Joe Gaudet '10 scored the winning goal for Dartmouth (13-9-3, 10-6-2 ECAC Hockey) against Cornell (15-6-4, 10-5-3 ECAC Hockey) 1:05 into the overtime period. Though initially calling it a goal, the referees had to review the play before confirming the score to see if the puck hit inside the net when it bounced off the inside of the crossbar.
Gaudet's goal came on the only shot taken by either team during the overtime.
"It looked to me like the puck was in," Coach Bob Gaudet '79 said. "I'm glad they did the right thing in checking -- it clearly went in."
Joe Gaudet said that he did not doubt at any point whether the puck actually went into the net.
"I knew it went in," he said. "I doubted whether he would call it a goal or not, but the goal judge had called it a goal and put the red light on."
The goal, Gaudet's sixth of the season, allowed the Big Green to move up in points in the ECAC standings. Dartmouth, still in fourth place, now trails Cornell by only one point.
Cornell is in third place in the league, trailing No. 10 Yale (19-5-1, 14-3-1 ECAC Hockey) in first place and No. 9 Princeton (18-7-0, 12-6-0 ECAC Hockey) in second place.
Cornell scored the first two goals of the game, jumping to an early 2-0 lead in the beginning of the first period. The Big Green then responded with two goals as captain Rob Pritchard '09 scored Dartmouth's first goal 7:00 into the first period, and Jim Gaudet '12 scored midway into the second period.
The point marked Jim Gaudet's first collegiate goal, scored off of a far shot that bounced off the Cornell netminder's stick and into the goal. After getting weird bounces last week during scoring opportunities that did not materialize, Gaudet said he expected his first goal to be the same. He said he could not have anticipated, however, that three goals from the Gaudet family would propel Dartmouth to an overtime victory. Joe Gaudet also scored during a second-period power play to tie the game at 3-3.
"It's the first time since high school that we scored in the same game," Jim Gaudet said.
This was not, however, the first time a Big Green game has gone into overtime this season. Dartmouth has played in two recent conference games against Harvard and Union College that went into overtime as well.
These frequent battles into overtime make a statement about the competitiveness of the league, coach Gaudet said.
"You just have to play so hard every night," he said. "As you go farther into the season, the games get tougher and tougher -- it just shows how strong the league is."
Gaudet also said that he was proud of his sons and the team for battling throughout the game to achieve the win.
"It was one of my all-time favorite moments," Gaudet said. "That was a great game, they played so hard, and there was so much passion."
The next night, however, this passion seemed to deflate, as Dartmouth was shut out 1-0 by Colgate (9-16-5, 4-11-3 ECAC Hockey), which currently stands 11th out of 12 in the ECAC Hockey League.
With both teams initially operating sluggishly, Colgate only had two shots in the first period of play while Dartmouth took just four shots during the second.
After two scoreless periods, David McIntyre of Colgate scored the only goal of the game 6:19 into the third period. McIntyre leads the Raiders with 36 points. He has scored 17 goals and has 19 assists this season, and is currently third in the ECAC Hockey League in scoring.
Both teams had 14 shots in the third period, but Dartmouth was unable to capitalize on any of its scoring opportunities.
Colgate goaltender Charles Long had 28 saves, while Jody O'Neill '12 made 24 saves for the Big Green. With 53 seconds left in the third period, O'Neill was pulled from the net to give the Big Green a sixth offensive player. Despite last-second faceoffs in the Colgate defensive end, the Big Green could not notch a goal.
Saturday's loss is only the second time that Dartmouth has been shut out this season. The other came against Quinnipiac University, which defeated Dartmouth 6-0 in early January.
With only four games remaining in the season, the team is now looking to the playoffs. All 12 ECAC teams earn a berth in the conference tournament, though the top four teams are given a bye during the first round.
"We obviously want a bye," Joe Gaudet said. "We don't worry about what other teams do, but it is well within our control at this point."
The Big Green returns to the ice this weekend with games against ninth-place Clarkson University at 7 p.m. Friday in Potsdam, N.Y., and against fifth-place St. Lawrence University at 7 p.m. Saturday in Canton, N.Y.
