After the rest of the student body went home for winter break, the Dartmouth men’s hockey team continued to grind at Thompson Arena, playing eight games throughout December.
On Nov. 25, 2024, the Big Green was ranked 15th nationally by United States College Hockey Online and 14th by United States of America Hockey. Then, the team traveled to Massachusetts to face No. 4 Boston College on Nov. 29, 2024. It was the third time this season Dartmouth played a nationally ranked team.
With less than 45 seconds to go in the first period, co-captain Steven Townley ’25 scored the first goal of the game, giving Dartmouth the lead going into intermission. After Boston College tied it up in the second, Dartmouth took the lead back before the period ended.
Despite heading into the third period ahead, the Big Green could not defend against the Eagles, who scored four goals in the third period — including two empty-netters — and brought the final score to 5-3.
The Big Green had suffered their first loss of the season.
“We have to just continue to get better,” head coach Reid Cashman said after the loss. “I’m just trying to stay consistent with that message. I love the talent that we have in the room. I love the character that we have in the room. I think at the end of the year, if we continue to get better, we’ll be as good as anybody in our league.”
Goalie Roan Clarke ’27 allowed three goals against Boston College but made 32 saves — the second-highest in his Dartmouth career.
“At the end of the day, whether we’re winning games or losing games, we really can’t put our confidence or base what we do outside of the games on our results,” Clarke said. “… The rankings have nothing to do with what happens on the ice. Every game that we’ve lost this year has been an opportunity to learn from.”
The following Sunday, the Big Green traveled up to Burlington, Vt. to face their rival from across the river: the University of Vermont.
The Big Green scored a goal in each of the three periods, including one from Oskari Vuorio ’27, marking his first collegiate goal and leading the way to a 3-1 victory.
After the weekend split, USCHO bumped the Big Green’s national rank up to 13th.
On Dec. 6, 2024, the Big Green remained at home to host St. Lawrence University, who are currently ranked last in the ECAC.
The Saints took the lead in the first period, while the Big Green remained scoreless. Then, Hayden Stavroff ’28 and Foley both scored in the second period to put Dartmouth on the board.
Tied-up heading into the third period, Dartmouth lost their grip, and the Saints went home with a 3-2 win, resulting in Dartmouth’s first conference loss.
“It’s a chess game at points, and it’s all about just learning how to adapt throughout the year,” Clarke said. “The great thing about it is that we’re not even halfway through the year yet, so we have a lot of games to still grow and learn.”
The next day, the Big Green hosted the Golden Knights of No. 6 Clarkson University.
Each team scored two goals in the first two periods. Alex Krause ’26 thought he scored to give the Big Green the lead in the third but Clarkson challenged the goal, which was ruled offside.
Emmett Croteau ’28 was in the goal facing his old team, whom he played for last year. However, Croteau would experience his first loss of the season as Clarkson pulled away with a 3-2 win.
The two losses brought the Big Green down to 17th in the nation.
On Dec. 13, 2024, Dartmouth hosted their in-state rival, the University of New Hampshire, for their final game before winter break. It would be co-captain Sean Chisholm ’25’s and Braiden Dorfman ’25’s 100th game played with Dartmouth.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Cashman said on Dorfman’s and Chisholm’s milestone. “They’ve been healthy and continued to get better throughout their years.”
Hank Cleaves ’28 scored the first goal of the game — and his first NCAA goal — at the 2:03 mark. Chisholm and Townley would follow to make it 3-1 Dartmouth at the end of the first. However, the Big Green remained scoreless throughout the rest of the game while the Wildcats scored twice in the second period to force the game into overtime.
Both sides remained scoreless in the five-minute overtime period, pushing the game into a shootout, where the Wildcats came out on top.
Reflecting on the loss, Townley said the team “has to play a complete 60-minute game.”
“Our focus is to start games fast and try to keep that pace throughout the entire game,” he said.
After the break, the Big Green returned to Thompson Arena on Dec. 28, 2024 to compete in the 35th Annual Ledyard Classic Championship.
Dartmouth outlasted the Seawolves of the University of Alaska Anchorage in the end, winning 5-4 with Stavroff scoring the winning goal.
However, the team fell 5-3 to No. 7 Providence College in the final round of the Classic.
“We’re now learning how difficult it is to win in college hockey,” Townley said. “… Now, teams are getting better. They’re playing us in these tight games, and [we need] to find a way to respond to that.”
Right before the New Year, the Big Green was ranked 17th by USCHO and 18th by USA Hockey, and Stavroff was named ECAC Bitcoin Rookie of the Month for December. According to Cashman, Stavroff is “an extremely high-IQ kid, hockey-wise.”
“When there’s bodies all around and it’s chaos, he has the ability to make a little five-foot slip pass through a guy’s triangle or understand where his teammates are,” Cashman said.
To finish out non-conference play, the Big Green traveled back down to Massachusetts to face Merrimack College for Townley’s 100th game. Townley credited his milestone to his teammates.
“I think everyone’s just incredibly bought into what we’re trying to do,” Townley said. “I’ve seen everyone on the team raise their competition level to a point where there’s a feeling in our locker room that we should win every game we play in.”
Unfortunately, the Big Green could not pull out a win, falling 2-1 with the only goal being from Foley. Since the loss, the Big Green is officially unranked after being in the top 20 teams for eight weeks straight.
“We had a really challenging schedule over the last month,” Cashman said. “Like any season, there’s ebbs and flows. We need to add consistency and find a way to put 60 minutes completely together.”
The Big Green will be back in action on Friday at 7 p.m. to face Yale University at Thompson Arena.
