ECAC Hockey and Ivy Foes Return to Hanover to Play Men's Hockey

Game 19 - Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 - 7 p.m.
Dartmouth Big Green (8-8-2, 5-5-1 ECAC) vs.
Brown Bears (8-8-3, 5-5-2 ECAC)
Location: Hanover, N.H. - Thompson Arena (4,500)
All-Time Series: Dartmouth, 71-63-8
First Meeting: Feb. 22 1928 - W, 15-0 (Home)
Last Meeting: Oct. 28, 2011 - W, 2-1 (Home)
Streak: Dartmouth, 6-0-1
Last Dartmouth Win: Oct. 28, 2011 - W, 2-1 (Ivy Shootout)

Game 20 - Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 - 7 p.m.
Dartmouth Big Green (8-8-2, 5-5-1 ECAC) vs.
Yale Bulldogs (8-9-3, 5-6-1 ECAC)
Location: Hanover, N.H. - Thompson Arena (4,500)
All-Time Series: Yale, 104-87-13
First Meeting: Jan. 16, 2007 - W, 4-2 (Away)
Last Meeting: Oct. 29, 2011 - L, 2-1 (Home)
Streak: Yale, 8-0-0
Last Dartmouth Win: Feb. 23, 2008 - W, 7-2 (Home)

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

Dartmouth Notes • Brown Notes • Brown Preview • Yale Notes • Yale Preview • Live Stats • Live Audio and Video

HANOVER, N.H. - It would have been easy to just concede the points on Friday night at No. 9 Cornell in hostile Lynah Rink. It would have been easy to concede points the following night to No. 18 Colgate after the Raiders scored three goals in the final three minutes of the second period.

But the Big Green didn't roll over. They didn't concede anything. They fought hard until the games' final seconds to earn a weekend split in Central New York against two talented teams in overtime contests.

Cornell held off a surging Dartmouth team with an overtime winner Friday night. Despite the loss, the Big Green controlled the tempo, played physical, but smart hockey and had far more scoring opportunities. They were just unable to get that fourth goal.

The Big Red held leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the back-and-forth contest. But for every advantage they seemed to have, Dartmouth answered and pulled even with the league-leading home team until it could not answer the winner midway through the extra session.

Freshman Eric Neiley was a standout against Cornell, recording his first-career multi-point game with two second-period assists and the tying goal with 10:14 remaining in regulation to force overtime.

The same fight and determination shown Friday was also on display Saturday just up the road in Hamilton, N.Y., against another nationally-ranked opponent. Colgate's shorthanded breakaway goal just minutes into the first period set the tone for the game: nothing would be too outrageous or surprising on this night.

The home team scored three times in the final 2:27 of the second period to give them a 4-1 lead headed into the locker room. But a hard hit on Neiley late in the period galvanized the Big Green during the intermission, giving them another motivating factor headed into the third period against their ECAC Hockey foe.

Sophomore forward Eric Robinson scored 21 seconds in. Just over a minute later, freshman Charlie Mosey finished another rush with his first-career goal to pull Dartmouth to within one, 4-3.

With under five minutes remaining in regulation, senior Doug Jones found a seam in the Colgate defense through the slot, feeding a puck over to sophomore linemate Matt Lindblad at the far post for the one-timer, knotting the game at four apiece.

Jones proved to be the night's ultimate hero, scoring the winner 2:43 into overtime on a redirect in the slot. Two assists in the second and a goal in OT helped cap a three-point night and a four-point weekend after a power-play tally against Cornell for the senior.

With those two games behind them, the Big Green now turn their attention towards the season's second meetings with Brown and Yale this weekend. The same two opponents were in Hanover for the season-opening Ivy Shootout in late October, a weekend split for the Big Green. The 2-1 win over the Bears in the first game was the 300th in the head coaching career of Dartmouth's Bob Gaudet.

GAME NOTES

THIS WEEKEND
Dartmouth returns home to Thompson for the first time since New Year's Eve for this weekend's tilts with Brown and Yale. The Big Green opened 2012 with four games on the road and one neutral-site game against in-state rival UNH in Manchester (L, 4-1). In 10 home games this season, Dartmouth is 5-3-2.

