Big Green Face Road Tests This Weekend at Cornell and Colgate

Game 17 - Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 - 7 p.m.
Dartmouth Big Green (7-7-2, 4-4-1 ECAC) at
No. 9/9 Cornell Big Green (10-4-3, 7-1-2 ECAC)
Location: Ithaca, N.Y. - Lynah Rink (4,267)
All-Time Series: Cornell, 74-43-17
First Meeting: Feb. 5 1909 - Home - W, 1-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2011 - Home - L, 3-2
Streak: Cornell, 3-0-1
Last Dartmouth Win: Feb. 20, 2010 - Home - 5-4

Game 18 - Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 - 7 p.m.
Dartmouth Big Green (7-7-2, 4-4-1 ECAC) at
No. 18/RV Colgate Raiders (12-8-2, 6-4 ECAC)
Location: Hamilton, N.Y. - Starr Rink (2,246)
All-Time Series: Dartmouth, 43-41-5
First Meeting: Feb. 5, 1929 - Away - W, 8-1
Last Meeting: Nov. 11, 2011 - Home - L, 4-0
Streak: Colgate, 1-0-0
Last Dartmouth Win: March 19, 2011 - W, 5-3 (ECAC Hockey Consolation Game)

Broadcast Information
Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM Play-by-Play: Chris Garrett

Dartmouth Notes • Cornell Notes • Cornell Preview • Colgate Notes • Colgate Preview • Live Stats • Live Audio • Cornell Video • Colgate Video

HANOVER, N.H. - From here on out, it's all repeats. The Dartmouth men's hockey schedule the remainder of the 2011-12 season will feature league teams that have already faced off with the Big Green at least once this season.

In the cases of Brown, Yale and St. Lawrence, Dartmouth will see them for a second or third time down the road.

But it begins this weekend with ECAC Hockey road games against league-leading Cornell and nationally-ranked Colgate.

It begins Friday with the Big Red in Ithaca, N.Y., against a team that already made the trip to Hanover this season and beat the home team, 3-2. That Nov. 12 game was an exciting brand of hockey that featured scoring, strong defensive play from both teams and good goaltending. Now, Cornell sits atop the ECAC Hockey standings at 7-1-2 and will look to make it four-straight wins over the Big Green dating back to last season.

The next night will see the Big Green take on a struggling Colgate team. Despite its No. 18 ranking in the most recent USCHO.com poll, the Raiders have lost four straight, including a 7-1 beating at Quinnipiac last Saturday night in Hamden. One of two teams to shutout Dartmouth this season, Colgate came to Hanover on Nov. 11 and left Thompson Arena with a 4-0 victory. Now fourth in the league standings, the Raiders will play host to Harvard on Friday night before welcoming Dartmouth to Starr Rink for the Saturday night affair at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES

LAST TIME OUT
It started out okay, but Saturday's Battle for the RiverStone Cup XI ended with a 4-1 loss to in-state rival New Hampshire at Manchester's Verizon Wireless Arena. The loss dropped the Big Green to 3-7-1 against the Wildcats in the neutral-site setting.

LINDBLAD LIGHTS THE LAMP
For the first time since Nov. 18 and just the second time this season, sophomore Matt Lindblad (Winnetka, Ill.) found the back of the net against UNH. Despite just the two goals this season, Lindblad is tied for first on the team in scoring with 11 points as he alos has a team-best nine assists.

MOVING UP
With his sixth assist of the season coming on Lindblad's marker in Manchester, Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) moved into 14th place all-time at Dartmouth with 70 in his career. Jones is third on the team this season with the six helpers, trailing only Lindblad's nine and Dustin Walsh's (Shannonville, Ontario) seven.

CLOSING IN ON 100
Jones' assist against UNH was the 92nd point of his career as well. Coming into the season with 82-career points, his 10 so far this season have him knocking on the door of becoming the 36th player in program history to reach the milestone (22g/70).

MELLO BACK IN NET
After a five-game absence, senior James Mello (Rehoboth, Mass.) made his return to the Dartmouth net Saturday against the Wildcats. Mello faced 32 shots in the game and was only beaten by UNH's Stevie Moses, who scored all four of his team's goals.

BOLDT'S HELPERS
Sophomore Taylor Boldt (Niwot, Colo.) also picked up an assist on Lindblad's goal Saturday night. Starting the play from his own end, the defenseman now has a new career high with three assists this season. As a freshman, Boldt had a goal and two assists for three points in 2010-11.

SCORING DROUGHT
With just one goal in each of its last two games, the Dartmouth offense has been struggling as of late. After scoring three times in the second period at RPI on Jan. 6, the Big Green have scored just two goals in the last 145:40.

EVEN STRENGTH
Don't expect too many power-play opportunities from either team Friday night as Dartmouth and Cornell rank near the bottom nationally in penalty minutes per game this season. The Big Green are 52nd (11.5), while the Big Red are 53rd (11.3) in the country.

PLAYERS ON THE OTHER BENCH
Dartmouth will have to go up against two of the better players in ECAC Hockey this weekend. Colgate's Austin Smith is second in the nation in points with 35, including NCAA-leading 22 goals coming into the weekend. Cornell's Brian Ferlin is one of the top freshman in the country, ranking 15th in PPG (0.88) and is tied for the league lead with 15 points in his debut campaign (6g/9a).

BROKEN UP
Against UNH, the line of Jason Bourgea (South Burlington, Vt.), Alex Goodship (Blackfalds, Alberta) and Paul Lee (Garden City, N.Y.) was broken up for the first time since Nov. 4 against Quinnipiac when Bourgea and Goodship made their season debuts; ending a streak of 14 games. Lee played on the third line Nick Walsh (Shannonville, Ontario) and Jesse Beamish (Mississauga, Ontario), while freshman Charlie Mosey (Prior Lake, Minn.) jumped into the lineup with Goodship and Bourgea against the Wildcats.

SAVE THE PUCK, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN
Moses' second goal of the game was a shorthanded marker; the first allowed by Dartmouth since Feb. 25 of last season when St. Lawrence's Aaron Bogosian netted one a man down.

AGAINST THESE TEAMS

As just a sophomore, Lindblad leads all current Dartmouth players in scoring against the Raiders. In six-career games against Colgate (including five last season) Lindblad has nine points (2g/7a). Jones is the top Dartmouth scorer against the Big Red with seven points (1g/6a) in eight-career games.
Both Mello and fellow senior Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ontario) have two wins apiece against Colgate and one victory against Cornell.

LOOKING SHARP!
Since switching over to the new Reebok Edge jersey design in December, the Big Green are 3-2-1 in six games. In the new whites, Dartmouth is 2-0-1 and 1-2-0 when wearing the green sweaters.

Schedules