Contrary to conventional wisdom, things don't get any easier the second time around for the Big Green.
Two weeks ago, Dartmouth faced St. Lawrence and Clarkson in the friendly confines of Thompson Arena, and managed a split with the upstate New York duo, besting St. Lawrence 6-4, while falling to Clarkson 6-3.
The Big Green are now on their most grueling road trip of the year, as they face St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena tonight, and Clarkson at Cheel Arena tomorrow evening.
While St. Lawrence and Clarkson are playing hockey at opposite ends of the spectrum right now, each team's unique environment adds a difficult dimension to the game.
St. Lawrence enters tonight's game in a funk. A traditional ECAC powerhouse, the Saints are looking more like conference doormats. Standing at 3-4 2, they sit only above the lowly Brown Bears in the race for last place.
The Big Green match up very well against the bigger, slower, less agile Saints. In their first meeting, Dartmouth was able to take advantage of the Saint's weak defensemen by dumping the puck in low in the Saint's zone, and using their quickness to set up their offense after controlling it behind the boards.
However, the Big Green plan of attack will have to adapt to Appleton's ice surface.
"We definitely want to apply the same game plan as last time," Captain Brent Retter '97 said. "The only difference is that their rink is very small and we will change our game plan accordingly. Mostly, that means shooting and driving the net."
Then there's Clarkson.
To say the Golden Knights are on a roll would be an understatement. Clarkson has been tearing up the ECAC over the past few weeks, having jumped six spots to second in the conference since their first meeting with Dartmouth. At 8-4-0, they have the ECAC's top three leading scorers, a stellar goalie, and an impressive 54-34 goals for/goals against ratio.
Clarkson broke Dartmouth's back with an explosive second period at Thompson, netting six goals and effectively sealing the victory. Dartmouth realizes it cannot afford that kind of mental lapse against such a dangerous offense.
Holding up the Knight attack at center ice will be crucial.
"To slow Clarkson down we have to play physical and hit them as much as we can," Bobby Cancelli '98 said. "We've got to keep the forechecking tight."
