Men’s Hockey Heads to Lake Placid for ECAC Hockey Championship Weekend

GAME 32 - SEMIFINAL

Dartmouth (13-9-9, 9-6-7 ECAC Hockey) vs. No. 14 Cornell (19-6-6, 12-6-4 ECAC Hockey)
Dates: Friday, March 22 – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Lake Placid, N.Y. – 1980 Herb Brooks Arena
All-Time Series: 50-87-9
Last Meeting: 1/27/24 – T, 2-2 SOW

GAME 33 – CHAMPIONSHIP*

Dartmouth (13-9-9, 9-6-7 ECAC Hockey) vs. No. 6 Quinnipiac/St. Lawrence
Dates: Saturday, March 23 – 5 p.m.
Location: Lake Placid, N.Y. – 1980 Herb Brooks Arena

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND
For the first time since the 2015-16 season, the Dartmouth men's ice hockey team is headed to Lake Placid for the ECAC Hockey semifinals with a chance to compete for the Whitelaw Cup. The Big Green will take on fellow Ivy League school on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the second semifinal.

QUARTERFINAL SWEEP
Hosting in the postseason for the first time in four years, the Big Green utilized the home-ice advantage in earning a sweep over Union in the best-of-three quarterfinal series.

In game one, that Garnet Chargers jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Dartmouth responded with three goals in the second period to claim the 3-1 victory. Braiden Dorfman, Matt Fusco and Joey Musa each lit the lamp in the contest while Cam MacDonald had a multi-point night with two assists.

Dartmouth once again saw itself down 1-0 in the first period after Union scored an early power play goal. Dorfman scored the equalizer late in the opening frame to tie the game going into the second. The Garnet Chargers took the lead again early in the middle frame, but Matt Fusco tallied a goal midway through the period to tie it up. Luke Haymes scored late in the third to put the Big Green ahead 3-2, and MacDonald added an empty net goal with under one minute remaining to seal the contest.

RECEIVING VOTES
The Big Green received five votes in the latest USCHO Division I Men's Poll and one vote in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live College Hockey poll.

MAJOR AWARD FINALISTS
ECAC Hockey announced the three finalists for each major award on Wednesday afternoon, and the Big Green featured in three different awards.

CJ Foley was named a finalist for the Bitcoin Rookie of the Year award while Cooper Black is in consideration for the Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year award, presented by MAC Goaltending.

Koenig Family Head Coach of Dartmouth Men's Hockey Reid Cashman is one of three head coaches to be considered for the Tim Taylor Coach of the Year award.

Should any of three win an award, it would be the first time since the 2008-09 season that the Big Green have had an ECAC Hockey major award winner.

SCOUTING CORNELL
Cornell comes into Friday's matchup with a 19-6-6 overall record and is coming off a sweep of Harvard, 4-3 and 4-1, in the quarterfinals. The Big Red are currently ranked No. 14 in both national polls.

Leading the way for Cornell is First Team All-ECAC Hockey selection Gabriel Seger, who currently boasts 39 points with 14 goals and 25 assists. Dalton Bancroft, a Second Team All-ECAC Hockey honoree, is second on the team in points with 27.

The Big Red had two ECAC Hockey All-Rookie team selections in forward Jonathan Castagna and defenseman Ben Robertson.

Leading from the back for Cornell is First Team goaltender Ian Shane, who made 386 saves with a .914 save percentage in league play as well as 580 saves overall with a .921 save percentage.

The two teams tied each other in both regular season contests in 2023-24, with each picking up a shootout victory on home ice.

THE OTHER SEMIFINAL
Quinnipiac, ranked No. 6 in both national polls and the top seed in the ECAC Hockey tournament, will take on seven-seeded St. Lawrence in the other semifinal on Friday. Opening puck drop is set for 4 p.m. at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena.

Both teams come into the semifinal after earning sweeps in their respective quarterfinal series. The Bobcats earned 5-1 and 5-2 victories on home ice while the Saints traveled to Hamilton to play Colgate and picked up 3-2 wins in both contests.

The two teams split the regular season series, with each picking up a win on its own home ice. The winner of the game will move on to Saturday's championship.

FOLLOW ALONG
The entire championship weekend will be available to stream nationally on ESPN+ and internationally on Stretch Internet.

Live stats are provided in the links above and can be found on the team's schedule page.

WHAT'S AHEAD
Two wins this weekend will earn Dartmouth its first-ever ECAC Hockey championship and send the Big Green to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1979-80 season.

Schedules