Dartmouth Men's Hockey Corrals Union for First Win of the Season

Friday, November 7

Schenectady, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Union

Dartmouth Men's Hockey Corrals Union for First Win of the Season

11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Dartmouth men's hockey team potted three goals in the first and two in the second enroute to a 5-2 victory over Union on Friday night. The victory is Dartmouth's first of the season. Sophomore Scott Fleming broke through with two goals to lead the team in scoring.

Just :54 seconds into the first period, Fleming (Plainfield, Ont.) got things going for Dartmouth with his second goal of the season. Jim Gaudet (Etna, N.H.) sent a pass to Fleming on the right wing as the sophomore skated to the right circle to fire a slap shot off goalie Corey Milan and into the net.

Andrew Owsiak (Moose Jaw, Sask.) scored the next goal for the Big Green on a two-on-one break. Union defenseman Lane Caffaro skated from the right point to take a pass from the bottom of the right circle but was unable to handle the puck as it bounced over to Dartmouth's Adam Estoclet (Orono, Minn.). Estoclet led the rush as he fired to Owsiak who shot the puck past Milan with seven minutes left.

The Big Green burned Caffaro again with 1:11 left as he tried to chase Fleming down as Dartmouth was on the power-play. Fleming was too fast, skating in alone on Milan, firing the puck over the netminder's shoulder as the Big Green took the lead into the break, the first time this season.

Goals by the Dutchmen's Adam Presizniuk and Caffaro helped the home team get back into the contest, cutting into Dartmouth's lead in the second stanza. The Dutchmen ended the frame outshooting the Big Green, 39-23.

The Big Green grabbed another two-goal lead after defenseman Joe Stejskal (Grand Rapids, Minn.) lit the lamp in his second straight game eight minutes into the final period. Rob Pritchard (Burnaby, B.C.) put the exclamation point on the night for Dartmouth as the senior potted his first goal of the year with under three minutes left to play.

Union outshot Dartmouth, 49-37, the first time the Big Green has allowed that many shots on net since Princeton had 45 on Jan. 4. It's just the sixth time in four seasons an opponent has had more than 40 shots on goal.

Freshman Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ontario) was the man between the pipes for Dartmouth as he made 47 saves in just his second career start. Milan finished with 32 saves for Union.

The victory improves Dartmouth to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the ECAC while Union falls to 3-2, 0-1 in the league. The Big Green continues on the road tomorrow with a 7:00 pm matchup at RPI.