Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2006/01/20/indian_hockey_drops_thriller_to_unh.php
Friday, January 20, 2006
Over the past two weekends, the Dartmouth Men’s Hockey team has come away 1-1-1 in three matches. This brings Dartmouth’s record to 7-9-1 overall, but the tally is not disappointing as they do enjoy a 6-5-1 in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). The weekend of January 6th and 7th saw the Dartmouth men take a 4–1 victory at Rensselaer and a 2–2 tie at Union, both ECAC opponents. The win and tie puts Dartmouth in a tie for third with Cornell, as both have 13 points in the ECAC standings. At the moment St. Lawrence maintains the top spot with 16 points and a conference record of 8-2.
The victory on January 6th at Rensselaer saw the teams tied at the end of the first two periods but the men in green went on a spree in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals to make the final 4–1. The team looked strong on the ice, as they produced a surge of offense midway through the third period. Sophomore goaltender Mike Devine continued to stonewall opponents and again tied his career high of 33 saves against RPI. The following evening Dartmouth played to a 2–2 tie against Union capping the road trip. The teams exchanged goals in the first period but a score early in the second period by freshman Rob Pritchard put Dartmouth ahead it the heated conference match. However, Union was able to tie it up off of a rebound early in the third period—the following extra period was scoreless ending in the team’s first tie of the season.
The following weekend saw Dartmouth face off against UNH for the RiverStone Trophy at the Verizon Center in Manchester, NH. The game proved to be a decidedly exciting contest but ultimately ended in a disappointing 5–4 Dartmouth loss. The Wildcats opened the scoring, but Dartmouth quickly answered—the teams exchanged goals again to make the score 2–2 early in the second period. The game remained tied until two minutes remaining in the second period when UNH took advantage of a 5-on-3 opportunity to go ahead 3 – 2 going into the intermission. Early in the third, senior Jarrett Sampson tied the game and set the stage for a dramatic ending.
With only 3:24 remaining in regulation, the Wildcats managed to sneak in the go-ahead goal which severely dampened the hopes of Dartmouth fans. Dartmouth pulled the goaltender with 1:30 remaining and senior Eric Przepiorka found the back of the net to clinch the tie with 46 seconds remaining. The game came to a fever pitch when UNH was awarded a penalty shot with 22.5 seconds to play. Goaltender Mike Devine came up big stopping the shot but on the ensuing face-off, UNH was able to put in the winning goal. Despite the disappointment of the loss, the strong play by the Dartmouth team against nationally ranked UNH (#11) should really motivate the team in the coming months.
Dartmouth plays two non-conference opponents this weekend at home in Thompson Arena, with Sacred Heart Friday at 7 and Holy Cross Saturday at 7. League play resumes the following when Union and Rensselaer come to town for rematches.