The Dartmouth Big Green men's ice hockey team saw its dreams of an NCAA tournament berth come to an end on Friday, March 17, at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y. Despite winning the ECACHL regular season title, Dartmouth was crushed by the Harvard Crimson 10-1 in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
The Big Green had split its season series with the Crimson, losing in Cambridge before returning the favor seven weeks later at Thompson Arena.
Sophomore sensation Mike Devine '08 allowed seven goals on 24 shots and was pulled after the second period for Daniel Goulding '09. However, the freshman goalie did not fare much better than his predecessor, letting three pucks past the crease on eleven shots. Goulding did show signs of improvement toward the end of the period, though, making several tough saves on deflected shots.
The Big Green's lone goal was scored by Nick Johnson '08, with assists coming courtesy of Eric Przepiorka '06 and Jarrett Sampson '06. The game marked the first time Dartmouth had allowed double digit goals in a game since a 10-2 defeat at the hands of the Boston University Terriers in 1994.
"They played better, especially in the third period," Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. "I thought for two periods we played really solid hockey, and then that fourth goal really deflated us."
The results were better on Saturday, March 18, for the men in green, as they halted the charge of the Colgate Raiders, 3-2. Dartmouth's Rob Pritchard '09, assisted by Jon Grecu '08, drew first blood 3:39 into the first period.
Six minutes later, Tanner Glass '07 deflected senior Sean Offers' slap shot from the blue line past Colgate's Mark Dekanich, the sophomore goaltender who won the ECACHL's Ken Dryden award for best netminder in the league. Senior Captain Mike Ouellette '06 also assisted on the play.
Dartmouth added its final score with 9:52 gone in the second period, as Ouellette shot from behind the net to streaking sophomore stud Jones '08, who slapped a falling, "SportsCenter Top 10" worthy shot past Dekanich.
Devine made 21 saves for the Big Green, and Dekanich made 39 for Colgate, becoming the Raiders' all-time season leader in saves in the process.
The victory over Colgate marks the second time that the Big Green has won a consolation game, and it is the first time that Dartmouth has defeated Colgate in the third-place game.
On March 16, Gaudet was named ECACHL Coach of the Year. Other Big Green award winners included senior captain Ouellette, who won the honor for being the best defensive forward of the 2005-2006 campaign. Ouellette also notched first-team All-ECACHL honors. Star defenseman Grant Lewis '07, a second-round draft-pick of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, and David Jones '08 picked up second-team All-ECACHL tags, as well.
Gaudet's award was the second such honor of his captivating coaching career. He last acquired the title in 1995 while with the Brown University Bears. Gaudet joins Roger Demment as the Big Green's only other Coach of the Year.
The Crimson would not make it much further past Dartmouth, falling to the Frozen Four bound regional champion University of Maine Black Bears, 6-1, in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Albany.
Cornell University, the other NCAA tournament-bound Ivy League team, defeated Colorado College in the first round of the Eastern Regional in Worchester, Mass., before falling to the top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 1-0, in a thrilling, triple overtime matchup. Badgers freshman Jack Skille scored on Wisconsin's 60th shot, the 100th total shot of the game.
