Men Tie St. Lawrence, 2-2, Fall in Shootout in Ledyard Classic Championship

Saturday, December 31

Hanover, N.H.

7 PMM

Dartmouth College

St. Lawrence

Men Tie St. Lawrence, 2-2, Fall in Shootout in Ledyard Classic Championship

12/31/2011 10:44:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Tour the weight room Doug Jones Eric Robinson Brandon McNally Matt Lindblad Dustin Walsh Cab Morris Photo Gallery Radio Broadcast Men's Hockey vs. St. Lawrence - 12/31/11 Ledyard Classic Championship - MIH vs. SLU Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. - Sophomore Eric Robinson (Foxboro, Mass.) scored with 4:55 left in regulation to tie Saturday night's Ledyard Classic Championship Game with St. Lawrence at Thompson Arena. A 2-2 tie by NCAA standards, the championship was decided in a three-round shootout, which went the way of the visitors, 3-2.

The Big Green (6-5-2) played their ECAC Hockey rivals for the second time this season, but the game will go down as a non-conference contest for both Dartmouth and St. Lawrence (7-10-2). The two teams will meet again in the final game of the regular season back in Hanover on Feb. 25. Dartmouth won the earlier match-up this season in Canton, N.Y., 3-1, on Nov. 18.

Junior Dustin Walsh (Shannonville, Ontario) scored in just his second game back after missing six due to injury. He finished the weekend with two points as he collected an assist in Friday's 3-2 win over Holy Cross.

It was sophomore goaltender Cab Morris (Wilmette, Ill.) who stole the show this weekend for the Big Green, stopping 54 shots and earning a spot on the all-tournament team in just his third and fourth career games in the Dartmouth net. He stopped 24 on this night, earning a tie and remaining undefeated (2-0-1) this season, having played the last three games in goal for the Big Green.

The Saints got tallies from Chris Martin, Jeremy Wick and Greg Carey to win the shootout. Walsh and Matt Lindblad (Winnetka, Ill.) scored on their chances for the home team.

Walsh's third goal of the season came on the power play, just the fourth with the man-advantage this season (4-43) for Dartmouth.

Freshman Brandon McNally (Saugus, Mass.) started the play, intercepting an errant pass by a Saints' player while killing a penalty. Dropping the puck back to a defender who wasn't there, St. Lawrence was caught with three players in the attacking zone, when McNally started the play the other way. He found senior Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) in the neutral zone and after some nifty give-and-go moves, the puck ended up on the stick of the younger Walsh brother in the high slot.

Dustin found space between the pads of St. Lawrence goaltender Matt Weninger for the first marker of the game.

The Saints took control late in the middle frame, scoring two goals in two-and-a-half-minute span. Senior captain Kyle Flanagan netted both on the power play and earned himself 2011 Ledyard Classic Most Valuable Player honors for his performance the entire weekend.

Back-and-forth play marked the third period with both teams looking to add one more tally to the scoreboard. The Saints in hopes of icing the game, while the Big Green searched for the equalizer.

That's when Robinson found the back of the net.

Lindblad and Jones combined on the assists as the puck made its way out into the high slot and onto the blade of the sophomore forward for the one-timer along the ice. The goal was the sixth of the season, just one back of freshman Tyler Sikura's (Aurora, Ontario) team-leading seven.

Dartmouth finished the game 1-for-4 on the power play, while St. Lawrence was 2-for-5 thanks to Flanagan. The home team fired 28 shots on goal in the game, while surrendering just 26.

Dartmouth will head out on the road for five straight games to start January. That road swing begins next weekend with a nationally-televised contest at Rensselaer, slated for a 7:30 start on Friday. That game can be seen on NBC Sports Network (formerly known as Versus).

NOTES: One of the least penalized teams in the nation (10.1 PIMs), Dartmouth was called for three minors in the first period alone...Saturday's game was won in a three-round shootout. St. Lawrence beat Merrimack, 2-1, in a nine-round competition the previous night to advance to the title game...St. Lawrence won its only previous Ledyard Classic Championship in 1996, also defeating Dartmouth...No. 7 Merrimack took care of Holy Cross, 3-0, in the Consolation Game to open the final day of competition.

All-Tournament Team:
Shawn Bates - Merrimack
Adam Schmidt - Holy Cross
Doug Jones - Dartmouth
George Hughes - St. Lawrence
Greg Carey - St. Lawrence
Cab Morris - Dartmouth (Goalie)

MVP: Kyle Flanagan - St. Lawrence