Dartmouth plays host to Princeton and Yale this weekend, hoping to string together two straight wins for the first time in three weeks. The confrontations with the Tigers and the Bulldogs present the Big Green with two should-win games against opponents with losing records
On Friday night, Dartmouth, 10-7-8 overall and 8-4-6 in the ECAC, meets Princeton for a game that, for the first time in a number of years, will not feature the tennis ball tradition. Captain Brian Van Abel '04, assistant captain Lee Stempniak '05 and head coach Bob Gaudet '81 authored an open letter this week, alerting fans that the ECAC had announced that a two-minute minor penalty would be assessed to the home team if, as in years past, any tennis balls are thrown onto the ice after Dartmouth's first goal against the Tigers.
The ECAC cited security and safety issues for the increased precautions this year. In past years, referees would only issue a warning after the barrage of tennis balls had hit the ice. In recent years, however, an increased number of fans have begun throwing materials other than tennis balls, prompting the new ECAC directive. In addition, fans will be subject to searches geared toward ensuring that no fan enters the arena with a concealed tennis ball. Van Abel, Stempniak and Gaudet urged Dartmouth supporters to adhere to the new security regulations, saying "We feel strongly that the time has come to end this tradition."
The Tigers, who have endured a pitiful season (6-19-1 overall and 5-12-1 in the ECAC), come off two losses this past weekend. This past Friday, Cornell scored two goals in each period to defeat the Princeton men 6-1 at Lynah Rink. The next day, Colgate defeated the Tigers 4-2, on the strength of three second-period goals. Grant Goeckner-Zoell was the bright spot for Princeton last weekend, posting a goal and an assist in the two games. Goeckner-Zoell, a freshman with five goals and twelve assists on the year, is Princeton's leading scorer.
Sophomore goaltender Eric Leroux has started all but one game this year for the Tigers and has a 3.73 goals against average with a disappointing .887 save percentage. Princeton had expected big things from Leroux after he posted a 2.33 G.A.A. and a .919 save percentage in the final three starts of his freshman year. But Leroux has yet to regain the form that he displayed near the tail-end of his rookie season. Carrying the load up front for the Tigers will be rookie scoring leader Goeckner-Zoell, and Matt Maglione, an eighth round draft choice of the Washington Capitals in the 2001 NHL entry draft, is Princeton's highest profile blue-liner.
On Saturday night, the Big Green faces off against Yale, which comes off a surprising weekend at Colgate and Cornell. This past Friday, the Bulldogs (12-13-0 overall, but 10-8-0 in the ECAC) traveled to Hamilton and defeated #14 ranked Colgate. En route to a 3-1 victory, the Bulldogs put home two shorthanded goals and sophomore standout Joe Zappala scored his nation-leading ninth game-winning goal of the year. Yale won the game, despite being out-shot 32-15.
This past Saturday night, Cornell needed a Mitch Carefoot goal with 3:39 remaining in the third period to down the upstart Bulldogs 2-1. In the game, sophomore forward Christian Jensen scored his second short-handed goal of the weekend for Yale and sophomore goaltender Josh Gartner finished with 28 saves.
The Bulldogs are now 7-1 in one-goal games and are directly behind Dartmouth in the ECAC standings. Joe Zappala, with 18 goals and 10 assists, leads the Bulldogs in scoring and was recently named one of 14 finalists for the Walter Brown Award. The award is given each year to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. Dartmouth standout Lee Stempniak '05 is also up for the award this year.
Defensively, Yale is led by two of its three NHL draft picks, junior Joe Callahan and senior Jeff Dwyer. Callahan, drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes as the 70th overall pick in 2002 NHL draft, is a model of durability: he has not missed a game in his first two and a half years of collegiate hockey. Dwyer, drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in the sixth round of the 1999 draft, is a more offensive-minded defenseman, with exceptional puck handling skills and tremendous on-ice vision.
Coming off, perhaps, the best weekend of his collegiate career, forward Chris Snizek '05 will attempt to jumpstart the Dartmouth offense yet again this weekend. Snizek netted the first goal of the night last Friday, as the Big Green skated to a 2-2 draw with St. Lawrence, and tallied once more the next night to help Dartmouth upend Clarkson 3-2. Despite Snizek's offensive output of late and the fact that forward Hugh Jessiman '06 has three points over the past two weekend series, the Big Green has averaged just 2.5 goals per contest over its last 4 games. Dan Yacey and his fast-declining goals against average, now at 2.70, will be in net for the Dartmouth men, who are winless in three of their last four.
Face-off times for both games this weekend are 7:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena.
