Dartmouth Men's Hockey Loses Big in ECAC Hockey Action

Saturday, January 3

Hamden, Conn.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Quinnipiac

Dartmouth Men's Hockey Loses Big in ECAC Hockey Action

1/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HAMDEN, Conn. ? With a simple bounce of the puck Quinnipiac poured it on in the second period putting the game away as the Dartmouth men's hockey team fell, 6-0 to the Bobcats on Saturday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center. The loss drops the Big Green to 8-5 overall and 5-3 in the league while QU improves to 11-6-1, 6-3-1 ECAC.

Connor Shields (Edmonton, Alta.) recorded the first two shots of the game for his team including one that hit the lower part of the pipe. The home team almost cashed in a few minutes later when Jean-Marc Beaudoin had a wrap-around but netminder Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ont.) was there to make the save.

Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ont.) and Josh Gillam (Peterborough, Ont.) both had chances to score one in the waning minutes of the first period but rookie goalie Dan Clarke was up to the task as he stopped all eight of the Big Green's shots on net.

Quinnipiac capitalized on the last seconds of a Dartmouth penalty to start the second period. David Marshall shot stick side on O'Neill as the puck rebounded to Bryan Leitch on the right side for the score. Just :35 seconds later a turnover by the Big Green on the left circle allowed Beaudoin to skate in alone on O'Neill for the goal as suddenly Quinnipiac was up 2-0.

Fleming almost had a chance to get one on the board as the sophomore stole the puck at the Bobcat blueline and skated in alone on Clarke but he was unable to get it past the freshman netminder. A few shifts later Andrew Owsiak (Moose Jaw, Sask.) tried to get one in but his shot hit the post.

Another Quinnipiac goal off a turnover at 11:31 had Dartmouth in a big hole. Chris Myers stole a Connor Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) pass at the blueline as the goal forced the Big Green to burn a timeout. A second power play goal by the Bobcats' Leitch at 10:38 knocked O'Neill out of the net as classmate James Mello (Rehobeth, Mass.) came on in relief.

Mello came up huge a few minutes later when a 2-on-1 had the rookie goalie making a kick save to prevent another goal.

The Dartmouth rookie was unable to save the fifth Quinnipiac goal early in the final stanza as he made a leaping dive to try and knock the puck down but it sailed over his shoulder instead. Scott Zurevinski was credited with the score. A third Bobcat power play goal, sixth total of the night was a simple boom-boom-boom play as Zach Hansen passed down to Eric Lampe who fired to Beaudoin waiting just to the left of the cage for his second of the game at 7:55.

A power play opportunity for the Big Green late in the contest had Dartmouth showing life as both Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) and Adam Estoclet (Orono, Minn.) had shots on net but neither could find an answer to Clarke.

O'Neill finished the contest with 15 saves while Mello had nine. Clarke was stellar in net, earning his first shutout of the season while saving all 19 of Dartmouth's shots.

The six goals given up is the most the Big Green has allowed this season. Dartmouth will now travel to Princeton to take on the nationally ranked Tigers in a 4:00 pm showdown on Sunday afternoon.