Dartmouth Men's Hockey Drops Game to Yale

Friday, February 1

New Haven, Conn.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Yale

2/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

NEW HAVEN, Conn. ? The Dartmouth men's hockey team spotted Yale a 3-0 in the first period as the Bulldogs took a 6-3 win on Friday at Ingalls Rink.

The Bulldogs jumped on the board first with just its' second shot of the night Yale's Michael McCurring connected for the home team while on the power play to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Then just three minutes later Sean Backman connected with a slapper from the point on another power play strike putting the Bulldogs ahead, 2-0 early in the first period.

Dartmouth attemped to get one itself when Rob Pritchard (Burnaby, B.C.) took a shot that was deflected up by Yale goalie Billy Blase. Andrew Owsiak (Moose Jaw, Saks.) batted it down and attempted to wrap it around the post but was stopped short. Matt Reber (Edina, Minn.) on the next shift took a shot that went just wide of the open net.

The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead when Matt Nelson scored on a wraparound as Dartmouth went into its biggest first period hole of the season. Yale ended the frame outshooting the Big Green, 18-8.

Kyle Reeds (St. Louis, Mo.) put Dartmouth on the board at 19:42 of the second by putting a shot in from the left side boards. The puck went wide of Blase, skimming the post to cross the line. Wyman assisted.

Unfortunately Yale again went up by three goals, 4-1, when a turnover at the Bulldog blueline allowed Jake Lynch to record a shorthanded strike. But before the public address announced finished announcing Lynch's goal, Josh Gillam (Peterborough, Ont.) gave his team its second goal of the night on the power play. Jon Grecu (Calgary, Alta.) and Pritchard picked up the helpers.

Senior Nick Johnson (Calgary, Alta.) made things interesting when he potted his first since Dec. 28 at 6:15 of the second as Joe Stejskal (Grand Rapids, Minn.) recorded his third assist of the season. The goal knocked Blase out of the net as junior Alec Richards came on for Yale. The Bulldogs then took a 5-3 lead when Chris Cahill gave his team its third power play strike of the night, the most Dartmouth as given up in one game this season.

After a third period that didn't have a lot of shots or momentum for either side, the Bulldogs capitalized on a hard-working goal. Jean-Francois Boucher took the first shot which Big Green netminder Mike Devine (Orchard Park, N.Y.) saved to the right of the cage. As Devine was out Brendan Mason took a shot that was deflected by a Dartmouth player in the net but the third chance was the charm for Mason as his second shot sent the puck across the line as Yale skated away with the 6-3 victory.

The loss drops the Big Green to 8-10-2, 3-9-1 in the ECAC while the Bulldogs improve to `0-7-4, 6-4-4 in the league. Dartmouth is back in action on Saturday at Brown, that game is slated for 4:00 pm.