UVM started strong, scoring the game's first goal less than two minutes into play. Dartmouth won the next face-off, however, allowing Patrick Resch '14 to score. Following a dropped pass by the Big Green, UVM ran down and retook the lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the first period.
Goalie Fergus Campbell '12, who recorded 12 saves, stopped a series of UVM shots before a Catamount put the ball in the side net coming from the left. Dartmouth then caused a turnover on its defensive end and cleared the ball up the field before Drew Tunney '12 assisted Brendan Rotanz '14 from behind the net to narrow the margin to one goal.
After nearly half a dozen first-quarter shots by the Big Green, the Catamounts bounced the ball past Campbell's feet with 18 seconds remaining, ending the quarter with a 4-2 lead.
Just over a minute into the second quarter, Thomas Mattimore '12 ran past his defender and struck for his first goal of the season.
UVM went on to score three consecutive goals, taking advantage of a series of Dartmouth turnovers.
The Catamounts failed to score again, however.
After calling a timeout, the Big Green won a face-off and Kip Dooley '12 scored with 3:58 left in the half. Dartmouth had several more shot attempts before the half ended, though none made it past UVM's keeper.
The Big Green picked up intensity in the third quarter, intercepting passes, causing turnovers and taking better shots. On one transition, Ben Rossman '12 fed Rhett Miller '11 in front of the net, bringing Dartmouth within two goals.
Just over a minute later, Miller caught a pass from Dooley on the right side and shot a riser into the top corner. After the next face-off, Alex Del Balso '12 stormed down the middle of the field and put a low shot in to tie the game.
Dartmouth's defense held strong for the remainder of the third quarter, denying UVM any scoring chances.
The Big Green failed to score in the final quarter until Tunney found Dooley in front of the net after a long offensive possession. Dooley faked out the Catamount goalie before slotting the ball into the net, giving Dartmouth its first lead of the game.
The Big Green called a timeout with just under three minutes left to play. When the team came back onto the field, it worked the ball around the perimeter until Tunney tallied the final goal with 2:38 on the clock.
Overall, Dartmouth took more shots and scooped up more ground balls than UVM, and also capitalized on three out of four man-up situations. The Big Green, which had 14 turnovers in the first half, gave up only six in the second half.
Head coach Andrew Towers said he was proud of the team's effort, especially noting its perseverance after trailing at the half.
"We played our best half and our worst half of the season in the same game tonight," Towers said. "The seniors, captains and the team in general all get credit for the turnaround."
Co-captain Adam Boardman '11 agreed the team played a vastly different game in the second half.
"In the first half we were making the same mistakes as we have been in the last few games," he said. "We talked about needing to minimize turnovers so we could play six versus six and not a transition game. We shut them down and didn't let them score any goals in the second half."
Towers said that although defense has been the Big Green's strength over the past two seasons, the team's offense gave it sufficient support on Tuesday.
"We made terrible offensive decisions in the first half which puts our defense in a tough situation because transition defense is tough," he said. "The offense held up their end of the bargain in the second half and the team played to our potential."
The Big Green will next travel to play the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday in its penultimate game of the regular season. Although Dartmouth has won just one League game this season, it still hopes it can qualify for the conference tournament.
"There's no guarantees but if we win the next two games we have a strong chance," Boardman said. "It is very exciting and we definitely still have a shot."
