Brown Bests Dartmouth Men, 3-1, in Preseason Scrimmage

HANOVER, N.H. – It was a much better effort for the Dartmouth men's hockey team than the one from Saturday night, but the result was still the same as it fell to Brown in a preseason scrimmage at Thompson Arena, 3-1, Sunday evening.

The Big Green outshot the Bears, 26-17, but were unable to solve the goaltending tandem of starter Tyler Steel and Tim Ernst until late in the game. By then, Brown had built a two-goal lead and clamped down defensively in its own zone, stifling the Dartmouth attack.

“We haven't had a ton of time to practice together and really work on special teams, so games like this are a good stepping stone for us,” head coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. “I like that we played a back-to-back weekend which simulates and prepares us for the regular season and our league schedule.”

The Green's lone marker of the contest came when junior Brad Schierhorn finished a nice passing play from seniors Tyler Sikura and Eric Robinson with the man-advantage at 11:31 of the third, cutting the Bears' lead in half, 2-1.

However, a re-redirect by Tyler Bird in the first and the eventual game winner from Charlie Corcoran on the power-play 4:39 into the third were enough to hold off the home team. Max Willman netted an empty-netter with 13 seconds remaining in regulation to seal Brown's preseason win.

This was the first of four games in Hanover this season for Brown who return to play the Green and White on Saturday, Nov. 15 and again on Jan. 2-3 as part of the Ledyard Classic against Boston College and Denver.

Getting the start in goal for Dartmouth was freshman was Devin Buffalo, who was originally slated to play just half the game behind Charles Grant. Plans changed following warm-ups and Buffalo got the start, playing all 60 minutes and stopping 14 in his collegiate debut.

Despite solid netminding from Buffalo, the goalkeepers at the other end of the ice were strong in keeping the Dartmouth forwards guessing all night. Steel stopped nine shots in 27:21 of action before giving way to Ernst for the final 32:39 of play. Even though it was Ernst who surrendered the Schierhorn marker, the freshman put together a quality outing, making 16 saves.

In its preseason debut, the team from the Upper Valley was bested by defending CIS National Champion Alberta, 6-1, on Saturday.

The Big Green will begin the 2014-15 regular season Saturday, Nov. 1 on the road against Harvard. Puck drop from the newly renovated Bright-Landry Hockey Center is set for 7:30 p.m.

Schedules