FAMILIAR FOES
The 2011-12 season started off for the Big Green with Brown and Yale in Hanover for the Ivy Shootout in late October. The Bears were the first win of the season for Dartmouth, as they fell to the home team, 2-1, on opening night. After Yale tied Princeton, 2-2, in its opener, the Bulldogs defeated the Big Green, 2-1, in the final game of the weekend.

SEASON OPENER
Against Brown the first time around, captain and junior Mike Keenan (South Weymouth, Mass.) got the season started with the first goal of the year just 4:09 into the first period. After Brown tied the game just over a minute into the third period from the stick of Jarred Smith, freshman Tyler Sikura (Aurora, Ontario) scored the first of his team-leading three game-winning goals this season. The freshman winger scored his first-career tally with 3:04 remaining in regulation to help Dartmouth to a one-goal victory.

YALE EDGES THE NEXT NIGHT
Two second-period goals scored by the Bulldogs in the final game of the Ivy Shootout helped them beat the host team. Antoine Laganiere and Chad Zeigler each scored in the middle stanza. Laganiere opened the scoring before freshman Eric Neiley (Warminster, Pa.) followed with the first goal of his college career. But Zeigler's tally 18:52 into the second proved to be the game winner as neither team found the back of the net in the third.

TALE OF TWO TEAMS
Counting the non-conference games against these two teams to start the season, Dartmouth has had completely different outcomes against Brown and Yale over the course of the last three years. Against the Bears, the Big Green are 6-0-1 in their last seven games with the last loss coming on Feb. 22, 2008 (5-4). In contrast, against Yale, Dartmouth has lost the last eight matchups. The last win in the series for the Big Green came on Feb. 23, 2008 (7-2).

WHAT A WEEKEND
After falling behind by two to No. 9 Cornell, Dartmouth forced overtime with two goals in a 36-second span in the second and a power-play equalizer in the third. The loss in overtime to the Big Red was the first of the season when tied after 60 minutes as both previous games that went to the extra session ended in ties (Harvard, St. Lawrence). The loss was avenged the following night as the Big Green erased a three-goal deficit in the third before Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) scored the winner in overtime against No. 18 Colgate.

POINTS FOR JONES
After a power-play goal on Friday at Cornell, Jones came through with three more points on Saturday against the Raiders. Assists on two third-period goals as part of the Dartmouth comeback and the winner 2:43 into overtime helped the senior forward to four points on the weekend. In 112 career games played, Jones is now four points shy of becoming the 36th player in program history with 100 in a career (24g/72a).

THIS WEEK'S BEST ROOKIE
After his four points (1g/3a) on the road against two nationally-ranked opponents, Neiley was honored as the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week. It was the first time this season that a Dartmouth player received the honor after junior Dustin Walsh (Shannonville, Ontario) was named the Player of the Week on Nov. 8 and sophomore Cab Morris (Wilmette, Ill.) was honored as both the Goaltender of the Week and Month (December) on Jan. 3. Matt Lindblad (Winnetka, Ill.) was the last Dartmouth player to earn the recognition as the week's top rookie; doing so in consecutive weeks last November (Nov. 23/30, 2010)

FRESHMAN FINISHER
Neiley wasn't the only Big Green freshman that had a strong weekend in Central New York. Charlie Mosey picked up an assist at Lynah Rink on Friday night, before a first-period assist and picking up the first goal of his career 1:35 into the third period against Colgate the following night. Mosey knocked home a loose puck in the slot to cut the deficit to one, 4-3, to help his team make a late-game push that eventually forced overtime.

BACK IN THE LINEUP IN A BIG WAY
After not dressing in the previous six games, junior Mark Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) made a huge impact on the latest road swing. Scoring his second of the season on Friday, Goggin added another at the end of the first period on Saturday. Goggin's marker at Cornell ended Big Red goaltender Andy Iles' home shutout streak at 350:06; a program record that began on Oct. 29. Moving his feet late in the game, Goggin also drew a hooking penalty that eventually gave way to Neiley's power-play blast from the point that was the equalizer. His second marker of the weekend came with just 40 seconds remaining in the first period at Starr Rink and sent the teams into the locker room tied at one. He now has three goals in just six games played this season.

