Dartmouth looks to keep momentum on its side this weekend as the Big Green travel to RPI and Union. After completing the season sweep of Colgate last Saturday, the Big Green are looking for a big weekend to better their standing for the playoffs.
After the Big Green tied UVM, it seemed like they were back in mid-season form, but then defensive slip-ups and mental errors resulted in losses to St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Dartmouth will need an effort similar to Saturday night's for success against two solid teams with excellent goaltenders.
The first time Dartmouth met these teams back in November, two periods separated the Big Green from a weekend sweep in Thompson. However, Dartmouth yielded four goals to the Skating Dutchmen in the third period, and four goals to RPI in the first period to put each game out of reach. Sixty minutes of solid hockey will be the goal for every Dartmouth player.
RPI tops in ECAC
The young Engineer's have been the cinderella story of the ECAC this season. Picked to finish somewhere near the bottom of the conference, RPI has ridden its young talents at forward and its solid goaltending to a share of first place in the ECAC, at 10-4-2.
Not one senior suits up for RPI. The squad is led by junior Eric Healey, who has been a scoring machine for the Engineer's with 41 points through 26 games. Strong sophomore and freshmen classes make the rest of RPI's lineup strong.
The freshmen class is led by Scott Prekaski, who has established himself as one of the top goalies in the league with an 8-2-2 record, and a .921 save percentage.
The Big Green will look to rattle the rookie early, and get their shot total back to their early season average of about 40. RPI hasn't given up more than 3 goals in a game since early January, so whoever gets the start in net for Dartmouth will have to help keep the game close.
Union strong in goal
The Skating Dutchmen enter this weekend in the middle of the ECAC pack at 7-7-2. Without their nucleus, goalie Trevor Koenig, things would be much uglier for Union.
Koenig is considered one of the top two goalies in the conference, along with UVM's Tim Thomas, and he has lived up to his billing this season. His air-tight game has yielded a mere 2.10 goals per game, with a .930 save percentage.
The Skating Dutchmen rely on a balanced attack on offense, with a scoring distribution very similar to Dartmouth's.
Union's answer to the Big Green's top two scorers, David Whitworth '98 and Ryan Chaytors '99, are Joe Sicinski and Brent Ozarowski, who lead their team with 25 points each.
Dartmouth played Union evenly until the third period in early November, when they broke down and gave up four goals.
