In what will likely be an emotional weekend, the men’s hockey team returns to Hanover for its final two regular season home games, the final home games for the four seniors on the team. Friday night, Dartmouth will take on Brown University before squaring off against defending national champion No. 14 Yale University Saturday. After this weekend, the Big Green (6-16-3, 5-12-1 ECAC) will hit the road for a testing final set of games against No. 13 Cornell University and No. 19 Colgate University. While every ECAC men’s team makes the postseason, the next few games will decide seeding and opponents.
“They’re both big Ivy League games,” Grant Opperman ’17 said. “We want to keep building momentum.”
Dartmouth shocked the ECAC last weekend with dominant victories over St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University, showing the moxie and confidence the team has missed.
Dartmouth appears ready to pose a challenge in the playoffs, despite its likely low seed. If the team sweeps its second consecutive weekend and Harvard University, Brown University and St. Lawrence lose, Dartmouth would still be in the running for a home playoff series. If the season ended today, the Big Green would travel to Ingalls Rink to play Yale (13-8-4, 8-7-3 ECAC) in the 6-11 matchup.
To win against Brown and Yale, Dartmouth must find a way to score. Last weekend, the Big Green put up nine goals. Before that, the team had only scored 17 times this year.
“I think it’s going to be a matter of playing our game and playing confidently for the full 60 minutes,” captain Tyler Sikura ’15 said. “If we can bring the same focus and will to win, we’re going to be successful.”
Sikura returned last weekend against St. Lawrence from a knee sprain he suffered on Dec. 30 that knocked him out for nine games. Although he isn’t completely back to full speed, he contributed two points.
Brown (10-12-3, 7-10-1 ECAC) has struggled on the road, winning just three of 14 away games this season.
Yet the Bears snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over then-No. 4 Quinnipiac last Saturday. Senior Garnet Hathaway was the star, notching two goals in the upset victory that helped stymie the Bobcats in their push for the number one ECAC seed.
Brown beat Dartmouth in the season’s previous two meetings, winning 5-3 on Oct. 26 at the Liberty Invitational in Newark and 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 7.
Sophomores Mark Naclerio and Nick Lappin are Brown’s most dangerous offensive weapons, scoring 16 and 11 goals and 32 and 29 points, respectively. Not far behind is junior Matt Lorito, who has nine goals and 18 assists. Aside from the performance of its top three forwards, Brown has been middle-of-the-road, averaging 2.7 goals and 31 shots per game, with a 16.3 power play success rate.
Brandon McNally ’15 will not play against Brown because of a major penalty for facemasking last week in a game against Clarkson. McNally, who has contributed five goals and 11 assists, will return the following night against the Bulldogs.
Yale has not consistently played like defending national champions, posting a 6-5-1 record since the calendar year began. Last weekend, Yale was shut out by Quinnipiac 4-0, but rebounded with a 7-5 victory over Princeton University, which currently occupies the 12th spot in the ECAC. The loss and close victory dropped Yale one spot in the polls, from No. 13 to No. 14.
Opperman said he expects the Yale team to arrive in Hanover with a chip on its shoulder, hoping to avenge its 4-1 loss to Dartmouth on Dec. 6.
Dartmouth won the game on the strength of two goals from Troy Crema ’17 and 40 saves by Charles Grant ’16. At the time, Yale was ranked eighth in the nation and has had trouble recovering from the loss.
Yale will arrive in Hanover after playing Harvard. Wins over Harvard and Dartmouth could position Yale for a first-round playoff bye. With four games left, Yale, ranked sixth in the ECAC, could potentially finish as high as second or as low as 10th.
Yale’s leading scorer is senior Kenny Agostino, who has 13 goals and 12 assists. Senior Jesse Root leads the team with 26 points, registering nine goals and 17 assists.
Yale is one of two teams in the country with freshmen logging all the minutes in net. Freshman Alex Lyon has started the last 20 games. He averages 25 saves, including a season-high of 48.
For Cab Morris ’14, Nick Lovejoy ’14 and Taylor Boldt ’14, Yale will be their final home game, unless Dartmouth surprises and secures a home playoff series.
Morris has started in 29 games and appeared in 31, playing over 1,700 minutes in the net and making 676 saves with an 11-14-4 career record.
Lovejoy has played in 34 games, contributing one goal and one assist. His junior year was cut short due to injury, but this year he provided Dartmouth with several solid performances as injuries mounted, including moving from defenseman to forward in multiple games.
In four years, Boldt suited up for 120 games, registering two goals and 12 assists. So far this season, Boldt has appeared in 21 of a possible 25 games.
The record for most games played is 136, held by Mike Ouellette ’06.
Eric Robinson ’14 will return next season after being granted a medical waiver that clears him for a fifth year of eligibility.
The will puck will drop both nights at 7 p.m. in Thompson Arena.
