This weekend, the Big Green men (3-13-3, 2-9-1 ECAC) battled Colgate University and No. 12 Cornell University in two tough, physical matchups, losing 4-1 on Friday to the Raiders (11-9-3, 7-3-1 ECAC) before fighting to a draw on Saturday against the Big Red (9-4-4, 5-3-3 ECAC).
Dartmouth played physical against Colgate, matching body check for body check well into the third before shifting to an aggressive, high-energy unit against Cornell.
Colgate entered Friday’s game after an impressive three-game stretch that included playing No. 1 Minnesota University to a 2-2 draw only to win the ensuing shootout 2-1, blanking then No. 2 Ferris State University 3-0 to win the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis and edging by then No. 18 Vermont 3-2. The streak propelled the Raiders into the receiving votes category in the most recent USCHO Poll.
Colgate outmuscled Dartmouth in the 4-1 win, but the Big Green was no pushover. Penalties and missed opportunities, including an inability to score on the power play, proved to be Dartmouth’s undoing. The Big Green went scoreless in three chances on the man advantage while the Raiders cashed in on two of their four opportunities.
“We played against a good hockey team that was really quick and we played really hard,” head coach Bob Gaudet said. “I’ve never been one to tolerate lazy or retaliatory penalties. Would we like to give them less opportunities? Yes.”
Dartmouth struck first in the contest when Brandon McNally ’15 lit the lamp with 11:51 left in the first period. McNally gathered a rebound and flicked the puck past freshman goalie Charlie Finn and into the net. The goal was McNally’s third of the season and his first since Nov. 15 against Princeton, ending a 10-game goalless streak.
Dartmouth didn’t have a chance to build its lead as Colgate tied the game 27 seconds later with a snipe from freshman Andrew Black.
With four minutes remaining in the period, McNally was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking. Colgate sophomore Mike Borkowski broke the tie with 21 seconds left in the power play.
Borkowski’s goal was his seventh this season, giving him a team-leading 20 points as well as giving Colgate a 2-1 lead.
Immediately following a Colgate power play late in the second, junior Spiro Goulakos was called for boarding Brad Schierhorn ’16. One minute later, sophomore Darcy Murphy was sent to the box for charging, allowing Dartmouth to play 5-on-3 for 64 seconds.
Unfortunately, Dartmouth couldn’t capitalize, despite a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and a couple other scoring chances. The second period ended goalless, and the score remained 2-1.
Colgate freshman Brett Corkey was sent off for tripping with 30 seconds to play in the second, so the Big Green started the third on the power play. Just 53 seconds into the final frame, Josh Hartley ’17 was sent to the box for charging. Eight seconds into 4-on-4 hockey, sophomore Ryan Johnston for the Raiders scored on a wrist shot from the right side, giving Colgate a 3-1 lead.
Dartmouth earned a fifth trip to the penalty box when Nick Lovejoy ’14 was penalized for high-sticking.
Goulakos scored 59 seconds into the power play with a blast from the left side, extending Colgate’s lead to three and deflating the atmosphere in Thompson Arena. The final minutes ticked away, and the Big Green could not pull off the miracle comeback, exiting Thompson at the short end of a 4-1 defeat.
“You know you’re going to get hit,” Connor Dempsey ’16 said. “You just gotta support each other and take care of the puck. We were not happy with the way we played [against Colgate]. We knew it was a new day, and everyone was pretty positive and looking forward to getting on the ice [against Cornell].”
Dartmouth hoped to rebound the following night against Cornell, who had lost only one game in its last 10 and defeated Harvard University 3-2 the previous night on the back of two late period goals. The game ended in a 1-1 tie and was the sixth overtime game in the last 10 meetings between the two teams.
Rick Pinkston ’15 and Charles Grant ’16 were given the evening off. Brandon Kirk ’17 was inserted in place of Pinkston while James Kruger ’16 made his third career start in goal and his first since opening night against Princeton.
Dartmouth’s defense played strong all night, ripping shots on the offensive end and helping Kruger by using their bodies to block Cornell’s shot attempts. Cornell tried to match Dartmouth’s aggression, but Dartmouth dominated in all but the final score. The Big Green won the shot contest 33-24.
“[Dartmouth] played very well,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “I thought they outplayed us. They did a great job and they were the better hockey team tonight.”
Cornell struck first, just 4:25 into the game when senior Dustin Mowrey snuck the puck through Kruger’s legs on his own rebound. Originally, Kruger deflected Mowrey’s first shot but could not cover or clear the puck.
Dartmouth went on the offensive as soon as the second period started. Dartmouth even set up an excellent opportunity for a game-tying goal, but a shot by Eric Neiley ’15 ricocheted off the crossbar, clanging loudly throughout Thompson as the crowd groaned.
Immediately after the shot, Dartmouth enjoyed two consecutive power plays but was unable to score either time.
Cornell almost scored on a wraparound by sophomore Christian Hilbrich, but Kruger kicked it away in time. Hilbrich’s miss would come back to haunt Cornell as Dempsey sent Thompson into an uproar with an equalizer 40 seconds later. Tim O’Brien ’16 fired off a shot that senior goalie Andy Iles deflected. The puck didn’t leave the crease. Dempsey knocked the puck in for his first collegiate goal.
“I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time,” Dempsey said. “O’Brien was screening in front, and I saw him. I just found an open area and the puck just wound up going to me, and it was an open net.”
Most of the third period played out like the end of the second until Hilbrich, hero of the previous night’s Harvard game, was sent to the penalty box for two minutes after an interference call with 2:38 left in regulation. Dartmouth, on its fifth power play of the night, couldn’t score and the game went into overtime.
Neither team scored in overtime despite several opportunities on each side. Just as the buzzer sounded, tempers between both teams exploded. Neiley checked a Cornell player skating back to his bench, causing a brawl between the players on the ice.
No customary end-of-game handshake occurred as officials moved to get both teams off the ice and into their locker rooms as soon as possible. Neiley was also suspended from playing in next week’s game.
“It was just a great college hockey game,” Gaudet said. “The guys are disappointed we didn’t win, but we did everything we could. I thought we were fierce.”
Next weekend, Dartmouth travels to Troy, N.Y., to play Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Friday night at 7 p.m. In their November matchup, RPI won 7-1.
