Dartmouth men's hockey played to two ties this weekend, first in a 4-4 draw against Rensselaer on Friday and then in a scoreless match against Union on Saturday. The two ties lift the Big Green out of the ECAC cellar, moving the team into 11th place.
The Big Green (8-11-4, 3-10-3 ECAC) skated to a four-goal lead early in the second period over RPI on Friday but allowed three goals to the Engineers in three minutes and 46 seconds, resulting in the 4-4 final score. The tie against Union (12-10-5, 7-5-4 ECAC) was the first scoreless finish for Dartmouth since 2004 and the seventh in Big Green history. The teams were kept scoreless by the outstanding defense of both teams.
In the first period on Friday, Josh Gillam '10 gave Dartmouth its initial lead off of a power play. Rensselaer held off the Big Green for the rest of the period, only to let up another goal from Rob Pritchard '09, assisted by John Gibson '09. Kyle Reeds '11 then scored his sixth goal of the season, giving Dartmouth a 3-0 lead over the Engineers.
Dan Markowitz '11 then scored the first goal of his career to give Dartmouth a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 lead early in the second period. While the goal seemed like an insurance goal at the time, it turned out to be crucial in securing a tie for the Big Green, as the Engineers wrested control of play from Dartmouth for the rest of the game.
"I saw the puck right in the middle and everybody just cleared out," Markowitz said. "I felt pretty confident. I think that was the biggest thing."
The first Engineer goal came just 49 seconds after Markowitz's shot was deflected into the net. Freshman Scott Halpern controlled a loose puck off a shot from junior Matt Angers-Goulet and redirected it past Big Green goalkeeper Joe Grossman '10.
RPI freshmen Chase Polacek and Tyler Helfrich put the next two goals for RPI past Grossman, pulling the Engineers back into a game that had seemed to be a sure victory for the Big Green.
Despite letting in three goals in just over three minutes, Gaudet showed confidence in the sophomore keeper, indicating a shift towards rebuilding the team for next season.
"We needed to create a situation there to get a look at someone else," Gaudet said about his decision to keep Grossman in the game.
RPI junior Andrei Uryadov tied the contest five minutes into the third, sending the game to overtime.
RPI came up with a good scoring opportunity in overtime, but Grossman fell on the puck to put a stop to play. Pritchard responded on a breakaway for the Big Green. The play seemed like it could result in a goal for Dartmouth, but Pritchard was called for the offside and the game ended in a 4-4 tie.
"We really competed hard," head coach Bob Gaudet '81said. "We got a lead, but there was half a hockey game left."
On Saturday, the Big Green was locked into a defensive struggle against Union, the fifth-ranked team in the ECAC. Dartmouth goalie Mike Devine '08 and Union goaltender Corey Milan made a number of key saves, keeping the game scoreless through overtime.
Devine picked up 40 saves and Milan stopped 32 shots on net. The game was the first career shutout for Milan and sixth for Devine. Devine made a great final play to send Dartmouth into overtime scoreless. Despite being peppered by hard Union shots for most of the last two minutes of play, Devine denied every Dutchmen opportunity.
"This was a great game that was played by two very good goalies," Gaudet said.
The game stayed even throughout the first period for Dartmouth and the Dutchmen. Both teams had two power play opportunities in the first period but neither was able to convert. The game remained scoreless throughout regulation play and both teams also failed to convert in overtime, and the contest ended in a draw.
The Big Green struggled to generate any offense, due, in part, to the absence of J.T. Wyman '08, the team's leading scorer. Adam Estoclet '11 also has not made an appearance on the ice since a head injury suffered in a collision with the boards against Brown last weekend.
Although Gaudet would have liked his team to pick up a win, he stressed the importance of coming away with ECAC points.
"While we don't come into games hoping for a tie, it's nice to come away with some points," Gaudet said.
The Big Green hits the ice again at home next weekend, hosting Quinnipiac (17-7-4, 9-3-4 ECAC) on Friday, Feb. 15 and Ivy League rival Princeton (14-9-0, 11-5-0 ECAC) on Saturday, Feb. 16.
