Dartmouth Hosts 27th Ledyard Classic vs. RMU & Merrimack

Dartmouth Men's Hockey 3-7-1 3-5-0 ECAC Hockey	Game 12 Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016 7 PM	Game 13 Sunday, Jan. 6, 2016 7 PM
Dartmouth Men's Hockey 3-7-1 3-5-0 ECAC Hockey
Opponent	RV Robert Morris 11-4-3	No. 20 Merrimack 7-7-5
Location	Hanover, N.H.
Arena	Thompson Arena
All-Time Series	First Meeting	7-5-2
Streak	First Meeting	0-1-0
Last Meeting	First Meeting	Nov. 3, 2002 // L, 4-3 \| North Andover
Video	ILDN	ILDN
Radio	99Rock WFRD
Play-by-Play	Chris Garrett
In-Game Twitter	@Dartmouth_MIH @RMUHockey	@Dartmouth_MIH @MerrimackMIH
Notes: Dartmouth	RMU Notes / Preview	MC Notes / Preview
Tickets	Dartmouth Ticket Office
Information Center / Digital Press Box / Dartmouth Stats / Dartmouth Schedule / Live Stats

TALE OF THE TAPE
	Dartmouth	Union	Merrimack	RMU
Emoji	🌲	🌷	〽️	🇺🇸
Record	3-7-1	7-6-4	7-5-5	11-4-3
Goals For	22	47	44	81
Goals Against	45	44	37	50
Assists	38	77	76	136
Points	60	124	120	217
Streak	0-2-0	4-0-1	0-1-0	2-0-0
Home	1-2-0	4-4-4	4-3-3	5-1-1
Road	2-5-1	3-2-0	3-2-2	4-3-2
Neutral	0-0-0	0-0-0	0-0-0	2-0-0
Goals Leader	Three (4)	Scarfo (10)	Two (5)	Lynch (15)
Assists Leader	Crema (6)	Three (7)	Christie (10)	Lynch (15)
Points Leader	Crema (7)	Foo (15)	Christie (14)	Lynch (30)
PIMs Leader	Rymsha (22)	Wilkins (40)	Cronin (25)	Denham (30)
GWG	Three (1)	Seven (1)	Seven (7)	Four (2)
Wins	Kruger (2)	Sakellaropoulos (6)	Delia (6)	Shafer (6)
GAA	Buffalo (2.66)	Sakellaropoulos (2.18)	Delia (2.14)	Shafer (2.68)
Save%	Buffalo (.913)	Sakellaropoulos (.927)	Delia (.917)	Shafer (.925)

THIS WEEKEND
The Dartmouth men's hockey team will host the Ledyard Classic at Thompson Arena. Joining the Big Green over the two days are Robert Morris, Merrimack and fellow ECAC Hockey foe Union.

SCHEDULE
Saturday, January 2
4:00 p.m. – Union vs. Merrimack
7:05 p.m. – Dartmouth vs. Robert Morris
(or 55 minutes after UC/MC, whichever is later)

Sunday, January 3
4:00 p.m. – Union vs. Robert Morris
7:05 p.m. – Dartmouth vs. Merrimack
(or 55 minutes after UC/RMU, whichever is later)

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green fell, 6-3, at UNH in the first-half finale back on Dec. 11. Grant Opperman, Corey Kalk and Connor Yau all scored goals for the visitors in Durham, while Nick Bligh had two assists. For Yau, the third-period score marked the first goal of his collegiate career.

LAST YEAR'S LEDYARD
Boston College used a third-period comeback capped by a Teddy Doherty goal with less than four minutes remaining to defeat Dartmouth, 3-2, in the championship tilt last January. The Big Green advanced to the final against the 15th-ranked Eagles thanks to a shootout win (officially a 1-1 tie) with No. 11 Denver the day before. The Pioneers managed to take third in the tournament with a 5-3 victory against Brown on the second day after the Bears were bested, 4-1, by BC on Day 1. Brett Patterson was named to the all-tournament team as was James Kruger, who was tabbed as the top goalie of the weekend.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS, DUTCHMEN AND WARRIORS…
● Robert Morris comes to Hanover after wining the Three Rivers Classic at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh this week. The Colonials took down Penn State, 6-4, and No. 8 UMass Lowell, 5-3, to win their own holiday tournament. The team is led by Zac Lynch's 15-15-30 scoring line and currently boast an 11-4-3 overall record, including an 8-3-3 mark against other Atlantic Hockey competition.

