BUFFALO, New York - October 31, 2025 - The inaugural season of Hiram men's ice hockey officially began on Friday late afternoon at the Buffalo State Bengals Classic, as the Terriers took the ice for the first time in the regular season as part of a 10-1 loss to Chatham inside Ice Arena.

It was a historic day for Hiram College, as the school's newest program played its first of 21 NCAA games on the 2025-26 slate. While the team fell short in the highly anticipated debut, it still battled against Chatham, who had 10 victories this past season, including a shootout win over the eventual NCAA Division III runner-ups (Utica).

The Terriers made their mark with a goal late in the third period, when Keith Smilowitz broke away and found Markus Olson for the first goal in program history. The duo circled together with their teammates in celebration, a historic moment for a team with an exciting year ahead.

Also contributing for Hiram was Cole Mitchell, Anthony Arthurs, Ken Bagley and Shane Ward, who each tallied a shot. Both Smilowitz and Olson had a team-high two shots.

Defensively, Hiram goalkeeper Mark Paton took over late in the second period and finished the game with 18 saves and just one goal allowed, giving him a save percentage of .947.

Chatham eventually sealed the game and earned the victory behind 10 goals and 47 shots. True Crowe had a team-high two goals, while Jake LaRusso tallied three assists. The Cougars were also making their season debut following a 10-15-2 overall record in 2024-25; the two teams are set to meet three more times this season between Jan. 9-10 (at Chatham) and Jan. 16 (at Hiram).

The Terriers will next play the loser of the game between Buffalo State and St. John Fisher on Saturday at 3 p.m.