders and finding nylon.

The next weekend was the Maine trip, with the Cards traveling north to face Colby and Bowdoin. Against the Mules on Friday, Davidson struck first, but the Cards’ penalty kill faltered, allowing Colby to convert on both of their power play chances. Marottolo sent the game to overtime with a power play goal of his own, tipping the puck over the line after a feed from DesRuisseaux. The game appeared destined for overtime, but the Mules snuck one in with a second left on the clock for a 3–2 win. The Cards were overwhelmed the following day by Bowdoin, who scored once in each period for a 3–0 victory, leaving the Cards at 4–4 in NESCAC play.

Having played every NESCAC team save Trinity once, it was time for rematches. It started with a reversal of their opening weekend, with the Cards hosting the Jumbos and the Camels at Spurrier-Snyder. Tufts came out on top again, killing two late power plays and finding the empty net with two minutes remaining for a 3–1 win. Determined not to drop four straight NESCAC bouts, the Cards came out motivated against Conn. College on Saturday. It was tied 2–2 after one period, but the Dirty Birds scored four straight, two in the second and two more early in the third. Both teams added a late goal, but the Cards closed out a 7–3 victory, their most goals scored in six years, with nine different players recording an assist.

The next weekend featured road matchups against Hamilton and Amherst. Ranked third in the country coming in, Hamilton backed it up, shutting out the Red and Black and scoring four of their own. After a long journey, the Cards arrived in Amherst after midnight on Sunday with a quick turnaround before their game against the Mammoths. If they were tired, they definitely didn’t show it. Sutherland struck first in the first period, and Daniel Lurie ’26 added a power-play goal in the second. The Cards won 2–0, their first shutout of the year, with Patrick McDevitt ’28 turning away all 43 shots.

The following Friday, the Cards traveled to Williamstown for their final Little Three matchup of the year. A win would have clinched the Little Three title. Haxton scored in the first period, but that was it for the Cards as they lost 4–1, an eight-goal swing from the first meeting. The Red and Black can still win the Little Three outright if Williams falls to Amherst on Saturday. The following day in Middlebury featured a similar story, with the Panthers exacting revenge in a 5–2 win. The game was tied at two with 15 minutes remaining before the Panthers scored three unanswered to seal it.

Back at Spurrier-Snyder the next weekend, the Cards faced the Mules, looking for revenge after their nick-of-time loss earlier in the year. Mahar scored first on a broken play, with Davidson finding him in front of a wide-open net. Lurie extended the lead in the second period with another power-play goal. The Mules mounted a relentless attack, firing 39 shots, and one got past McDevitt in the third, but he stopped the other 38 to give the Cards a 2–1 win. The victory pulled them into a tie with Tufts for fourth in the NESCAC standings and clinched a playoff berth for the first time in three years.

“We really didn’t want to be in a position where we need points in order to be in the playoffs,” Hanes said. “That was really big because it lifts a weight off our shoulders the rest of the week. That’s been a story about our team throughout the years, that whenever we really, really needed to get points, we’ve done a good job of getting them, whether it be like a game on Saturday after a Friday loss, or in this case, Colby was right below us in the standings and a playoff berth on the line and they sort of had a number for the past few years.”

The following day brought a matchup against ninth-ranked Bowdoin. The Polar Bears’ offense was on full display, going two-for-two on the power play and scoring five times in the first 34 minutes. Mahar had two goals for the Cards, but they fell 5–2. 

The Cards currently sit at 7–9 in NESCAC play, in fifth place with 22 points. They are four points behind the Panthers and Jumbos, one point ahead of the Ephs, and four points ahead of the Bantams. They close out the regular season with a home-and-away against Trinity this weekend, hosting the Bantams at Spurrier-Snyder on Friday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Hartford for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday. A playoff spot is secured, but the stakes remain high: The Cards could finish anywhere from third to eighth, depending on how the weekend unfolds.

“Having a home game would be huge,” Davidson said. “We believe we can beat any team anywhere, but to be able to play on our rink and in front of our fans would be massive.”

Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached at sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu.