Dartmouth's men's hockey team upset No. 5 University of New Hampshire, 5-3, before a crowd of nearly 9,000 fans in the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Manchester, N.H. on Saturday. Dartmouth's win brings the RiverStone Cup back to Hanover for the first time in three years.
With the nonconference win, Dartmouth (8-8-1, 3-7-1 ECAC) breaks even in overall games played, while the nationally ranked Wildcats (13-7-1) shoulder an unexpected loss.
"It's obviously an outstanding UNH team," head coach Bob Gaudet said. "Our guys hung in there, battled hard and we scored some timely goals."
"We made some good plays and just made them count," co-captain J.T. Wyman '08 said.
Dartmouth's win over UNH was the team's second victory in its last seven attempts.
Both teams came out strong in the first period. The Wildcats out shot Dartmouth 15-8 but the teams stayed neck-and-neck due to strong Big Green defense. UNH began its attack by firing off four straight shots that were all denied by goaltender Mike Devine '08. The Big Green's first scoring opportunity arose when Andrew Owsiak '11 recovered a puck from behind the UNH net and tried to slide the puck in from behind the opposite post. The wrap-around was anticipated and denied by Wildcats goaltender Kevin Regan.
UNH took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal from senior Craig Switzer with six minutes remaining in the first period. After circling around the back of the net to leave Devine covering the left post, senior Matt Fornataro sent the puck to Craig Switzer in the slot who then drove the puck into the back of the right side of the net before Devine could adjust.
Wyman responded just one minute later, tying the game at 1-1. The goal was set up by a drive down the outside from Jon Grecu '08 who passed to Nick Johnson '08. Johnson then nudged the puck to Wyman who controlled it on the right post before hooking it into the top of the net.
The Big Green took control of the game in the second period despite having to defend an impressive 29 shots from UNH.
Two minutes into the second frame, Joe Gaudet '10 received a pass to the center from Rob Smith '10 and one-timed the puck into the back of the net to put Dartmouth up 2-1.
Following a UNH power play opportunity that was stuffed by Devine, Wyman converted a Big Green power play opportunity, giving Dartmouth a 3-1 lead and garnering his second goal of the game.
Wyman, who was recently named to the ECAC Hockey honor roll, is on a three-game scoring streak and has had nine multiple-point games.
"You get a little more confidence with each goal," Wyman said.
Freshman James van Riemsdyk picked up a goal for UNH on a hard low shot and the teams entered the third period 3-2.
Dartmouth began the third with three goal-scoring opportunities from Scott Fleming '11, Jon Grecu '08 and Wyman.
The game-winning goal, however, came when Kyle Reeds '11 passed the puck to John Gibson '09 at the top of the circle who then drove the puck into the back of the net. Dartmouth did not surrender its lead for the remainder of the game.
With less than five minutes left to play, Josh Gillam '10 capitalized on a Wildcats clearing error and put the puck in under the legs of the Wildcats goaltender for a 5-2 lead.
The Wildcats put in a goal with just 23 seconds left, but the effort was too little too late and the Big Green left the arena with a 5-3 victory and the RiverStone Cup.
Saturday's game marks the seventh RiverStone cup, an annual matchup between UNH and Dartmouth. The Big Green has a 2-1-4 record in this contest.
The Big Green was outshot 57-26 but rallied behind Devine. Devine's 54 saves earned him both the game MVP and the ECAC player of the week awards.
"It was a huge game for Mike Devine, a senior, a leader," Bob Gaudet said. "He just did a great job for us."
"Every shot that comes at you, you just get more and more confident," Devine said. "I felt really good about the game."
The Big Green returns to the ice to take Ivy rival, Harvard (6-9-3, 5-6-2 ECAC), at home on Jan. 26.