FROM THE POINT
Against Cornell, the offense came almost exclusively from the forwards. Senior defenseman Connor Goggin's (Glenn Ellyn, Ill.) second-period assist on the power play was the only point from any of the six d-men dressed that night. The same could not be said for Saturday's comeback victory at Colgate as both Goggin and his defensive partner Keenan had two helpers. Goggin and Keenan both were credited with assists on Mosey's goal, while the captain also had one on Eric Robinson's (Foxboro, Mass.) period-opening tally. Goggin also picked up an assist on the game winner in OT, taking the shot from the point that Jones deflected home. The two assists against the Raiders tied Goggin's career high that he set against Brown on Jan. 8, 2010, while Keenan eclipsed his previous career high of one assist.

FAST AND FURIOUS
Both nights, Dartmouth needed to come from behind to force overtime, and on both nights it used quick spurts to do so. Against Cornell, Dartmouth scored twice in a 36-second span, while it was two goals in a gap of 1:14 at Colgate that helped with the third-period comeback. The fastest two goals this season for Dartmouth were 22 seconds apart against Holy Cross at home on Dec. 30. Two goals in 28 seconds in the final two minutes to beat Quinnipiac on Nov. 4 is the second-fastest mark. In all, the Big Green have scored twice in a minute three times this year and five times in under two minutes.

COMEBACK
Only once this season had Dartmouth come back when trailing by two goals or after two periods of play prior to the win in Hamilton. Both instances came in the Nov. 4 match-up with Quinnipiac in which the Bobcats held a 3-1 second-period lead and were up 3-2 after 40 minutes of play. The Big Green came back to win 5-4 with three goals in the third, including two in the final two minutes. Against Colgate, Dartmouth erased a three-goal lead following the second intermission with Lindblad's equalizer coming with 4:36 left to play.

THREE IN A ROW
Dartmouth's three-goal third on Saturday was just the second time in 2011-12 that the team was able to score three in a period. The other time was also in the third period in the aforementioned come-from-behind victory over QU.

BACK-TO-BACK OT CONTESTS
The consecutive overtime games for Dartmouth marked the first time since last season's Ledyard Classic on Dec. 30-31, 2010. The Big Green played to a 4-4 tie with Mercyhurst (shootout loss), before skating to a 4-3 victory over Colgate in the consolation game.

TWO IN A GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME
Dartmouth's power play scored twice (Jones, Neiley) against Cornell and finished the game 2-for-4. It marked the first time this season that the Big Green managed to score twice with the man-advantage in a game. Coming into the weekend, the Dartmouth power play (7-for-60, 11.7%) ranks 55th out of 58 teams in the country.

NEW GUYS AT THE TOP
Entering last weekend, Sikura and Robinson were the team leaders in scoring with 11 points. Lindblad was also tied with 11 points, but assists in both games and the tying goal on Saturday helped move him into a first-place tie with Jones following the split. Jones and Lindblad now sit atop the scoring list with 14 points apiece.

OTTAWA BOUND
After being claimed off waivers in the preseason by Minnesota, former Dartmouth standout Nick Johnson '08 got the call that he would replace Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the NHL All-Star Weekend in Ottawa as a rookie selection. Although not playing in the All-Star Game, Johnson will be the second Dartmouth player at All-Star Weekend after Lee Stempniak '05 played in the YoungStars Game in 2007 in Dallas as a member of the St. Louis Blues. Johnson will represent the Wild in the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday night.

BACK BETWEEN THE PIPES
Senior James Mello (Rehoboth, Mass.) returned to the Dartmouth net at Colgate after Morris suited up for the Cornell game. Morris had started the previous six games leading up to the UNH contest in Manchester, which was Mello's first start since Nov. 27 at Vermont. The senior netminder stopped 24 shots against the Raiders, including seven in the third period to help his team complete the comeback.

ALL ALONE IN 13TH
His two assists in the third period Saturday night helped Jones move all alone into 13th place all-time at Dartmouth with 72 in his career. He entered his senior campaign with 64, but eight this season have moved him up the program list seven spots.

GAUDET VS. HIS OLD TEAM
Since taking over as head coach in 1997-98, head coach Bob Gaudet is 20-9-3 against his former team. His win against the Bears earlier this season was the 300th of his coaching career and came at the expense of longtime Dartmouth assistant and former Brown player under Gaudet, Brendan Whittet. In nine seasons behind the Brown bench, Gaudet was 93-142-31. He is 214-204-52 in 15 season since returning to Hanover to take over his alma mater.

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