Big Green Play to 3-3 Tie With Princeton

Friday, February 3

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

2/3/2012 9:40:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

PRINCETON, N.J. - In a game delayed an hour to fix a broken pane of glass, the Dartmouth men's hockey team used an early third-period goal from Connor Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) and two tallies from freshman Eric Neiley (Warminster, Pa.) to tie Princeton, 3-3, Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink.

The tie was the second of the week for the Big Green (9-9-4, 6-6-3 ECAC Hockey) after they played to a 2-2 draw with Harvard on Tuesday. The point moves them all alone into sixth place in the league standings as Quinnipiac lost to the Crimson in Hamden earlier in the night.

It was the first two-goal game of Neiley's collegiate career as he scored markers to tie the score in both the first and second periods.

Senior Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ontario) stopped a season-high 36 shots in earning his second straight tie this week. O'Neill was tested early, making 17 saves in the first, while just eight in the second, ten in the third and one in the overtime period.

After Princeton's (7-10-6, 5-8-3 ECAC Hockey) Michael Sdao opened the scoring just 42 seconds into the game on a wrister from the point through traffic, Neiley tied it at 1-1 just eight minutes later.

Freshman Tyler Sikura (Aurora, Ontario) dug the puck out of the corner and fed a pass into the slot for defenseman Dan Nycholat (Calgary, Alberta) charging towards the goal. Nycholat's stick was lifted as he stopped the pass and the puck was left for Neiley between the circles.

Collecting the loose puck, the first-year winger found space over the glove of Princeton's Mike Condon for the first Dartmouth tally of the night and his fourth of the season.

The Tigers' Rob Kleebaum continued the trend of scoring goals early in the period on this night as he put his team up 2-1 with a power-play tally just 3:02 into the middle frame.

But Neiley tied it up again with his second of the game with 6:14 left in the second. After losing the puck at the blue line on the power play, Connor Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) collected it at center and made a pass to Matt Lindblad (Winnetka, Ill.) headed back into the offensive zone.

Lindblad put a saucer pass into the middle and onto the stick of Neiley, who deked a defender and put a high forehand shot over the glove again of Condon to tie it at 2-2.

Princeton once again scored a goal early in the period as Marc Hagel banged in a rebound from below the left circle 2:49 into the third.

Just 1:10 later, Dartmouth tied it at 3-3, but it wasn't off the stick of Neiley this time. Connor Goggin finished the play with a quick wrist shot from the slot into an open netmouth after Lindblad used a perfect centering pass to the pinching defender. Sikura also earned a helper on the play, knocking the puck from the crease to Lindblad at the bottom of the circle to the left of Condon.

Then came Jesse Beamish's (Mississauga, Ontario) booming wrist shot with 12:36 remaining in the game that broke one of the pane's of glass over the right shoulder of the Princeton goalkeeper. The game was delayed exactly an hour to replace the broken piece. It was the third of the day to be broken at Hobey Baker Rink.

Neither team was able to come out of the extended break and score the winner. Both had opportunities, but the play of O'Neill and Condon in goal kept the game deadlocked through 65 minutes.

Dartmouth was 1-for-4 with the power play in the game, while the home team failed to score on any of its four opportunities with the man-advantage.

Condon finished the night with 29 saves, 12 coming in the second period.

The Big Green will now head to Quinnipiac for a Saturday night tilt with the Bobcats. The two teams were tied for sixth in the ECAC Hockey standings entering the weekend, but a 6-3 loss by the Bobcats to Harvard and Dartmouth's tie helped move the Big Green all alone into sixth, while the Bobcats are now seventh with 14 points.

NOTES: O'Neill made consecutive starts in the Dartmouth goal for just the second time this season and the first time since Nov. 18-19 at St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The senior made 26 saves in a 2-2 tie with Harvard Tuesday in Cambridge...Princeton dressed just 10 forwards for the game, but added an extra defenseman to the backend rotation, leaving the team with an available roster spot...Both Dartmouth and Princeton broke panes of glass during the morning skates. Despite not playing, freshman defender Andy Simpson (Chesterfield, Mo.) broke a pane under the press box with a wrist shot, while a member of the Tigers broke another at the far end of the ice. Both panes were fixed by game time...Tonight's was the 100th-career game in a Dartmouth sweater for senior Nick Walsh (Shannonville, Ontario). He is the fourth player this season to reach the century mark in career games, joining Connor Goggin, Jim Gaudet (Etna, N.H.) and Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.).