Vermont's Defense Comes Up Big as Dartmouth Falls at Home, 5-3

Saturday, November 24

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-3-0

Vermont

4-6-0

Vermont

Dartmouth

Photo by: Mark Washburn

Vermont's Defense Comes Up Big as Dartmouth Falls at Home, 5-3

11/24/2018 9:08:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Drew O'Connor records first career two-goal game.

By: Pat Salvas

HANOVER, N.H. – Freshman Drew O'Connor scored twice, but his first career two-goal game was spoiled by visiting Vermont Saturday night at Thompson Arena.

The Catamounts came away from the regional rivalry game with a 5-3 win, thanks in large part to a pair of shorthanded goals over the course of the final two periods.

A game in which the Big Green (3-3-0) had a 46-30 edge in shots on goal, they were unable to really break through against Vermont (4-6-0) goaltender Stefanos Lekkas, who finished with 43 saves.

In addition to the play of their goalie, the Catamounts' defense was stout nearly all night, blocking 16 shots, including several in the final two minutes as the Green and White put forth a frantic surge to try and pull even.

Two shorthanded goals for the visitors, coupled with a 0-for-5 night on the power play, were the biggest setbacks for the home team. Joey Cippoline found the back of the net killing a penalty 7:58 into the second period, while Jake Massie notched another shorty at 6:32 of the third.

"Those two goals were killers," Koenig Family Head Coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. "That's uncharacteristic of us.

"We knew their goalie was good and we had to be really strong with the puck to win this one," Gaudet continued. "Even when we were getting pucks on net and creating good chances, he was there to make a save and their defense did a great job limiting any more opportunities."

O'Connor scored 12:50 into the contest and again just 1:26 into the middle frame. All four of O'Connor's goals this season have come at home, while Saturday marked just the second multi-goal game this season by a Dartmouth player (Shane Sellar vs. Harvard). Classmate Jeff Losurdo finished with a goal and an assist, knocking home a puck from Alex Jasiek and off Kevan Kilistoff that sat in the slot at 7:21 of the third to cap the scoring.

Playing in his 100th career game, senior Carl Hesler picked up a helper on the first O'Connor goal, while the defense chipped in with assists from Connor Yau and Joey Matthews.

Adrian Clark made several key saves, but the Vermont goals scored were nearly perfect shots with the Cippoline shorthanded marker exemplifying that. In total, Clark finished with 25 saves.

The Big Green are at Thompson next weekend to continue the homestand with Cornell and Colgate. Both games are 7:30 p.m. starts and will follow the Dartmouth women's team who play earlier in the afternoon both days.