Dartmouth Looks to Build on Second-Half Successes from a Season Ago in 2018-19

Photo by: Mark Washburn

Dartmouth Looks to Build on Second-Half Successes from a Season Ago in 2018-19

10/23/2018 10:48:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

One of the hottest teams in the nation at the end of last season, Big Green are seeking to take the next step this year.

By: Pat Salvas

The 2017-18 season was a memorable one for the Dartmouth men's hockey team.

It was December when the team truly came together. It was then that the season it picked up steam and, along the way, was filled with moments that will be etched in the collective memories of Big Green hockey fans for the foreseeable future.

After trailing 3-0 through 20 minutes to No. 2 Denver — the defending national champion — on the road, Dartmouth would demonstrate the type of gritty, hard-working team that would define them down the stretch in the ensuing two periods. The comeback that eventually culminated in a 5-4 victory for the Green and White sent waves through the college hockey community, illustrating that Dartmouth was for real.

The second half saw the team fix nearly everything that hindered them in the first half, cleaning up play and becoming one of the hottest teams in the country and one few teams looked forward to playing.

It ended after succumbing in three games on the road to a talented Harvard team in a quarterfinal series, but the lessons learned from last season are sure to carry over to a team that returns nearly all of its scoring.

A veteran team in 2018-19, the Big Green are not seeking to turn the page on last season, but to build on them.

FORWARDS
The top-11 scorers last season for the Big Green were forwards. Of those 11 players, 10 are back this year, making Dartmouth one of the most veteran teams in the league.

Leading the way in this group is the trio who made up "The Timber Line" from a year ago: Will Graber (9-17-26), Shane Sellar (11-11-22) and Quin Foreman (8-11-19). Since being put together during the team's trip to Denver, the line played in 25 games, posting 63 points (27-36-63) and helping the Green and White to one of the best records down the stretch.

It's not just the top line coming back that should have Dartmouth fans excited. The trio of Daniel Warpecha, Kevan Kilistoff and Charley Michalowski played together in 22 games and had a scoring line of 12-16-28 and helped pick up 11 wins.

Senior Alex Jasiek (4-15-19) was second on the team in helpers a season ago and played with then-rookie Matt Baker (9-8-17), who came up huge on the road at No. 2 Clarkson with a pair of goals in a win, earning rookie of the week honors. Collin Rutherford's first career goal came on the road at then No. 2 Denver and proved to be the go-ahead goal late, demonstrating not only the depth up and down the lineup, but also head coach Bob Gaudet's trust in all his players to contribute in big moments.

Additionally, Carl Hesler is back and brings veteran leadership and a hard-nose style of play that has led to 37 career points on 16 goals in his 94 career games. He also returns to the comforts of playing with brother Sam, one of the five incoming rookie forwards from the Class of 2022.

Another one of those five freshmen is Jeff Losurdo, the top scorer in the NCDC in 2017-18 playing for the New Jersey Hitmen. For his efforts, Losurdo was named the league's MVP, making him a welcome addition to the team's forward mix with greater scoring depth.

Matt Baker (So.), Ryan Blankemeier (Jr.), John Ernsting (Sr.), Quin Foreman (So.), Will Graber (Jr.), Carl Hesler (Sr.), Sam Hesler (Fr.), Alex Jasiek (Sr.), Kevan Kilistoff (Sr.), Christian LeSueur (Fr.), Jeff Losurdo (Fr.), Charley Michalowski (Jr.), Drew O'Connor (Fr.), Collin Rutherford (So.), Shane Sellar (Jr.), Cam Strong (Jr.), Erik Urbank (Fr.), Daniel Warpecha (Jr.)

DEFENSE
Thanks to a small graduating senior class last season, this is another large returning contingent of players.

Connor Yau is the top returning blueliner in terms of points with 10, all of which came via assists. Yau has proven he can score in the past — including an OT winner in the playoffs as a freshman in 2016 — and will once again be looked to to chip in offensively as well as provide leadership to the entire blueline corps.

Only seven of the Green and White's 83 goals last year came from defensemen with six lost to graduation, leaving junior Clay Han as the only returning rearguard with a marker in 2017-18. The expectation is that with younger players gaining more experience that that figure should jump this winter.

Brendan Less and Brendan Demler logged a ton of minutes as freshmen and played 33 and 35 games, respectively. Senior Cameron Roth looks to bounce back this season and sophomore Joey Matthews is seeking to put together a healthy campaign after injuries allowed him to play in just 19 contests.

Freshman Harrison Markell was named the NCDC's top defenseman in his final season of junior hockey and he will battle for ice time this season in an effort to solidify the d-core.

Brendan Demler (So.), Ben DiMaio (Jr.), Clay Han (Jr.), Brendan Less (So.), Harrison Markell (Fr.), Joey Matthews (So.), Cameron Roth (Sr.), Connor Yau (Sr.)

GOALIES
This is the position many will point to as the team's biggest question mark with Devin Buffalo graduating and moving on to pro hockey. However, if you scratch the surface, the team has a trio of talented and capable netminders who continue to anchor the team's backend this season.

Dartmouth has a pair of junior netminders in Adrian Clark and Dean Shatzer already in place with freshman Justin Ferguson coming off a season with the Islanders Hockey Club where he was named the NCDC Goaltender of the Year.

After a challenging night at Princeton, Clark rebounded with a 43-save shutout (in a scoreless tie) at Quinnipiac in early December in a performance Gaudet called one of the most remarkable turnarounds from one night to the next that he had seen in his career. The Ontario native also picked up the win in the victory over No. 2 Clarkson in Potsdam, snapping the Golden Knights' 15-game (14-0-1) unbeaten streak. Shatzer saw some action in relief of Clark during the early stages of the season with his value validated by earning the Smoyer Award as the team's unsung hero.

Ferguson is the first New Hampshire native (Hudson) to play for the Green since 2014 (Nick Lovejoy '14) and proved himself to be one of the top goalies in juniors last year as he finished with a 25-3-0 record to go along with a .915 save percentage and a 2.18 goals against average. In two seasons with the Islanders, Ferguson posted 48 wins (48-7-0).

Adrian Clark (Jr.), Justin Ferguson (Fr.), Dean Shatzer (Jr.)

OUTLOOK
Hopes are high in Hanover that this could be the year the Green take the next step. They surprised a lot of people in 2018 with a second-half run that came up a period short in Cambridge against a Hobey Baker Finalist, the defending league champs and Frozen Four participants.

With that in mind and the returning of 83% of both total scoring and goals from a year previous, the pundits picked Dartmouth middle of the pack. The ECAC Hockey media contingent polled the Big Green sixth, while league head coaches had them eighth in their rankings.

The outlook of the young men inside the locker room is much higher than finishing in the middle of the pack, though.