Big Green Bested by No. 8 Maine in Ledyard Classic Championship

Saturday, December 30

Hanover, N.H.

7:30 PM

Dartmouth College

Maine

Photo by: Ryan Yong

Big Green Bested by No. 8 Maine in Ledyard Classic Championship

12/30/2023 11:57:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

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Cooper Flinton and CJ Foley were named to the All-Tournament Team

By: Nick Romei

HANOVER, N.H. – The Dartmouth men's hockey team suffered its first defeat against a nationally ranked opponent of the season on Saturday evening, falling to No. 8 Maine, 5-1, in the championship game of the 34^th Annual Ledyard Classic. Cooper Flinton and CJ Foley were named to the All-Tournament Team following the game tonight for their performances over the weekend.

"I thought Maine was excellent," said Reid Cashman, the Koenig Family Head Coach of Dartmouth Men's Hockey. "I thought we played a really good first period and came out strong. They scored early in the second and got us on our heels and were able to pull away."

Flinton tallied the lone goal for the Big Green, making the third-straight game in which he has scored.

After a scoreless opening period, the Black Bears scored their first goal of the night early in the second period. Maine went on to score two more times in the period followed by an early goal in third to push the lead to four.

Flinton got Dartmouth on the board midway through the third period with his sixth goal of the season. Nikita Nikora and Luke Haymes picked up assists on the goal, which sends Nikora into double digits for the year having recorded his 10^th assist. Nikora passed the puck across the front of goal towards Flinton, who bodied his way to get his stick on the puck to put it into the back of the net.

Cooper Flinton gets us on the board!@ESPNPlus | https://t.co/26QGc5cpBV pic.twitter.com/JPPb8x79oW
— Dartmouth Men's Hockey (@Dartmouth_MIH) December 31, 2023

The Black Bears added a fifth goal moments later to cap the scoring for the night.

The Big Green fall to 3-4-6 overall while Maine improves to 12-3-1.

Cashman finished by saying, "I'm disappointed with the result but I'm excited for the future of where our program is going."

Dartmouth closes out the non-conference slate next weekend with a matchup against twin-state Vermont. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. next Saturday at Thompson Arena and the game will be available to stream nationally on ESPN+ and internationally on Stretch Internet. Tickets are available for purchase through the Dartmouth Athletics ticket office.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Cooper Flinton – Dartmouth
CJ Foley – Dartmouth
Donavan Villenueve-Houle – Maine
Sully Scholle – Maine
Gianfranco Cassaro - RIT

Top Goaltender: Victor Östman
MVP: Harrison Scott - Maine

Hear from Reid Cashman, our Koenig Family Head Coach, following tonight's game against Maine.#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/2okZR1vB40
— Dartmouth Men's Hockey (@Dartmouth_MIH) December 31, 2023