Ivy Foes Brown and Yale Host No. 11 Big Green This Weekend

GAME 17
No. 11 Dartmouth (9-5-2, 5-3-1 ECAC) at Brown (5-7-4, 1-4-4 ECAC)
▶ Friday, Jan. 18, 2013 ▶ 7 PM ▶ Providence, R.I.
▶ Meehan Auditorium (2,495)
▶ All-Time Series: Dartmouth, 75-63-8 (147th Meeting)
▶ Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2012 (Hanover) - W, 2-1
▶ Streak: 10-0-1

GAME 18
No. 11 Dartmouth (9-5-2, 5-3-1 ECAC) at No. 12 Yale (9-4-3, 5-3-1 ECAC)
▶ Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013 ▶ 7 PM ▶ New Haven, Conn.
▶ Ingalls Rink (3,500)
▶ All-Time Series: Yale, 106-88-14 (209th Meeting)
▶ Last Meeting: Nov. 2, 2012 (Hanover) - W, 7-4
▶ Streak: 1-0-1

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FOR COMPLETE WEEKEND COVERAGE: 2012-13 GAME DAY CENTRAL

THIS WEEKEND
Dartmouth will head back to Providence for the second time this season on Friday night before making the trip south down I-95 to New Haven for a meeting with Yale at Ingalls Rink. Both games are 7 p.m. match-ups.

BACK TO THE GRIND
After a one-game weekend with travel partner, Harvard, last Saturday night in Hanover, the Big Green will return to the usual Friday and Saturday night meetings for three straight weeks before another meeting with the Crimson on Saturday, Feb. 9 in Cambridge.

LAST TIME OUT
Falling behind early, the Green fought back in the second period to take the lead, only to need another goal late in the third to dispatch Harvard in a seesaw contest in Thompson Arena. Jesse Beamish broke a 2-2 tie with a redirect at the top of the crease as the clock above center ice showed just 7:29 remaining in regulation. The win snapped the team's three-game stretch of one-goal defeats, turning the tables on its opponent with a one-goal victory of its own.

WHERE WE RANK
After falling four spots from No. 8 to No. 12 in both national polls last week, Dartmouth once again climbed one position to No. 11 in both when they were released Monday afternoon. This season, the Big Green have been ranked inside the top-12 for nine straight polls (Nov. 12), the longest consecutive stretch in program history.

TOUGH AT THOMPSON
The 3-2 win over Harvard pushed Dartmouth's home record to 8-1-0 this season. The .868 home winning percentage is the best in ECAC Hockey and fifth-best in the nation so far this season. Quinnipiac's .758 figure (10-2-2) ranks second in the league. Six regular season home games remain in 2012-13 for the Big Green.

AWAY FROM THOMPSON
Outside of Hanover has been where Dartmouth has seen some struggles, posting a 1-4-2 record. The team's lone road win this year came at Meehan Auditorium in a 4-0 win over Brown back on Oct. 27 in the non-conference game for the Ivy Shootout tile. Three of the four road losses have been by just one goal, while the team has also played to two ties.

SIKURA'S STREAK
With another assist on Saturday, sophomore Tyler Sikura has now recorded points in eight straight contests. He has an assist in the last four games and has not been held off the scoresheet since a 1-1 tie at Cornell on Nov. 17. That night was the only time in 2012-13 that Sikura has not registered a point as he began the year with a seven-game scoring run.

LINEMATE LINDBLAD
Like his centerman, Matt Lindblad is also on an eight-game scoring streak since missing a night in Ithaca. A second-period goal tied the game at 1-1 against Harvard, giving the junior from Winnetka, Ill., his fourth goal and 12th point in the last eight outings.

VOTE FOR HOBEY
Last week saw fan voting open up for the 2013 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's best player. Dartmouth has two nominees on this season's fan ballot as both Matt Lindblad and Tyler Sikura make their first appearances.

SCOUTING YALE
The Bulldogs come into the weekend a near mirror image of the Big Green. They sit one spot back in both national polls at No. 12 and have a 9-4-3 overall record, while tied with the Green and White in the ECAC Hockey standings at 5-3-1 for 11 points. The trio of Kenny Agostino, Antoine Laganiere and Andrew Miller are the team's offensive leaders with 21, 18 and 17 points, respectively. Of his 10 total goals in 2012-13, Laganiere has scored four against Dartmouth, netting a pair in both contests already. This past week, Agostino, Stu Wilson and Jeff Malcolm were tabbed as the conference Player, Rookie and Goaltender of the Week in helping lead the team to a sweep of North Country opponents.

AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
After not having beaten Yale in 10 tries coming into 2012-13, the Green are 1-0-1 this season against the Bulldogs. A 2-2 tie on opening night in Providence was followed by a 7-4 victory just a week later in Hanover. The Green will try for its first season sweep of the Elis since 2005-06 when it won both regular season meetings and swept the quarterfinal match-up in two games. Those two victories in the postseason mark the last time Dartmouth won consecutive games against Yale (March 10-11, 2006).

SCOUTING BROWN
To the surprise of many outside of Providence, the league's top goal scorer this season is sophomore Matt Lorito with 12 in 16 games for the Bears. That figure has him tied with Hobey Baker frontrunner Johnny Gaudreau from BC with a nation's best 0.75 goals per game this year. Lorito also leads the team with 18 points as he has accumulated six assists. Junior Marco DeFillippo was the No. 1 goalie coming into the season, but a push back from senior Anthony Borelli has made it a tandem job as the fourth-year netminder's figures are impressive (.937 save%; 1.78 GAA; 3-2-3). Brown is currently tied for ninth in the league standings with a 1-4-4 conference mark and a record of 5-7-4 overall.

