MANCHESTER, N.H. -- If you were asking yourself whether Nick Boucher '03 or Darren Gastrock '04 would start between the pipes for Dartmouth against the No. 5 University of New Hampshire at the Verizon Wireless Arena last night, you quickly found out.
Neither.
It was Dan Yacey '05, who played the last seven or so minutes at St. Lawrence last Saturday in his first action of the year, who found himself in net at the drop of the puck for the biggest game of his life.
Yacey stopped 34 UNH stops and kept the game gridlocked at one all the way through overtime in a thoroughly impressive performance.
"When it comes, it comes," Yacey said in the post-game conference.
"I knew that when the shot came, I'd take it. I felt good coming into this game and I've supported the team all year."
Traditionally Boucher is Dartmouth's big game goalie, but finding a go-to-guy in the throes of a slump, the Big Green turned to Yacey.
Yacey may have given his men some confidence early, stopping a breakaway less than five minutes in. On Dartmouth's ensuing offensive drive, Garrett Overlock '06 rifled a slapper from the right point and the puck caromed off of Mike Ayers to Nathan Szymanski '05, who scored his first career goal and point to give Dartmouth a 1-0 lead in front of a hostile crowd of 10,104.
Dartmouth looked sharp on its first power play, creating a flurry of shots that just missed the twill. The crowd got back into it on UNH's side in the frantic 12th minute in Dartmouth's zone, in which Max Guimond '06 was called for holding. UNH failed to convert, however, and Dartmouth managed to take its one goal advantage into the locker room for the first intermission.
After being outshot 9-0 in the opening minutes of the second period, Dartmouth used a few UNH penalties to spend some time in the offensive zone. The Big Green men had trouble finding each other's stick on the first power play chance and was similarly ineffective on the latter. In fact, on the instant replay, it appeared as if a deflected UNH shot went across the line.
The crowd booed, but no red flag was thrown to challenge the play -- there are no challenges in college hockey. Momentum certainly swung in the Wildcats' favor however, and some rough stuff after the whistle drew the second four-on-four of the period and some more noise from the UNH supporters.
Eric Przepiorka '06 was taken advantage of in the defensive zone when he hesitated on Colorado Avalanche draft pick, sophomore Sean Collins' advances in front of the net. Collins smoked a wrister past Yacey to even the score.
Szymanski got tied up with a UNH skater by the bench and was slapped with a two minute call for obstruction interference. Despite several quality chances, the Wildcats could not further build its momentum and went into the second intermission tied at one.
Co-captain Kent Gillings '03 came inches from putting the Green ahead in the seventh minute. Taking a superb feed from Mike Murray '03 and going to his backhand, Gillings tried to slip it through the five-hole, but Ayers came up huge for the Wildcats.
At 12:50 in the third period, Sean Offers '06 was sent off for an ill-advised retaliation trip, giving UNH a dangerous edge. Guimond nearly reversed that fate on a shorthanded breakaway attempt, but lost the puck.
Yacey made tough save after tough save to keep the Big Green in the contest as Lee Stempniak '05 took all the abuse in the world skating down ice time after time in a quest to find the go-ahead goal. Regulation time expired, and the five minute overtime period hit the two battle-weary teams.
Trevor Byrne '03 stick-handled around a defender and had a shot on goal in OT, but was stoned by a clutch Ayers. Dartmouth also sent Stempniak and Hugh Jessiman '06 in on a two-on-one, but that was broken up. Yacey and Ayers simply zoned in, and the closest a shot came to ending the game was a rocket that got past Yacey but hit the crossbar.
Dan Yacey was rightfully named the Riverstone Player of the Game for his outstanding performance, but neither team could take home the Riverstone Trophy.
Dartmouth simply seems to rise or fall to the level of its opponents, regardless of the situation. The Big Green recently beat top-10 Boston College and Cornell, but fell to ECAC bottom-dwelling St. Lawrence.
"We know that we can play and we have great leadership," Gaudet said of his team's ability to compete against the nation's best.
"What we're gonna work on is the consistency."
