With its season on the line, the men's hockey team bested Harvard University 6-3 and advanced to the ECAC tournament quarterfinals on Sunday. Behind a dominant three-goal second period, the Big Green (15-12-5, 9-9-4 ECAC) picked up a critical win in the series finale, ending the Crimson's (10-19-3, 6-14-2 ECAC) season and securing a quarterfinal matchup against Union College.
After a cagey first frame that saw the Crimson take a 1-0 lead, the Big Green stormed back with three goals in the second period. Brad Schierhorn '16 equalized the contest three minutes into the period, with his first goal in the past 21 contests, and Tim O'Brien '16 and Eric Robinson '14 also found the net as constant Big Green pressure lead to two more goals.
"I thought Schierhorn's goal early in the second was huge for us," head coach Bob Gaudet said.
When Nick Bligh '16 hammered home a laser-beam of a slap shot to give the Big Green a 4-1 lead early in the third period, the game appeared to be over. Desperately attempting to preserve its season, however, the Crimson found the net to make the score 4-2.
Dustin Walsh '13's quick response, powered home from close range, effectively sealed the game at 5-2, with Harvard's answer coming far too late and a Dartmouth empty-net goal from Schierhorn bringing the game to 6-3.
This weekend, the Big Green will begin another series against Union College, who advanced to the frozen four last season and were the pre-season ECAC favorites. In two regular season matchups against Union (17-12-5, 10-8-4 ECAC) , the Big Green came away with a win and a tie.
"They're a great team, we had two really good games with them," Gaudet said. "It'll be a good matchup."
