Dartmouth (14-12-3, 11-9-2 ECAC Hockey), wearing pink and black jerseys to support the American Cancer Society on Pink at the Rink night, shut out Princeton (20-9-0, 14-8-0 ECAC Hockey) as goaltender Jody O'Neill '12 made 33 saves and Scott Fleming '11 scored the game-winning goal during a power play.
With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Fleming drilled the puck into the net after receiving a pass from Adam Estoclet '11. Fleming leads the team in goal-scoring, with 11 goals scored during the regular season. He also has 12 assists.
The Big Green fans responded to this first goal by throwing a rush of tennis balls onto the ice, as has been tradition at the Dartmouth-Princeton game for some years now. The referees, as in past years, handed the Dartmouth team with a two-minute delay of game penalty.
"The penalty is something we face," captain Rob Pritchard '09 said. "It seems to happen every year, so it's something we prepare for. We know we are going to have a penalty to kill off."
Still, the charged fans also encouraged Big Green morale and momentum.
"It was a great night in terms of stepping onto the ice with the place packed," head coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. "It was one of the nights when the other team was in for a battle."
Pritchard scored Dartmouth's other goal of the night with 1:32 remaining in the third period. The Tigers pulled their goalie to create an offensive advantage as time trickled down, allowing Pritchard to score on the empty net. His shot, which came from the Dartmouth defensive zone, slid right into the goal.
"Our role on that shift was to block pucks, and I was a little bit out of position," Pritchard said. "I was struggling to get back, but I got down and made the block. I shot for it, hoping that if I missed it, we would have the chance for a faceoff."
Princeton outshot Dartmouth 33-24 but was unable to capitalize on any of those scoring opportunities. The Tigers were also scoreless on six power-play chances, attesting to Dartmouth's improved penalty-kill strategies.
This Dartmouth win, after two tough losses to Clarkson University and St. Lawrence University last weekend, improved team morale as the Big Green looks to the playoffs, Gaudet said after the game.
"It was huge for our team -- we're a bit banged up, but we played a great game and the older guys played great," he said. "We have been playing hard but we weren't great last weekend. Win or lose, I like that we played good hockey."
The Big Green continued to play aggressively against Quinnipiac (16-15-3, 9-10-3 ECAC Hockey) on Saturday night but was only able to convert on one scoring opportunity as Dartmouth fell to the Bobcats 4-1. This game was also Senior Day, with special ceremonies following the game that recognized Dartmouth's three seniors -- Pritchard, Connor Shields '09 and John Gibson '09 -- for their four years of dedication.
Shields, during his last regular season game as a Big Green player, scored Dartmouth's only goal 14:22 into the second period. The goal, his ninth of the season, came with an assist from Kyle Schussler '12 who earned his first collegiate point.
Although the game recognized the seniors, the Big Green freshmen and sophomores also stepped up on Saturday, Gaudet said.
"Our young guys -- our freshman and sophomores -- are playing fantastically," he said. "We have lost a lot of really high-end players over the years. The experts had picked us as way down in the league, but they don't understand the determination and heart that these guys have."
The first round of the ECAC Hockey Championship begins this weekend. The top-four teams -- Yale, Cornell, Princeton and St. Lawrence -- will receive a bye and get the weekend off. The Big Green's loss to Quinnipiac coupled with a St. Lawrence victory this weekend forced Dartmouth out of fourth place.
"You have to take the good and the bad, but we would have liked to have the weekend off -- we are going into exams, and we have a lot of guys right now who are injured," Gaudet said after Saturday's game.
Dartmouth, now with the sixth seed, will face 11th seeded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (7-25-2, 6-15-1 ECAC Hockey) in a best of three series in Hanover. The games will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday and 7 p.m. on Sunday, if necessary. The Big Green has beaten RPI twice already in the regular season -- both times with a score of 5-2. RPI has lost its last five games of the regular season.
