Sixty minutes of solid hockey has been the elusive goal of the Big Green since they dropped that 3-2 overtime victory to Harvard.
But despite Dartmouth's inability to string together three solid periods over the weekend, their superb first period play on Saturday night was enough to carry the squad to a 6-4 victory over perennial ECAC power St. Lawrence.
Ryan Chaytors '99 spurred the attack with a hat trick in the first period, as the Big Green raced out to a 4-0 advantage and managed to fend off the Saint's catch-up efforts.
The weekend didn't begin on a positive note, however, as Dartmouth yielded six second period goals to Clarkson, en route to a 6-3 loss. The teams played to a virtual stand-off in the first frame, but the Knights had the Big Green back on their heels throughout the second period as they blistered the nets for six goals. The deficit proved too much for Dartmouth's offense.
After picking up two ECAC points with Saturday's win for a total of eight, Dartmouth broke out of its four game skid to tie St. Lawrence for what would be the tenth and final playoff slot.
Clarkson cruises to victory
The Golden Knights came into Hanover playing much better hockey than their 5-4 ECAC record suggested. But Dartmouth proved it could play with this quick, offensively explosive team through the first stanza.
Each squad managed only eight shots, while most of the action took play in neutral ice. Neither team could develop any kind of offensive rhythm, and the second period began with gooseggs across the scoreboard.
Clarkson gave the scorekeeper a quick wake-up call however, as Chris Clark lit the lamp just 37 seconds into the period, and then repeated the trick about a minute later. Clarkson scored two more unanswered goals for a 4-0 lead, and it became painfully obvious that this wouldn't be the night of sixty solid minutes for the Big Green.
Charlie Retter '98, helped the Big Green avoid total embarrassment as he punched home his fifth goal of the season off a Scott Peach '99 rebound at 10:52. However, it wasn't the beginning of a necessary Big Green run, as Clarkson added two more goals in the next two minutes to all but seal the victory.
The six goal second period could not be blamed entirely on freshman goalie Eric Almon as Dartmouth's "five-man defensive unit" at times seemed to have all five men on different pages.
Dartmouth added two more goals in the third period compliments of Jon Sturgis '98 and Ryan Chaytors '99 while managing to completely shut down the Clarkson attack one final time.
The loss extended the Big Green's losing streak to four games, and their was a sense of urgency among the Thompson Arena faithful for a Saturday night victory. With extremely difficult road games coming up at Providence and UVM, no one wanted to see the Big Green's fast start erased by a serious mid-season slump.
St. Lawrence loses steam
Coming off a 3-2 overtime loss at UVM, the Saints came into Hanover confident they could play with the best teams in the conference. An aura of muffled pessimism draped over the Thompson crowd like a thick fog, as everyone realized the importance of this game.
Coach Demment decided to really shake things up by sitting leading scorer David Whitworth '98, mixing up the lines, and inserting Scott Baker '97 in goal for the first time in weeks.
Without Whitworth in the lineup, it was obvious the team as a whole was going to have to step up its offensive production. "Anytime you have a player of Whitty's capability out of the line up," Ryan Chaytors '99 said, "it forces other players to step up their game."
Chaytors, being a man of his words, decided he would just throw everyone on his back as he quickly renewed optimism in the Thompson crowd with a "natural hat trick," -- three goals in one period.
Just 16 seconds into the game, working on a two -on-one with linemate Jeremiah Buckley '98, Chaytors faked a pass across the slot and drilled a wrist shot low and glove side of St. Lawrence's Clint Owen.
About a minute later, Chaytors converted on the power play after Scott Peach '99 fired a screen shot that rebounded to Buckley, and then to Chaytors as he put it top shelf, glove side.
Next, it was Buckley's turn as he also popped one top shelf, glove side on Owen with assists going to Chaytors and Darren Wercinski '97 at 6:30.
Number three for Chaytors came at 18:38 as he lit the lamp from just in front of the left circle, off assists, once again, from red line forwards Buckley and Wercinski. By the time the whistle sounded on the first period, Dartmouth's first line had combined for 11 points.
Things took a sour turn in the second period for the Big Green, as they came out looking sloppy. St. Lawrence added two second period goals, to go with a late one in the first period, and all of the sudden Dartmouth only had a 4-3 advantage. Darren Wercinski stabbed one home late off a Jon Sturgis rebound, but it was evident the Big Green needed to get back to their first period level of play.
"After that second period, we told the guys to get back to the basics," added Coach Demment. "Get the puck in deep, work it down low, and take advantage of their weakness -- their defensemen. That was the key to success."
The Big Green responded to their spirited second intermission pep talk, as they used their speed to their advantage. St. Lawrence pulled within a goal once again at 5-4, but captain Brent Retter '97 sealed the Dartmouth victory off his little brother's rebound at 13:11.
"Charlie's got a bomb," said Brent, "and I knew that his shot was either going to go in or rebound out front. I just knew I had to get to the front of the net to finish it off."
Brent realized the importance of the victory as well.
"Obviously, we needed an ECAC win after having some very tough last few games," said Retter. "We needed to get the ship turned around, and we'd lost some close ones. When that happens it's hard to back on track, but hopefully with this win we're getting back where we need to be."
