Men's Hockey Skates Past Union, 4-1

Friday, January 21

Schenectady, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Union

1/21/2011 9:24:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The #18 Dartmouth men's hockey team used three goals, two of them power play strikes, in the first period to take an early lead over #12/10 Union that it never relinquished en route to a 4-1 win on Friday night in the Dutchmen's Messa Rink. The win improves the Big Green to 11-5-2, 7-3-1 in the ECAC while Union fell to 15-7-3, 7-3-1.

Early in the game Union was whistled for a penalty as Dartmouth got its first power play opportunity. The Big Green kept the puck in the home team's end for the first minute of the penalty as Adam Estoclet (Orono, Minn.) and Mike Keenan (Weymouth, Mass.) each got shots off. Dartmouth set up its first goal when Connor Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) stopped the puck on the blueline and passed over to Dustin Walsh (Shannonville, Ont.) coming down the right side boards. Walsh got the puck onto the stick of his older brother Nick as the elder Walsh passed across to defenseman Keenan. The sophomore followed his own rebound, shoveling a backhand over the shoulder of Keith Kinkaid for his third strike of the season.

The Big Green took a 2-0 lead at 12:41 with another power play goal, this time by senior Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ont.). The scoring opportunity started when with Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) cycled around behind the net and passed out to Estoclet. Estoclet's shot was pushed aside on a kick save by Kinkaid but Fleming was there to take the puck and zip it in.

Rob Smith (Burnaby, B.C.) and Paul Lee (Garden City, N.Y.) teamed up for the third Dartmouth goal of the frame. Lee stripped the puck at center ice, turned around and fired on net from the blue line. Lee's rebound kicked out to linemate Smith at the right of net. Smith's shot hit Kinkaid in the chest and went in as he lit the lamp for his third goal in the last four games.

Union finally got on the board late in the second period as Kyle Bodie found an answer for netminder James Mello (Rehoboth, Mass.). The Dutchmen had been buzzing around the Big Green net for the most of the second period before Bodie was able to sneak the puck past Mello on a screen, cutting into Dartmouth's three-goal lead.

Despite several chances by the home team in the second period, Mello and the Big Green kept the Dutchmen off the board. Most of the third was played fairly evenly as Mello and Kinkaid both made athletic saves on their respective ends. After a cross-ice empty netter by Fleming for the final goal of the contest late in the third period, Dartmouth dealt Union its first home loss of the season and snapped the Dutchmen's four-game win streak.

Despite outshooting Union, 13-7 in the first period, the Dutchmen ended up with 40 shots to the Big Green's 33. Mello recorded a season-high 39 saves on the night while Kinkaid finished with 29.

The Big Green will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. against Rensselaer.