Croteau and Foley Lead Big Green To Shutout Win Over Merrimack

Saturday, November 29

Hanover, N.H.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

8-0-0

Merrimack

5-8-0

Merrimack

Dartmouth

Emmett Croteau and CJ Foley after a goal

Croteau and Foley Lead Big Green To Shutout Win Over Merrimack

11/29/2025 7:47:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Dartmouth Improves To 8-0-0 For First Time Since 1942-43

By: Dan Richeal

HANOVER, N.H.—No. 13/10 Dartmouth men's hockey secured its eighth straight win to start the 2025-26 season with a 1-0 win over Merrimack on Saturday.

The Big Green and Warriors battled in the opening period as each team looked for the first goal. At the 9:06 mark, that first goal came as CJ Foley notched his second goal of the season. The Big Green had the puck deep in the Merrimack zone as Hayden Stavroff fired a pass from deep in the zone to the point to Cooper Cleaves. C. Cleaves fed a cross ice pass to Foley. Foley delayed and made his defender stop before ripping a wrister into the back of the net. Stavroff notched his fourth assist of the year while C. Cleaves collected his second assist.

Dartmouth went to the locker room leading 1-0 despite Merrimack having a 10-6 lead in shots. The Big Green won 14 of 21 faceoffs in the opening period.

The second period was a back and forth frame in which both teams traded chances. The Big Green narrowly edged out the Warriors 10-9 in shots while going 14-11 in the faceoff circle.

The game got tight in the third period as the Big Green looked for an insurance goal and Merrimack looked to tie the game. Shots were 5-5 in the third period, within the final five seconds of regulation, the Big Green blocked a shot and turned away a point blank opportunity to secure the win.

Emmett Croteau made 24 saves in his second career shutout. After making 10 saves in the first period, he made nine in the second, and five in the third. The junior has a .970 save percentage this season along with a 0.75 goals against average.

The Big Green went 36-24 in the faceoff circle for a 60% winning percentage. Hank Cleaves had a game best 13 wins while winning 68.4% of his draws. Nathan Morin finished with 10 wins while Brock Cummings went 6-2 in the circle for the Big Green.

Dartmouth blocked 15 shots, the Big Green have blocked 15 or more shots in three games this season. Eric Charpentier blocked a team high three shots while Matt Fusco, Cam MacDonald, and Alex Krause each blocked two shots.

The Big Green improve to 8-0-0 this season when scoring first and have outscored their opponents 11-2 in the opening 20 minutes. The Big Green are also 6-0-0 this season when leading after the first period.

The 8-0-0 start for the Big Green is the best start in program history since the 1942-43 team started the season on a 13-game winning streak and finished the season 14-0-1.

Dartmouth returns to ECAC play for one final weekend of 2025 next weekend. The Big Green play host to Brown and Yale at Thompson Arena. The Bears come to Hanover on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 PM before Yale takes on the Big Green on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7 PM.

Hear for Hank Cleaves, Hayden Stavroff and Koenig Family Head Coach of Dartmouth Men's Hockey, Reid Cashman following a 1-0 win over Merrimack#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲https://t.co/rqWa3u7VXs
— Dartmouth Men's Hockey (@Dartmouth_MIH) November 30, 2025