"The last ten games will make or break our season. There's no disputing that," Dan Shribman '07 said. "We're still in a situation, because of the parity over the first half, where we can accomplish our goals of winning an ECAC and Ivy championship and making the national tournament. We just have to go out and play hard and try and make it happen."
Earlier this year, the Big Green (9-8-2, 5-5-2 ECACHL) dropped a tough one to Clarkson (15-6-3, 7-3-2 ECACHL) 6-3 on Saturday, Nov. 4. The inability to score on power plays combined with excellent goaltending by Clarkson's David Leggio hurt the Big Green in the first meeting.
Dartmouth was a meager 3 for 16 on power plays, and Leggio saved 34 of its 37 shots on net. Another standout performer for the Golden Knights was Steve Zalewski, who notched two goals and two assists in the contest. Scoring goals for the Big Green were senior defenseman Ben Lovejoy '06, junior forward Nick Johnson '08 and freshman forward T.J. Galiardi '10.
Clarkson has the No. 10 college hockey program in the country according to a USA Today poll, and third in the ECACHL standings. Dartmouth has a poor history against Clarkson. The series record is 60-20-5 in favor of the Golden Knights. Recently, Dartmouth has been able to turn the tide, as it has gone 5-4-1 in its last 10 contests against Clarkson.
The loss earlier this season proved to be the cataylst for a six-game streak where the Big Green lost only once. The stretch included big wins over Colgate, Cornell and Brown.
"We've played well in recent weeks and are a completely different team than the one that St. Lawrence and Clarkson saw earlier in the season. We know that they've improved too so we're expecting a couple of battles," Shribman said.
The second game of the weekend will also be a grudge match for Dartmouth. The Big Green lost a hard-fought overtime game to St. Lawrence (12-10-2, 8-3-1 ECACHL) on Friday, Nov. 3. In the first meeting, Dartmouth's Galiardi drew first blood, but the Saints responded with a goal from Shawn Fensel to force overtime, and another from Charlie Griffin to seal the win. The Saints are currently second in the ECACHL standings and No. 16 nationally.
The series against St. Lawrence has historically given the Big Green problems. Dartmouth and St. Lawrence have skated against each other 72 times, with the Saints winning 47 of the contests. The teams have only tied twice in their rivalry's history.
Dartmouth is riding a three-game winning streak, and is ranked No. 19 nationally. The Big Green are sixth in the ECACHL standings, due in large part to the fact that they didn't play any conference games last weekend. While the Big Green were idle, others in the league had the opportunity to gain points through conference contests.
Dave Jones '08 and Tanner Glass '07 lead the Big Green in points, with 26 and 17 respectively. Another bright spot for the Big Green lately has been the play of goalie Mike Devine '08. For the week of Jan. 20, he was named the ECACHL goalie of the week. Devine anchored the Big Green defense in its 4-0 shutout of Holy Cross, in which he stopped 31 Crusader shots.
As if the fourth shutout of his career was not enough, Devine accomplished an equally rare feat for a goalie in Dartmouth's next game, recording an assist against Sacred Heart.
Another recent standout for Dartmouth has been the play of Rob Pritchard '09. After last week's performance, Pritchard was named to the ECACHL Honor Roll, a distinction given to only eight other skaters each week.
Pritchard has been a force for the Big Green lately, netting three goals and dishing out three assists last week. Against Canisius, he had an impressive four-point effort.
While things seem to be clicking right now for the Big Green, this weekend will provide either a continuation of the recent surge or a crushing blow that will damage hopes of an ECACHL championship or NCAA tournament berth. Dartmouth plays in Potsdam, N.Y. against Clarkson on Friday, Jan. 26, and in Canton, N.Y. against St. Lawrence on Saturday, Jan. 27. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
