Dartmouth Hosts No. 12 Vermont in Last Non-Conference Game

Game 15 // Dartmouth (6-5-3) vs. No. 12 Vermont (14-5-1)

Date: Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015 // Time: 4:05 PM // Location: Hanover, N.H. // Arena: Thompson Arena
All-Time Series: 26-47-6 // Streak: 1-0-1 // Last Meeting: Jan. 3, 2014 // T, 1-1/OT (Burlington)

Vermont Media

TV: None // Online: Ivy League Digital Network
Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM (99Rock) // PBP: Chris Garrett Color: Michael Kaiser
Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH
Digital Press Box
Dartmouth Notes // Vermont Preview/Notes // Ticket Information

SUNDAY'S GAME
The Dartmouth men's hockey team is back in action for a Sunday matinee against regional rival Vermont at 4 p.m. inside the friendly confines of Thompson Arena. The game is the 80th all-time meeting between the two regional rivals.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green travelled to Durham to play at UNH for the first time in 15 years on Friday night in a game broadcast on the NBC Sports Network. Leading by two and controlling play more than halfway through the third period, it looked as if Dartmouth would get its first win on New Hampshire's ice in 23 years, but a pair of late third-period goals from Grayson Downing helped the Wildcats earn the 2-2 tie. The Green and White got goals from Brad Schierhorn in the first and Jack Barre in the third, while James Kruger stopped 18 shots.

Highlights at UNH // Jan. 9, 2015 (T, 2-2/OT)

Tweet of the Game

Yay... a tie! FINAL: Dartmouth 2, UNH 2. Granite State bragging rights go unclaimed. pic.twitter.com/dfBvn9ZZyM
— Dartmouth Hockey (@Dartmouth_MIH) January 10, 2015

SCOUTING VERMONT
Like Dartmouth, the Catamounts brought in the second half of 2014-15 with a home tournament, taking on Air Force and Providence in the Catamount Cup on Dec. 28-29. A 4-2 win against the Falcons was followed by a 3-0 loss at the hands of Hockey East rival Providence in the second game of the weekend. Vermont rang in the New Year against ECAC Hockey foe Yale on Saturday, Jan. 3 in New Haven, suffering a 3-1 defeat to the Bulldogs in Ingalls Rink, pushing the team's record to 14-5-1 overall. In the most recent USCHO.com national poll (Jan. 5), UVM dropped two spots to No. 12. Sophomore Mario Puskarich leads the team with nine goals and shares the scoring lead with senior Mike Paliotta as both have 18 points. Paliotta's 13 assists are good for the team lead through 20 games played. The netminding tandem of junior Brody Hoffman (10-2-1/1.98 GAA/.918 Save%) and sophomore Mike Santaguida (4-3-0/1.26/.955 Save%) has been one of the best in the nation this season as Vermont ranks third in team defense, allowing opponents just 1.70 goals per game.

LAST TIME AGAINST VERMONT
These two teams played to a 1-1 tie at Gutterson Field House in Burlington on Jan. 3, 2014. Grant Opperman scored his third of the season to break the scoreless tie late in the second period for the only Dartmouth goal of the game. Charles Grant turned aside 33 shots to earn the tie, his second of the 2013-14 campaign.

FIVE'S A CROWD
The goals from juniors Schierhorn and Barre were both the fifth goals of the season for each player. They moved into a share of the team lead in goals with seniors Tyler Sikura and Eric Neiley.

IN BUNCHES
For Barre, the junior from Fairfield, Connecticut, the third-period backhand goal was the fourth in as many games dating back to the Dec. 14 contest against Sacred Heart where he had a career-high two markers. He was held off the scoresheet vs. Denver, but now has goals against Boston College and UNH in the last two outings.

MAC ATTACK IS BACK
After being scratched in the last six games and eight of the last nine, senior Brandon McNally returned to the lineup against the Wildcats on Friday. The Saugus, Massachusetts native, played alongside Eric Neiley and Brett Patterson in his return, finishing the night with one shot on goal and even in terms of plus/minus.

OLD MEN
The Big Green got another two goals from their upperclassmen Friday, giving the junior and senior classes 34 of 38 total goals this season (89.5%). A pair of goals each from Corey Kalk and Grant Opperman are the only four goals from the freshman and sophomore classes in 2014-15. Of the 108 total points this year for the Green, 88 have come from the top two classes, accounting for 81.5% of total production.

GOTTA FIND THAT KILLER INSTINCT
In the last three games Dartmouth has entered the third period with a one-goal lead and in each have not been able to come away with a win. Against Denver and leading 1-0, the Pioneers tied it up and forced an eventual 1-1 tie. BC was down 2-1, but managed a pair of third-period goals to take the Ledyard Classic title with a 3-2 win. And Friday, UNH's Downing netted two in the final minutes to help the Wildcats earn the 2-2 draw.

SCORELESS IN THE SECOND?
Coming into the game with UNH, Dartmouth was clicking in the second period with 16 goals all season and seven in its last three games. However, the Wildcats held the Green off the scoreboard in the middle frame, while the visitors did manage to outshoot the home team, 13-8, in the stanza.

GRANT AGAINST THE CATAMOUNTS
James Kruger has never played against Vermont in his career, while Charles Grant has been the starter against the Catamounts in each of the last two seasons. He stopped 33 shots in a 1-1 tie in Burlington last season and 30 in a 4-2 win at Thompson on Dec. 5, 2012 in a game also broadcast on the NBC Sports Network.

WHERE THERE IS ONE THERE IS USUALLY A SECOND
Carl Hesler picked up the secondary helper on Barre's goal and Eric Robinson had one on Schierhorn's goals. That is important because of Dartmouth's 38 goals in 14 games this season, 32 have come with a pair of assists (84.2%). That gives Dartmouth an average of 2.29 secondary assists per game, the 18th-best figure in the nation this year. The team has yet to register an unassisted goal this season.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Following Sunday's game with the Catamounts, the Big Green will be back in action at home next weekend against St. Lawrence and Clarkson (Jan. 16-17). Both games will be carried live in HD on the Ivy League Digital Network. Tickets can be purchased on DartmouthSports.com or by calling 603-626-2466.

Game 16 // St. Lawrence // Jan. 16 // 7 PM	Game 17 // Clarkson // Jan. 17 // 7 PM

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