● Union capped its first half with a 3-2 OT win at home against Vermont on Dec. 20 with Spencer Foo netting the unassisted winner 2:54 into the extra frame. It was the second straight OT victory for the Dutchmen, who also beat UMass, 4-3, in Amherst on Dec. 11. Currently, Union is 7-6-4 overall thanks largely to its current 4-0-1 run dating back to a win at Merrimack on Nov. 28. The Dutchmen earned a 3-0 win against Dartmouth in Schenectady on Dec. 5, but will not play the Big Green this weekend, making a return trip to Hanover for a conference game on Friday, Feb. 12.

● Merrimack will open the tournament with the early game on Saturday against Union. A 3-2 loss at Army West Point on Tuesday dropped the Warriors' record to 7-5-5 overall, but are still No. 20 in the latest USCHO national poll that was released earlier this month. Leading the scoring is senior Brian Christie and his 14 points on four goals and 10 assists.

THESE TEAMS AT THE LEDYARD
Merrimack is the only one of the three visiting teams to have played in a Ledyard Classic before, having done so twice already. The Warriors made the trip to Hanover most recently in 2011, tying St. Lawrence, 6-6, only to fall in the shootout, followed with a 3-0 win against Holy Cross the next day. In 1980, Merrimack lost to Dartmouth, 5-4, and to UNH, 5-3, in the consolation. Robert Morris and Union will be making their first appearances.

AGAINST BOBBY MO AND MC
Dartmouth and Robert Morris will play one another for the first time on Saturday night, while Sunday's tilt between the Big Green and Merrimack will be the 15th between the two programs with Dartmouth holding a 7-5-2 edge. The last meeting against the Warriors was a 4-3 loss in North Andover on Nov. 3, 2002 with the most recent game in Thompson Arena coming back on Dec. 15, 2001 when Dartmouth earned a 3-2 victory.

FASTEST GOALS?
Dartmouth's two first-period goals at UNH came just 1:35 seconds apart from Grant Opperman and Corey Kalk. That marks the team's second-fastest time between tallies this season as Josh Hartley and Nick Bligh netted markers separated by just 51 seconds in a 7-3 win at home vs. Brown on Nov. 6.

HOME AGAIN??
Dartmouth will play its first home game at Thompson Arena since a Nov. 7 loss to Yale, 4-2. Since then, the Big Green ventured out on a seven-game road trip that saw Dartmouth play at Princeton, Quinnipiac, Michigan twice, Rensselaer, Union and New Hampshire, going 2-4-1 in the process. Sophomore Corey Kalk led the team in scoring during that stretch with four points. Kalk was also tied with classmate Carl Hesler for the lead in goals with three apiece.

GOALTENDING
Sophomore Devin Buffalo saw a majority of the action on the road trip, playing 46.1% of the time and boasting a 2.45 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. Seniors Charles Grant (0-1-0 / 3.92 / .877) and James Kruger (1-1-0 / 4.50 / .862) will look to return to form with the return home.

FIRSTS
Not only was Yau's third-period goal the first of his collegiate career, but the play also saw fellow freshman Alex Jasiek pick up his first career assist. Opperman's first-period score was his first of the year, marking the latest point on the schedule in which the Wayzata, Minnesota, native has netted his first of a season.

MULTI-POINT EFFORT
Nick Bligh became the first Dartmouth player this season with more than one multiple-point game after a pair of assists against the Wildcats. Bligh scored twice in the Brown win on Nov. 6.His two-helper night matched his career high, set twice before as well as his single-game point mark, a figure he has now reached five times.

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats on DartmouthSports.com both nights for all four games. All four games will also be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network for subscribers to the online video service. Chris Garrett will be handling play-by-play duties on WFRD 99Rock. Fans are also encouraged to follow the team's official Twitter account for in-game updates and insights: @Dartmouth_MIH.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
After the Ledyard Classic, Dartmouth will hit the road for a non-conference game at Vermont on Friday, Jan. 8 before returning home to take on Holy Cross at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 10. The Catamounts will be retiring UVM Legend Martin St. Louis' No. 8 prior to the 7:05 p.m. puck drop against the visiting Big Green.

Schedules