Dartmouth Grinds Out 3-1 Win at Home vs. RPI

Friday, January 30

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

RENSSELAER

1/30/2015 9:31:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – On his 23rd birthday, Eric Neiley scored once and assisted on another as the Dartmouth men's hockey team defeated visiting Rensselaer, 3-1, at Thompson Arena Friday night.

Sophomores Troy Crema and Kyle Nickerson found the back of the net for first time this season as the Big Green (8-8-4, 5-6-1) picked up two ECAC Hockey points and avenged an earlier loss this season to the Engineers (9-18-1, 7-7-0).

“This was a good win for us,” head coach Bob Gaudet '81 said after the game. “They beat us earlier this year, so it was nice to come back to our rink and get the two points tonight.

“I thought we played a solid all-around game. I was pleased with how well we moved the puck on special teams, both on the power play and penalty kill,” Gaudet added. “We also played very tough in the six-on-five situation at the end of the game, which has been something we have been working on in practice.”

Neiley's birthday goal came on the power play and was the result of an odd bounce at the top of the paint. The initial shot from the senior and Warminster, Pennsylvania, native ricocheted off the far goal post as Neiley came through the slot from left to right. The puck's path once leaving the post's surface led it right to the skate of RPI defenseman Curtis Leonard and back into the open netmouth at the 12:37 mark.

For Neiley, the goal was his team-leading ninth of the season and came on assists from Eric Robinson and Ryan Bullock.

Bullock would factor into the Crema marker just 1:28 later as he set up defensive partner Geoff Ferguson for the one-timer at the point. Crema — heading toward the front of the net to screen Engineer netminder Jason Kasdorf — got just enough of the shot with the shaft of his stick to change its course into the top left corner of the net for his first goal since Dec. 6, 2013 at Yale.

The night of firsts continued in the final stanza with Nickerson notching his first-career goal at the 1:08 mark and Dartmouth killing a penalty. The sophomore from Weston, Massachusetts, was left all alone in front of Kasdorf, slipping home a rebound on the backhand after a point shot from Josh Hartley. Neiley picked up his second point of the night as his clean win in the faceoff dot put the puck on Hartley's stick.

“That felt really good, especially with my roommate, Josh Hartley, setting it up,” Nickerson remarked outside the locker room post game. “It was a pretty easy tap in, but I'll take it.”

The Big Green also got another solid effort from junior James Kruger between the pipes. Kruger stopped 30 shots in the game with RPI's lone goal coming on a fluke bounce into the air, through the hands of two defenders, off his back and over the line at 11:32 of the second. The tally was credited to Riley Bourbonnais who had the initial shot.

After going nearly three years without attempting a penalty shot, Dartmouth had a chance for the second time in as many games. Nearly 13 minutes into the third, Jack Barre had the opportunity to duplicate Neiley's feat from last weekend at Cornell, but his attempt sailed wide, keeping it a two-goal game.

Kasdorf finished the contest with 20 saves as the Engineers outshot the Green and White, 31-24.

The home team went 1-for-4 on the man-advantage in the game, while the penalty killers held the opposition to an 0-for-2 night on the power play.

The Big Green are back in action on Saturday night when they host defending national champion Union at 7 p.m. Dartmouth won the earlier meeting, 4-3, in overtime back on Nov. 7 in Schenectady, erasing a 3-0 second-period deficit to earn the victory.