Dartmouth Men's Hockey Ties Harvard in High Scoring Affair

Sunday, January 25

Hanover, N.H.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

HARVARD

Dartmouth Men's Hockey Ties Harvard in High Scoring Affair

1/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. - Evan Stephens' (Bessemer, Mich.) tying goal with under 4:00 to play in the game helped his team come-from-behind as the Dartmouth men's hockey team tied the Harvard Crimson on Sunday afternoon in front of 3,523 fans in Thompson Arena. The game was broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

Stephens, along with Joe Gaudet (Etna, N.H.) and Peter Boldt (Greenwich, Conn.) had helped the Big Green take a 3-1 lead but power play goals by Doug Rogers, and Daniel Moriarty helped the visitors tie the game at 3-3 early in the third period.

Gaudet's goal late in the opening period had things looking to get interesting as the junior potted a power play goal with assists going to Stephens and Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.).

With under a minute to go in the frame, Harvard tied the game off a Rogers goal.

But the second period was all Dartmouth as Boldt used a bouncing puck to spot Dartmouth a 2-1 lead before Andrew Owsiak potted the team's fifth shorthanded tally of the season at 6:22 to go up, 3-1. Jones had his second assist of the night on the goal.

But with less than 2:00 to go Rogers again came up big, scoring Harvard's second power play strike of the contest. Moriarty scored early in the third before Rogers goal at 4:48 of the final frame tied the game at three as the Big Green saw a game it had in hand start to slip away.

Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ont.) helped his team right the ship when the sophomore went coast-to-coast, buring the puck for his team-leading seventh goal of the season at 9:01.

Ryan Grimshaw gave the visitors their second lead of the game before Stephens heroic goal at 16:51. The Big Green defenseman faked a pass to classmate Adam Estoclet (Orono, Minn.) out front, keeping the puck on his stick and wrapping it around the right side post for the tying goal.

Despite nine shots on net in the overtime frame neither side was able to clinch the gamewinner as the two teams ended in a tie for the first time since 2003. John Riley finished with 37 saves for Harvard while netminder Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ont.) had 32 for Dartmouth as 79 shots on net were recorded in the game.

Special teams were the key for the night as the four power play goals were the most the Big Green has given up this season and are the most the Crimson has scored.

With the tie Dartmouth is now 10-7-2 overall, 7-4-2 in the ECAC and sits alone in 4th place in the standings with 15 points. Harvard is 4-11-4 overall and 4-6-4 in the league.

The BIg Green will be back in action this weekend with league contests against Rensselaer on Friday at 7:00 and Union on Saturday at 7:00.