AGAINST THE BEARS
Unlike the struggles seen against Yale over the past few years, Dartmouth has seemingly had Brown's number. In the last 11 meetings between the two, the Green own a distinct 10-0-1 advantage, including two wins this season. Dartmouth shutout the Bears, 4-0, Oct. 27 in Providence, before needing a late goal the following weekend in Hanover to dispatch of its Ivy League foe, 2-1.

NICE ROUND NUMBER
The 2-1 home win was the 75th against Brown in the all-time series between the two programs. The Big Green now hold a 75-63-8 advantage over the Bears.

IVY LEAGUE UPDATE
The win over Harvard pushed Dartmouth back to the top of the Ivy League standings at 3-1-1 and seven points. Princeton remains second with two games in hand at 3-0-0. Yale is third at 2-1, tied with Harvard as each has four points. Brown remains winless against Ancient Eight opponents at 0-3-0. Cornell's lone point came from a 1-1 tie in Ithaca against the Green.

MEEHAN MAN
Sophomore Eric Robinson has four goals in his last three games playing at Brown's Meehan Auditorium dating back to last season. On Feb. 18, 2011, in Brown's home finale, Robinson scored twice before adding one in each of the two Ivy Shootout games played there in October. In the Ivy Shootout, he scored the late game-tying goal against Yale and the winner against Brown the following night. It's a good time for the visit as Robinson started the season with eight goals in the first seven games, but has not found the back of the net since Nov. 16 at Colgate, a current stretch of nine games.

BEAMING WITH DELIGHT
Beamish's goal against the Crimson was the first game-winner of his career and just his second tally the year. The only other marker Beamish has tallied this season came at Meehan as he netted an empty-net goal to seal the 4-0 victory.

BLIGH BUSTS OUT
If Robinson likes scoring at Brown, freshman Nick Bligh likes scoring in front of massive crowds at Thompson Arena. His two goals this season have come against UNH and Harvard, the two largest-attended home games of the season.

BARRE, BRANDON, BLIGH
Bligh's second of the season was the result of nice cycling in the corner by freshman Jack Barre and sophomore Brandon McNally. McNally made the eventual centering pass to Bligh, who finished the play with a wrist shot inside the left post.

TAKING OVER
Junior Cab Morris is making a case every time out that he is the team's No. 1 goalie. In beating Harvard, Morris improved to 6-2-1 this season with a .921 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average. His GAA ranks third in ECAC hockey as does his save%, while his .622 winning percentage is second.

FULL HOUSE
An announced attendance of 4,138 fans were on hand to see Dartmouth defeat Harvard on Jan. 12, the second-highest home figure of the season for the Big Green. Three times this season, Thompson Arena has seen crowds of more than 4,000: Vermont (4,112), New Hampshire (4,500+) and Harvard (4,381). In all three, the home team has come out on top. Dartmouth's average attendance of 3,342 is second in ECAC Hockey.

FRIDAY NIGHTS
The Big Green are just 2-2-1 this season in Friday night contests. This weekend sees the team play it's Friday night game at Brown, a place Dartmouth has not lost at since Feb. 8, 2008 (L, 3-2).

SATURDAY SUCCESSES
The Big Green are 5-2-1 in Saturday games this year. This weekend's second contest will have the Green at Yale's Ingalls Rink, a venue that has not seen a Dartmouth victory since Feb. 17, 2007 (W, 3-2), a stretch of five straight losses.

TOUGH SLATE
To date, the Big Green's schedule has been one of the most difficult in the nation this season. The most current RPI has Dartmouth's strength of schedule as the fourth-most difficult in the nation, behind only Boston University, Boston College and UNH. Against the 10 teams ranked ahead of them in the RPI, the Green and White are 2-2-1.

TEAM MARKS
Dartmouth is currently the third-best offensive team in the league, scoring 3.19 goals per game, while its 2.25 allowed a contest is second best. No other ECAC Hockey team is top three in both categories.

STEADY AS SHE GOES
Once again, the Big Green have shown a propensity for playing disciplined, staying out of the box better than any one else in ECAC Hockey (9.7 PIMs per game), while also killing off penalties better than nearly every other team in the country. The PK unit ranks second in the nation with a staggering 93.2 percent success rate, trailing only UNH, a team that surrendered a PPG to Dartmouth on Dec. 20. Against Harvard, Dartmouth was called for just two penalties and was 2-for-2 down a man.

"LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD, PLAY GOOD"
Words echoed by senior captain Mike Keenan as he led the team out onto the ice against Harvard sporting the team's new third jersey. A full green shoulder yoke as well as a solid green forearm accompany a new shoulder patch and larger lettering on the newest sweater. The team is 1-0-0 in new uniforms this season.

SETTING UP WINNERS
Freshmen Ryan Bullock and Tim O'Brien set up the winner against the visiting Crimson, picking up assists on Beamish's goal. Sikura has set up more game-winners than any other Dartmouth player this season with three assists. Lindblad and Robinson each have two, while nine players have one helper on a winning tally so far.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Big Green will be back at home the final weekend of January to take on St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Jan. 25-26. The Saints and Golden Knights are the only two remaining ECAC Hockey teams the Green have yet to play this season.

Schedules