Sometimes revenge is a dish best served cold, and the Dartmouth men's hockey team did just that on its home ice Tuesday evening, as the Big Green routed the College of the Holy Cross 4-0 at Thompson Arena behind a one-goal, two-assist performance from Kevin Swallow '09.
The Big Green (7-8-2, 5-5-2 ECACHL) certainly had last season's contest with the Crusaders (8-12-4. 7-8-4 AHA) on its mind coming into last night's game. In 2005, Dartmouth fought back from a 2-0 deficit midway in the second period and tied the game off a Garrett Overlock '06 goal late in the third.
However, Holy Cross left Hanover with a 3-2 victory after current captain James Sixsmith intercepted a pass from Ben Lovejoy '07 and beat goalie Mike Devine '08 on a breakaway with just 28 seconds remaining.
"This is one of the games I had highlighted on my schedule," Lovejoy said. "I wanted to get back at Holy Cross and James Sixsmith in particular. [Losing 3-2 last year is] definitely a motive to get back at them."
This time around, the Big Green used three third period goals to help avenge last season's heartbreaking loss.
After an interference penalty to Rob Forshner expired with less than five minutes remaining in the third, Jon Grecu '08 got the puck from Swallow and fired a point-blank shot, but it hit the crossbar and careened to the corner. Grecu collected the puck and passed it to Lovejoy at the point, who sniped a shot past netminder Charlie Lockwood to increase the Big Green's lead to 2-0 with 5:17 left in the game.
Less than a minute later, Jones recorded his team-high tenth goal of the year when he buried a wrister to the glove side from the bottom of the right circle to give the Big Green a comfortable 3-0 lead with 4:31 on the clock.
Rob Pritchard '09 capped the scoring with a quick from the top of the crease from a pass from Swallow on the Big Green's eighth and final power play with 16.2 seconds remaining.
Holy Cross' best chance to get on the scoreboard came with 15 minutes to play in the third period. After Shields was sent off with a two-minute penalty for high sticking, the Crusaders had a number of quality looks at Devine, but each time their shots were either deflected or saved.
On another power play chance with less than nine minutes remaining, Devine again stymied Holy Cross, sliding from his left to his right and making an impressive leg pad stop on an open Crusader look from close range.
The two squads combined for a total of 15 penalties, with seven going against the Crusaders and eight to the Big Green.
Early in the second period, Nick Johnson '08 found himself with space on the blue line after taking a pass from T.J. Galiardi '10 and skated toward the left circle in the Holy Cross zone. Swallow came streaking toward the net, and Johnson's crossing pass deflected off Swallow's stick to give Dartmouth a 1-0 advantage with 5:23 elapsed in the period.
"I've been having trouble scoring goals lately, so it's nice to get those bounces," Swallow said.
Devine, who played sharply in the face of odd-man chances all night, finished the game with 31 saves, earning his second shutout of the season and the fourth of his career.
The first period ended in a scoreless tie, but each team had its share of chances to get on the scoreboard. Both the Big Green and the Crusaders had two power plays apiece, with Holy Cross edging Dartmouth in terms of shots, 3-1.
Dartmouth had trouble establishing any sustained offensive pressure during the first power play, but later pinned the Crusaders in their defensive zone following a penalty to Matt Weary with 1:14 remaining in the period.
"Coach told us to get more jump in our step. We started working harder and we were getting our chances," Swallow said when asked about the adjustments the team made after a scoreless first period.
Overall, Holy Cross led in shots on goal with a 31-26 margin. "We did the same thing the other night against UNH," Swallow said of the Big Green's 4-2 loss to the Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 13. "It's nice to be on the other side."
"As much as it's nice to outshoot a team, you can't base the game on how many shots you get," Lovejoy added. "It matter how many shot go in. We buckled down and were able to finish our chances."
Dartmouth returns to Thompson Arena this weekend when it plays Canisius on Friday, Jan. 18 and Sacred Heart on Saturday, Jan. 19. Both games are slated for 7 p.m.
