2017-18: Dartmouth Men's Hockey Top-10 Moments

10. Tying Quinnipiac 0-0 in Hamden | Dec. 2
We start with a tie. Why? Because it felt like a win. A night after a 9-2 loss at Princeton, Dartmouth bounced back to earn an ECAC Hockey point at Quinnipiac for the first time since Feb. 9, 2007 (W, 5-4). It came on the strength of a 43-save shutout by sophomore goalie Adrian Clark who had been chased from the net the night before in the first period against the Tigers. Against the Bobcats, however, Clark was a wall that was never cracked, stopping at least 12 shots in each regulation period and another four in the OT to help Dartmouth salvage the weekend.

9. Last-Second Win at Home Against Quinnipiac | Jan. 12
The Big Green had been better against the Bobcats in Hanover than Hamden, but hadn't managed to go through a season without a loss to Quinnipiac since 2006-07. That changed this year as Dartmouth built on the scoreless draw the month before to stun the Bobcats with a late goal in the mid-January tilt. Sophomore Will Graber scored with 9.9 seconds remaining in regulation as his shot hit the skate of a Quinnipiac defender in the slot and changed course just enough to fool goaltender Andrew Shortridge. The puck slipped between his pads and into the net for the game winner, giving the Green and White three-of-four points against their feline counterparts in 2017-18.

8. Ledyard Classic: Beating UNH, Tying Eventual National Champion UMD | Dec. 29-30
Dartmouth opened the 29th Ledyard Classic with a 3-1 win over in-state rival UNH thanks to a pair of freshmen goal scorers. Matt Baker notched the first two goals of his career just 92 seconds apart in the first period, while Quin Foreman's first-career tally came late in the second period as the Big Green took down the 16th-ranked Wildcats for the second time in as many years. The following night, the Green would officially skate to a 2-2 draw with 17th-ranked Minnesota Duluth, but the Bulldogs claimed the title in a shootout. The Bulldogs had lost in the national championship game the year before, but would go on to win the 2018 title four months later in St. Paul, crediting their time in Hanover at the Ledyard Classic as their turning point for the season.

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7 .Tim Shoup Scores Late to Beat Colgate | Jan. 26
Playing in the 99th game of his career, senior defenseman Tim Shoup scored one of the biggest goals of his career against Colgate in late January. In front of the Thompson Arena faithful, Shoup managed to slip his backhand into the back of the net, behind Raiders' goaltender and All-American and Hobey Baker Finalist Colton Point with just 7:49 left in the third period to break a 1-1 score. For Shoup, it was the first game winner of his career. The following night, the Upper St. Claire, Pennsylvania, native became the 100th Dartmouth player to reach 100 career games and scored his second goal in as many nights to cap a memorable weekend for the blueliner.

6. Foreman's Hat Trick, Han's Birthday Goal at Yale | Feb. 23
In the Penultimate game of the 2017-18 regular season, freshman Quin Foreman came up big for a Dartmouth team in need of crucial league points. Foreman scored his first two of the night just 73 seconds apart in the opening frame while his hat trick goal (the eventual game winner) came at 8:26 of the second period, making him the first Dartmouth rookie since Hugh Jessiman '06 to accomplish the feat. Jessiman had two hat tricks as a rookie with the second coming on Jan. 25, 2003. Foreman would finish the night with a career-best four points. It was also a night to celebrate for Clay Han as the sophomore defender — wearing No. 23 on his sweater — scored his first goal of the season on Feb. 23, his 23rd birthday. Han might not have received a present from his teammate, but he and Foreman helped Dartmouth come away from New Haven with a 6-4 victory.

5. Rutherford Saves Senior Night | Feb. 17
The previous weekend was the final homestand of the regular season for the Green and White. Usually the final game at Thompson is a time to celebrate the outgoing senior class and all they've accomplished during their four years. It was a freshman, however, that stole the show. Collin Rutherford scored a pair of third-period goals, including the winner with just 58.3 seconds remaining to give Dartmouth the 2-1 edge over visiting St. Lawrence, its first lead of the night. Fellow rookie Foreman hit the empty net in the waning seconds to give the home team its first win when trailing after two periods in over a year.

