LOWELL, Mass., Jan. 27 -- It was a night of milestones for the Dartmouth men's hockey team tonight, as the Big Green came into the brand-new Paul E. Tsongas Arena and beat the host UMass-Lowell River Hawks 2-1 in overtime in the first-ever hockey game played in the building.
Not only was it Dartmouth's first road win of calendar year 1998 and the Green's first overtime win all season, but it was also Head Coach Bob Gaudet's 100th career win as a head coach. The victory also pulled the Green to within one game of the .500 mark on the season.
The capacity crowd of 6,496 was treated to a tight-checking, hard-hitting game that ended 1:04 into overtime on a pretty goal by Jon Sturgis '98.
Sturgis' power-play goal came when he deflected a shot from Ryan Poulton '00 from the right point out of the air and past UMass-Lowell goalie Scott Fankhouser. The Green were the beneficiaries of a River Hawk high-sticking penalty near the end of regulation, and when overtime began Dartmouth was able to set up in the UMass-Lowell zone and work the puck to Poulton en route to the winning play.
The non-conference win does not affect the Big Green (7-8-3, 3-7-1 ECAC, 10th place) in the ECAC standings but sets them on the right track heading into Saturday's pivotal matchup against conference nemesis Vermont.
The Green, who have lost so many hard-fought one-goal games this season, tonight saw the lucky breaks go their way for a change. The River Hawks had two goals disallowed -- one in the first period for a man in the crease and another in the second period because the net had been dislodged before the puck went in. also, UMass-Lowell twice in the third period hit the post on scoring chances.
Gaudet chose to reflect more on the Big Green's hard-fought win than on his own personal 100-win milestone: "I think we played really well ... and it was important that we came out and played well in the third." Gaudet added that it was a big shot in the arm for the team to win a one-goal game, given that the Green have suffered a number of tough one-goal losses recently.
Jason Wong '00 was brilliant in net for Dartmouth, stopping 17 of the 18 shots he faced, and making several key saves in the third period to keep the game a 1-1 tie and force overtime.
All of the game's scoring until overtime came early in the first period. The Green jumped on top at 7:34 of the first stanza when a flip-in at the net by Dave Risk '99 took a lucky Dartmouth bounce. Risk's dump-in deflected in front to Charlie Retter '98, whose initial shot was stopped by Fankhouser. But the rebound went right out front to Bob Cancelli '98, who cashed it in for a 1-0 Dartmouth lead.
But UMass-Lowell struck back just 1:07 later with a power-play goal. Coming in on a two-on-one break, Shannon Basaraba's shot from close in was kicked away by Wong, but a rebound came out to John Campbell, who beat Wong to his left to tie the score at 1-1.
There was no scoring in the second period, though Matt Giedt '99 had a couple of good chances. Giedt hit the crossbar late in the second and a couple of minutes later his sharp-angle shot from the left circle went just wide.
The game was preceded by an emotional pre-game ceremony, marking the opening of the Tsongas Arena, named for Dartmouth alumnus Paul Tsongas '62, who died last year of cancer. Among those present were Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci, the mayor of Lowell, and Tsongas' wife.
Gaudet was especially proud that the Big Green were able to stay focused early in the game despite the big emotional lift the River Hawks no doubt got from the opening of the new building and the sell-out crowd. Tri-captain Dave Whitworth '98 added, "We had to maintain our composure and play our game ... and I think we did that."
With tonight's win, Dartmouth closes out its non-conference schedule with an impressive 4-1-2 record. The rest of the Green's schedule is now in the ECAC, where they are 3-7-1 this season. With 11 games left and the Green currently sitting in 10th place, every contest will be critical.
The first game of the rest of the season is Saturday night in Burlington, Vt., where the Green take on the Vermont Catamounts. The two teams skated to a 2-2 tie earlier in the season in Hanover.
