Waterville, Maine - The Colby Men's Ice Hockey team is set to begin the 2025-26 season this Friday, November 14th hosting Williams right here in the O'Neil | O'Donnell Forum. In last years season opener in Williamstown the Mules topped the Ephs 4-1. The two teams met later in the season as well leading to a 3-0 Colby shutout win. Williams has not beat the Mules since 2022. 

Blaise MacDonald returns as The Jack Kelley Head Coach for Colby Men's Hockey for his 14th season.
 
"We are always excited for a new group to represent Colby Men's Ice Hockey and build on our legacy," said MacDonald. "The guys are very close and I feel good about our culture but it needs to be protected daily.  They have worked hard and been intentional in their efforts and willing to accept the things within their control and move forward on things out of their control.  It is a tough league and we embrace the challenges."

Colby is coming off a strong 14-6-6 season where they made it into the NESCAC Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine seasons (excluding the four game 2020-2021 season). The team advanced all the way to the semifinal round before falling to Tufts 6-2. 

The Mules should be on their way to another impressive season as the top-six goal scores return from last year. This includes Massimo Gentile '28 who led the team in total points capturing 19 (eight goals, 11 assists) and Will Soloway '28 who was right behind Gentile with 18 points on the 2024-25 season (six goals, 12 assists). On the defensive side of the puck, Soloway had the second most blocked shots on the team last year with 31. Alex Keskintepe '28 returns as well who had an impressive team leading plus/minus stat of +14 on the season including 25 blocked shots. 2024-25 All-NESCAC goalkeeper Cooper Rautenstrauch returns for his sophomore season after tallying 607 saves (.934 save percentage) in his first year with the Mules. This includes his career-high 53 save game in the double overtime victory over Amherst in the conference quarterfinals. 

Eight seniors will led the team this year who are joined by a first-year class of five looking to make an impact on the program from the jump. 

MacDonald will be assisted by Johnny McElaney '24 in his first season coaching the Mules after playing for Colby from 2020-2024. Mike Latendresse also returns who joined Colby to start the 2013-14 season as well as Pertti Hasanen in his sixth year. 

Friday's season opener is set for a 7:00pm start. Fans can follow alongside the action using the live video and live stats links as well as check out the schedule tab to catch the Mules when they come to a location near you. Following Friday nights action, Colby will host Middlebury the next day at 3:00pm.