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4. Kalk's 3rd-Period Goal Seals Game 3 vs. SLU | Mar. 4
So instead of scoring in his final regular season home game against St. Lawrence, Corey Kalk just waited until his final home game ever to score against St. Lawrence. Playing a tight first-round series against the Saints, the two teams went into the third period of their third and decisive game tied, 1-1. It took Kalk just 2:13 of play into the final stanza to break the tie, scoring on an end-to-end rush that started with a defensive zone faceoff and ended with the Ontario native slipping the puck into the net and punching Dartmouth's ticket to the quarterfinals for the seventh time in eight years.

3. The Timber Line Combines For 13 Points at RPI | Feb. 9
Since mid-December, the line of Graber, Foreman and Shane Sellar had been the driving force behind the team's offensive output. Nicknamed "The Timber Line" by the team's radio play-by-play announcer Rob Kennedy due to the height and sheer mass of the three players, the trio clicked. No other night was bigger than a road game at Rensselaer as the trio combined for 13 points.

Sellar scored twice and added four assists for a six-point night, the most by any Division I player in a single game in two years and the first Big Green player to hit six points in 40 years. Three of those assists went to Will Graber, who notched the team's first natural hat trick since Hugh Jessiman accomplished the feat on Nov. 21, 2003 in a 9-4 win at Yale en route to a 4-1-5 game. Foreman would add a pair of assists as the top line was dominant in the team's seventh-straight win over the Engineers.

How dominant were they? The last time Dartmouth had two players with five or more points in the same game was more than a dozen years earlier on Nov. 19, 2005 vs. Yale: Nick Johnson '08 (2-3-5) and Mike Ouellette '06 (3-2-5).

2. Sweeping Clarkson With Golden Knights Ranked in Top-10 Both Times | Jan. 20 and Feb. 16
The 2017-18 season clearly had a wealth of memorable moments, but perhaps the most unlikely one based on a long history was Dartmouth sweeping both North Country teams for the first time in the same year… ever. All the more impressive was both wins against Clarkson came with the Golden Knights ranked in the top-10 in the national polls at the time.

Another two-goal effort from Baker helped Dartmouth to a win as the Green and White snapped then-No. 2 Clarkson's 15-game unbeaten streak. A day after his 23rd birthday, junior and team captain Kevan Kilistoff got the scoring started in the first period before Baker scored once more in each of the following periods. Clark got the start in goal and finished with 24 saves as the team from Hanover knocked off its second opponent ranked No. 2 in the national polls this season (more on that later). It was also the first conference loss of the year for the Golden Knights in their 12th league game and their first overall since Oct. 28, the same week Dartmouth had begun play in 2017-18.

The second of the two wins came on Feb. 16 at Thompson as the home team edged out a 3-2 victory thanks to an odd goal. Sophomore Cam Strong dumped the puck into the zone and off the backboards that was mishandled by Clarkson goalie Jake Kielly and pushed into the net. That may have been the game winner against the then-seventh-ranked Knights, but the incredible glove of senior goaltender Devin Buffalo saved the game. His sprawling stop from his back on a shot from the low slot maintained the one-goal lead and gave head coach Bob Gaudet his 300th win behind the bench of his alma mater, joining Eddie Jeremiah '30 as the only other Dartmouth coach to reach the milestone.

1. Denver Trip and Win in Second Game | Dec. 15-16
Was there any doubt? The two-game series that turned around the season was also the weekend that coined the term "America's Team" as Dartmouth was a fan favorite across the nation according to those following the games on social media. A 1-0 loss on the first night in the Mile High City saw Dartmouth come painfully close to pulling off the upset of the second-ranked and defending national champion Pioneers as Connor Yau hit the post in the third period.

One would think such a close call would cause the victors to take the young team from Hanover more seriously, but as we saw the second night, that didn't appear to be the case. Denver built a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes, only to see the Big Green tie the game in the second with goals from Strong, Colorado native Graber and Sellar. Rutherford picked the perfect time for his first career goal with 1:37 remaining to give the visitors their first lead of the game followed by an empty netter from Sellar. In the end, Dartmouth stunned Denver to split the series and set up the strong second half run that followed when the team returned from the break.

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Schedules