No. 12 Vermont Defeats Big Green, 4-1, in Regional Rivalry Game

Sunday, January 11

Hanover, N.H.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

VERMONT

No. 12 Vermont Defeats Big Green, 4-1, in Regional Rivalry Game

1/11/2015 6:08:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – After a sluggish start, 12th-ranked Vermont showed why it is widely considered one of the best defensive teams in the nation Sunday afternoon at Thompson Arena.

The Catamounts (15-5-1) handed the Dartmouth men's hockey team a 4-1 loss in the final non-conference game of the season for the Big Green (6-6-3) thanks in large part to a solid defensive effort in the final two periods of play.

“The first period we played tonight was as good as any period I've seen a Dartmouth team play in the last 10 years,” head coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. “The problem we ran into was the start of the third period when they came out and proved they were one of the best teams in the nation.

“There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season,” Gaudet added. “We've been playing, for the most part, excellent hockey against some really good teams lately. We have to make sure that we continue to play an up-tempo, good brand of our game as we get back into league play.”

Tim O'Brien scored the lone goal of the game for the home team at 16:01 of the middle frame, tying the game at one. However, Nick Luukko's second of the season just 40 seconds later proved to be the eventual winner, while Vermont tacked on two more in the final stanza courtesy of Mario Puskarich and Alexx Privitera at 13 seconds and 4:14, respectively.

Grant Opperman and Geoff Ferguson had the helpers on O'Brien's second of the season.

Vermont's first goal of the night came at 11:04 of the second on the power play from the stick of Jake Fallon and was the only man-advantage goal of the game for either side. Dartmouth finished 0-for-4 on the power play, while UVM was 1-for-4.

James Kruger stopped 26 shots in the loss, falling to 5-6-3 this season. At the other end of the ice, Mike Santaguida was the reason why Sunday's game wasn't 3-0 in favor of the home team after 20 minutes, making numerous flashy saves to keep it scoreless through one period. He would finish the contest with 26 saves, including the 14 in the first.

Dartmouth trailed 2-1 entering the third, marking the first time since No. 18 against Harvard that the Green and White did not carry a lead into the final frame, a stretch of eight games.

The Big Green remain home next weekend as they play host to St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Jan. 16-17 at Thompson Arena. Both games are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. starts and mark start of the stretch run where only ECAC Hockey opponents remain on the schedule.