NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior Brandon Buhr scored his sixth-game winning goal of the season, giving the #20 Union College men's hockey team a 5-4 overtime victory against Yale University on Friday night at Ingalls rink, marking the Garnet Chargers' fourth two-goal comeback victory of the season and keeping their chances for a top-four seed and first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Tournament alive.

Buhr's team-leading 18th score and second overtime goal of the season would not have been possible without two goals from sophomore Ben Muthersbaugh and three points from senior Colby MacArthur. Muthersbaugh netted the first goal of the game for the Garnet Chargers and then lit the lamp for the game-tying goal early in the third. MacArthur assisted on both scores and also tucked one of his own away late in the second.

With their win in Connecticut and Harvard University's win over Princeton University in Massachusetts, the Garnet Chargers' chase for a first-round bye remains alive headed into the final day of the regular season. If Union (20-10-3, 10-9-2 ECAC Hockey) can defeat the last-place Brown University Bears on Saturday, Feb. 28 in regulation and Princeton loses to #14/12 Dartmouth College in regulation, the road to Lake Placid for the Whitelaw Cup in 2026 will have to go through Schenectady.

On Friday against Yale (8-20-1, 7-13-1 ECAC Hockey), Union registered the first five shots on goal and outshot the Bulldogs 7-2 in the opening eight minutes of the game with attempts from six different players. Muthersbaugh was the seventh Garnet Charger to put a shot on target and the first to get past Noah Pak. MacArthur won a faceoff in the right circle, and Muthersbaugh was there to corral it and turn it around for his 16th goal of the season.

Despite dominating play and outshooting Yale 15-8 in the opening period, Union skated into the first intermission tied up with Yale after Kalen Szeto knocked down a pass in front of Union's crease and capitalized off the turnover.

The Bulldogs continued to tilt the ice in their favor, taking the lead 36 seconds into the resumption of play. David Chen beat sophomore Cameron Korpi on the glove side, scoring a goal on the same day he was named the ECAC Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Buhr was named as a finalist for the prestigious, academic award and finished as the runner-up to Chen.

Less than two minutes after the Bulldogs scored their third straight goal, first-year Etienne Lessard halted Yale's momentum with his fourth goal of the season. Senior Nate Hanley somehow found Lessard while skating into the Yale zone, first looking back over his shoulder then making the pass backwards while his momentum carried him deeper into the zone. Lessard stopped the pass in the slot and sniped over Pak's right shoulder. Hanley earned his 70th career assist on the play, and Lessard reached 20 points in his rookie season, becoming the 10th first-year with at least 20 points in ECAC Hockey and only the second first-year defenseman (Xavier Veilleux, Cornell, 23 points). 

The two sides continued to trade blows, but senior Colby MacArthur landed the final punch of the second period with 2:11 left before intermission and Union trailing by two. Senior Cal Mell patiently skated to his left with the puck and finally released a pass to his classmate MacArthur, who buried his 10th of the season. With his second point of the night and 24th of the season, MacArthur became the fifth Garnet Charger to reach 10+ goals and 10+ assists in 2025-26. Union last had five players with double-digit goals and assists in 2018-19, led by Ryan Walker '19 (15g, 14a).

Muthersbaugh netted his second goal of the game and knotted the game up 4-4 early in the third period. His third multi-goal game of the month tied him with Buhr for the team lead in goals at 17 and erased Yale's two-goal lead. Union already defeated Mercyhurst University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Colgate University this season after trailing by at least two goals, tied Colgate and Dartmouth after two goal deficits, and also forced overtime after trailing Clarkson University by two goals on two occasion in the same game. However, Union could not earn its fourth two-goal comeback victory in regulation, despite a late power play and a six-shot advantage in the third period.

In overtime, it only took Buhr 36 seconds to complete Union's fourth two-goal comeback, netting his sixth game-winning goal and second overtime score of the season. It marked Union's first overtime victory in conference play since Jan. 20, 2024 vs Harvard and kept the team's hopes for a top-four seed in the conference tournament alive. Buhr is tied for the third-most game-winning goals in NCAA Division I men's hockey this season, and his 13 career game-winners are the third most in Union's DI history.

Korpi made 14 saves on the night as the Garnet Chargers outshot Yale by 30 on the other end. Union's top-ranked penalty kill unit also thwarted off the Bulldogs' only power-play chance of the game late in the third.