O'Connor's Hat Trick Leads Dartmouth to 5-3 Win vs. Union

Friday, February 28

Hanover, N.H.

7 PM

Dartmouth College

13-11-4, 10-9-2ECAC

Union

7-22-4, 5-14-3ECAC

Union

Dartmouth

Dartmouth celebrates another goal

Photo by: Doug Austin

O'Connor's Hat Trick Leads Dartmouth to 5-3 Win vs. Union

2/28/2020 9:27:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score PDF Box Score

The sophomore leads the league with 20 goals this season.

By: Pat Salvas

HANOVER, N.H. – Drew O'Connor can score goals.

The Dartmouth sophomore recorded the first hat trick of his career to push his season total to an ECAC Hockey best 20 this season in a 5-3 home win Friday night at Thompson Arena against Union.

The victory was the first for the Big Green (13-11-4, 10-9-2 ECAC) against the Dutchmen (7-21-4, 5-14-3 ECAC) since Jan. 31, 2015, snapping a nine-game skid in the process.

"That was a great win for our team," Koenig Family Head Coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. "I was pleased with the effort from the drop of the puck from the entire group. Those top lines were so strong for us tonight and I'm so proud of what they've been able to accomplish. That being said, our third and fourth lines were also strong and gave us a great shot at winning."

In addition to the O'Connor hat trick, Jeff Losurdo scored once and added an assist in the first period, while Matt Baker finished with a helper.

Senior Will Graber also had himself a night, finishing with three assists to tie his career high he had previously reached on two occasions.

Rookie blueliner Tanner Palocsik had a pair of assists and now leads the Big Green with 18 this season, the fourth-most ever by a freshman defenseman in program history.

The hat trick by the sophomore forward was the first by a Dartmouth player since Graber had one in last year's season finale at RPI on March 2.

"Graber, Jeff (Losurdo) and Baker were all great tonight," O'Connor said after the game. "Our line and the power play were clicking. Scoring 20 is nice, but every game right now is so crucial that feeling like I'm contributing to wins is even more important than figures like that."

O'Connor and Losurdo scored in the opening period to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Another 2-1 period in the second in favor of Dartmouth gave the home team the 4-2 edge heading into the final frame. The last of three goals in the middle stanza proved to be the game winner and came off the stick of senior Cam Strong.

Graber stripped the puck from a defender at the blueline and came in on a breakaway, only to be denied twice, but Strong was there on the doorstep for the rebound and the eventual winner.

Union made it a one-score game in the opening two minutes of the third with a power-play goal from Parker Foo, but the hat-trick tally from O'Connor came off a beautiful faceoff play in the offensive zone for another power-play goal and the 5-3 lead.

Adrian Clark made 29 saves for the 28th win of his career. Union's Darion Hanson made 31 in the losing effort.

Dartmouth closes out the regular season Saturday night at home against Rensselaer with conference postseason seedings still up in the air. Following the game, the Big Green will honor the nine members of the Class of 2020 in a Senior Night ceremony.

With RPI's win at Harvard on Friday, the Big Green can only finish as high as sixth in the standings even with a win on Saturday.