Men’s basketball, hockey schedules released
NEW HAVEN — Upcoming schedules for the Yale men’s basketball and men’s hockey teams, released on Friday, include dates with brand programs in iconic buildings.
Highlighting the schedule for hockey are games against Boston College, a date with Harvard at Madison Square Garden and Connecticut Ice, a twoday tournament in Bridgeport featuring the state’s four Division I teams.
In basketball, the Bulldogs travel to North CarolinaandClemsoninDecember. They’ll also participate in the NIT Season TipOff in November, which includes games at Oklahoma State and Penn State.
Here’s a rundown:
MEN’S HOCKEY
Coach Keith Allain has secured a strong nonconference schedule that features four Hockey East opponents, a neutral site meeting with Harvard and Connecticut Ice.
Yale plays Boston College for the first time since the 201213 season when it travels to Chestnut Hill on Nov. 26. The Eagles are coming off a rare losing season, but are expected to contend for the NCAA tournament with a strong recruiting class that includes Darien’s Spencer Knight, the nation’s top goaltending recruit and a firstround draft pick of the Florida Panthers last month.
On Dec. 10, Maine, coached by former Yale assistant Red Gendron, visits Ingalls Rink for the first time since 1984. The Bulldogs are at New Hampshire on Jan. 3; at Vermont Jan. 7.
The Rivalry on Ice with Harvard at Madison Square Garden returns after a fiveyear hiatus, and will be played Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. It’s a oneyear agreement. The teams drew large crowds for games there in 2014 and 2015.
“It’s nice to return to MSG,” Allain said. “We really enjoyed that. I just didn’t want to do it every year. It’s hard to lock into something every year with our limited number of games. And also I wanted that to be special.”
Connecticut Ice, a twoyear experimental event set for Jan. 2526 at Webster Bank Arena, also includes Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and UConn. Matchups for the tournament haven’t been set yet, but Yale will face either UConn or Sacred Heart on opening night. There will be a championship and consolation game a night later.
Yale opens the season at home against Brown on Nov. 1, then travels to Brown the next night. Harvard’s ECAC Hockey game at Ingalls Rink is Nov. 16. Regular season games with Quinnipiac are Feb. 7 in New Haven and Feb. 29 in Hamden.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Yale, the defending Ivy League champion, continues to play a competitive nonconference schedule that includes a heavy dose of Power Five opponents. North Carolina, Clemson, Oklahoma State and Penn State fit the bill this season.
There are three firsttime opponents on the schedule — at San Francisco (Nov. 11) and home games with Division III Johnson & Wales ( Jan. 12) and Howard ( Jan. 20).
The NIT SeasonTip Off includes games at Oklahoma State (Nov. 17) and at Penn State (Nov. 23) before a trip to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando to face Western Michigan (Nov. 25) and either Bucknell or Seattle a day later.
Yale plays North Carolina on Dec. 30 in Chapel Hill, marking the first meeting between the programs since 1980. The Bulldogs also visit Clemson on Dec. 22, a homecoming game for South Carolina native Jordan Bruner.
Other nonconference games are with Siena (Nov. 20) and Vermont (Dec. 1) and road games at Albany (Dec. 4), Lehigh (Dec. 7) and UMass (Dec. 11).
The seasonopener is Nov. 5 at Stony Brook; the homeopener is Nov. 8 against Oberlin, a Division III team coached by former Yale captain Isaiah Cavaco. Yale’s Ivy League opener is Jan. 17 with Brown. Harvard visits on Feb. 7.