This Saturday, the women’s hockey team (12-17-3, 7-12-3 ECAC) ended their season after dropping two games to first-ranked Colgate (29-6-1, 18-4-0 ECAC) in the ECAC quarterfinals.
The weekend was Goalie Kaley Doyle ’24’s last. After four brilliant seasons for the Bears, she delivered her magnum opus this year, being selected for Goaltending ECAC Goaltender of the Week twice and placed on a shortlist of potential Goalie of the Year candidates.
In the matches against Colgate, Doyle left everything she had on the ice. Between both games she racked up 85 saves, tying her career high on Saturday with 50 saves and a save percentage of 93%. But despite her best efforts, Doyle was unable to prevent all the potential goals.
“At the end of the day my job is to stop pucks,” Doyle wrote in an email to The Herald. “I go into every game with the same mentality: Do everything in my power to give my team a chance to win. It was no different this past weekend against Colgate.”
Colgate, who had Brown’s number all season, did not waver in the quarterfinals, taking both matches 5-1 to win the three-game series in just two games.
The Bears were not completely stomped by the Raiders, scoring in each game and putting up strong defensive stands early in both games. Colgate only managed to score one of their 10 goals in the first periods, a testament to the Bears’ early defensive strength.
The first game was closer than the second as the Bears faceoff crew, led by Jade Iginla ’26 and Sam Broz ’27, managed to win the puck 28 times to Colgate’s 30. Broz had a phenomenal night, winning 14 of her 18 faceoffs and consequently winning the Bears more possession.
But the Bears never capitalized on their possessions, and only managed 17 shot attempts compared to Colgate’s 40. While the team put on a comprehensive defensive performance, blocking 14 shots in addition to Doyle’s aforementioned 35 saves, the overwhelming number of shots fired on goal by the Raiders was too much for Bruno to bear.
“We knew going into the weekend that we were going to have to be almost perfect defensively, going up against a very strong, offensively driven Colgate team,” Doyle wrote. “I don't necessarily think our strategy going into the games was different than any other game this season. We just looked to be the best version of ourselves each day and leave everything out on that ice.”
The sole moment of relief for Bruno came in the second period. After dropping down 3-0, a key faceoff win and pass in the 19th minute from Iginla to Ava DeCoste ’27 led to their first and only goal of the game, rejuvenating Bruno for the moment.
Other than that goal, the Bears had little offensive production to write home about.
On Saturday, spectators may have felt deja vu watching Bruno fall 5-1 to the Raiders once again.
The game’s scoring was defined by penalties, with Cameron Sikich ’25 delivering Bruno’s sole goal on a power play while once again down 3-0 to the Raiders.
The faceoff team had another solid performance, winning 26 of the 45 faceoffs, but the shooting was absent for the second night in a row, with Bruno firing only 10 shots to Colgate’s 55. Despite saving 50 of the 55 shots, Doyle was unable to resist the crushing power of the Raiders.
Despite the season’s harsh end, this year marked the Bears’ winningest season and first quarter finals appearance in 18 years. The Bears can look forward with some confidence knowing that their top five “point-getters” —- Iginla, India McDadi ’26, DeCoste, Broz and Margot Norehad ’27 — are all underclassmen. The team has no shortage of talent going forward.
“I think it is important to recognize that our success this year was a collective effort by not only each and every player, but our coaches and staff behind the scenes as well,” Doyle wrote in an email to The Herald. “I am grateful to be a part of such an amazing team who bought in each and every day because that is the true reason for our success this year.”
Fans can hope for more of the same from Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi’s team next year.
“I am honored to be a part of this journey and I look forward to following along as the team continues to grow each and every year,” Doyle wrote. “Once a panda, always a panda!”
Dennis Carey is a Sports Editor who enjoys playing volleyball, listening to and collecting vinyl records, and poorly playing the guitar in his spare time.
