Two weeks after opening the season in Oswego, the Delaware D1 Blue Hens are finally coming home. The Blue and Gold visit Navy on Friday night in Annapolis, then welcome the Midshipmen to Fred Rust Ice Arena for the 2026-27 home opener on Saturday, October 3 at 8:00 PM.
A Split to Start
Delaware (1-1-0-0) opened at Oswego State on September 18 and needed a shootout to finish the job. Freshman Carter Johnson scored in his first game in Blue and Gold, Leighton Biesiadecki added a goal before the first intermission, and freshman Sean Tyrrell tied it 3-3 in the third, less than a minute after Oswego took the lead on the power play. The Hens outshot the Lakers 58-40, Timmy Briley made 37 saves, and Delaware won the shootout.
The next afternoon, freshman Luke Delaney and senior Tommy Tracy scored in the first period to put Delaware up 2-0. Oswego answered with three goals in the third to take a 3-2 win. Freshman Justin Bayers made 35 saves in his debut.
An Old Rivalry
Few opponents go back further with the Blue Hens than Navy. The two clubs have met 67 times in games on record at udelhockey.com, dating to April 1974, and Delaware leads the series 44-20-2-1.
It hasn’t always been one-sided. Navy had the upper hand through much of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including an 8-3 win at McMullen Arena in the 1993 ECHA Championship. Since 2009, though, the series has belonged to Delaware. The Hens are 25-3-0-1 in the last 29 meetings.
The last time these teams met, in November 2024, Delaware swept the weekend: 5-4 at Brigade Sports Complex, then 7-1 at Fred Rust in front of 712 fans. Navy’s most recent win in Newark came in a shootout on October 16, 2021.
The Midshipmen, who play in the ECHA, enter the weekend 0-2 according to the ACHA standings.
Familiar Faces
Delaware is coming off a 19-13-4-0 season, its first in the ACCHL, and 19 players from that team are back. The biggest name is Biesiadecki, who led the Hens with 20 goals and 34 points last season and is already on the board this year. Mason Moore (10 goals, 21 points), Tommy Tracy (17 points), Kade Cochlan (14 points), and Michael Spinelli (10 points in 13 games) give the forward group plenty of experience.
On the blue line, Noah Goozh, Brady Burke, Luke Panepresso, Spencer Spagnuolo, and Cam Gibbons return.
The Hens do have some big shoes to fill. Starting goaltender Jacob Snellenburg (14 wins, .908 save percentage) and top scorers Austin Vecchio, Tanner Mahoney, and Daniel Burg all graduated. In net, Timmy Briley, Tyler Roesel, and Jacob King return, alongside two freshmen.
New Blood
Fifteen newcomers joined the roster this fall: 14 freshmen plus sophomore defenseman Aidan Starr. Several are already making an impact. Johnson, Tyrrell, and Delaney all scored in Oswego, and Ethan Goodrich and Danny Garvin each picked up an assist. Garvin, a 6’4″ forward, is a Newark native, so Saturday is a true home game for him.
The freshman defense corps includes Nikolas Smagacz, Liam Forster, Conor Gagnon, and 6’4″ Lennart Staiger of Munich, Germany. Forwards Blake Fischer and Joey Butter and goaltender Christian Amato round out the class.
Game Day
Friday, October 2: Delaware at Navy, 7:30 PM, Brigade Sports Complex
Saturday, October 3: Navy at Delaware, 8:00 PM, Fred Rust Ice Arena
General admission is $8 for adults and $5 for kids under 12.
After this weekend, the Hens visit Liberty on October 9 and 10, then return to Fred Rust to host Syracuse on October 23 and 24.
