Robinson's Two Goals Lift Big Green Over Brown, 4-1

Saturday, February 18

Providence, R.I.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Brown

Robinson's Two Goals Lift Big Green Over Brown, 4-1

2/18/2012 9:04:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Sophomore Eric Robinson (Foxboro, Mass.) scored twice in the first period and senior Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ontario) made 34 saves as the Dartmouth men's hockey team defeated Brown, 4-1, Friday night at Meehan Auditorium.

The victory was the third of the season for Big Green (10-13-4, 7-10-3 ECAC Hockey) over the Bears (8-15-4, 5-12-3 ECAC Hockey), sweeping the season series for second year in a row. Dartmouth has now won eight of the last nine against Brown, with the other outcome between the two being a 5-5 tie in 2009-10.

A victory also snapped a seven-game winless skid (0-5-2) for the Big Green, who now have 17 points in the ECAC Hockey standings heading into the final weekend of regular-season play.

Robinson's two-goal performance pushed his team-leading total to 12 this season. The two tallies tied his career high after also netting two at Vermont on Nov. 27. He added an assist for his first three-point night of the season and tying his career high set last year against Harvard.

Robinson now leads the team with 21 points. Senior Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) had a goal and an assist in the game, and ranks second in scoring with 20 points.

Freshmen Rick Pinkston (Trenton, Mich.) had two assists in the game, setting a new career high. Fellow first-year players Brandon McNally (Saugus, Mass.) and Andy Simpson (Chesterfield, Mo.) each had one helper in the game as well.

Robinson's first of the night was a nifty wrist shot over the blocker of Browns' Mike Clemente from the top of the left circle. A Bears' turnover in the defensive zone along the halfboards ended up on the stick of the Big Green sophomore who fired home the opening tally just 3:22 into the first.

The second came just 6:22 later on a centering pass from senior Nick Walsh (Shannonville, Ontario) behind the Brown goal. The pass, intended for the stick of Robinson, was just a bit off-target, but managed to bounce off the body of the first-line wing and past Clemente to make it 2-0 in the opening 10 minutes of action.

In the second period, a Pinkston slap shot from the blueline was redirected through traffic by senior winger Paul Lee (Garden City, N.Y.) in the slot. Driving to the middle of the ice from the right faceoff circle, Lee got just enough of Pinkston's shot to deflect it over the goal line for his second of the season.

Just under six minutes into the third, Brown's Matt Harlow ended O'Neill's bid for a shutout with his third of the season to make it a 3-1 game.

Fresh off scoring his 100th-career point Friday night at Yale, senior Jones kept it going with another marker Saturday night.

Jones sealed the win with a wrister to the top right corner over the glove of Clemente who had come out to challenge the shot. Robinson picked up his third point of the net, making the pass from below the goal line out to the high slot, setting up Jones for the team's fourth of the night.

The 34-save performance helped O'Neill pick up his second victory of the season (2-3-2). At the other end, Clemente had 23 saves for the Bears in being saddled with the loss (7-13-2).

Both teams finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play.

Dartmouth will return home for the final weekend of the regular season when it plays host to Clarkson on Friday and St. Lawrence Saturday night. The game with the Saints will be the third meeting of 2011-12 between the two and will also feature the team's annual Senior Night celebration, honoring the 10 members of the Class of 2012.

NOTES: Playing in his 121st career game, senior Jones moves all along into 24th in Dartmouth history, passing Grant Lewis '07. Mike Oullette '06 is the all-time leader, playing in136, while Lee Stempniak '05 is second with 135 games played... With Harlow's third-period goal, Dartmouth's stretch without a shutout reaches 39 games and dates back to Feb. 4, 2011. That night the Big Green defeated the Bears, 3-0, in Meehan...