In a battle of state rivals, men’s hockey fell to No. 20 University of New Hampshire 4-2 at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, the 13th annual Battle for the RiverStone Cup. UNH (13-10-1, 5-5 Hockey East) accepted the RiverStone Cup trophy after senior Dalton Speelman, the game’s MVP, led UNH to a 4-2 victory, scoring the game-winning goal with 2:15 remaining.
Dartmouth (3-12-2, 2-8-0 ECAC) fought from start to finish, tying the game at two with 3:20 remaining only to watch the game slip away after UNH scored two goals in the final three minutes.
UNH entered Saturday evening ranked 20th in the USCHO national poll after a three-game win streak. Dartmouth came in on the heels of defeating Boston University on Wednesday night, when Nick Lovejoy ’14 scored his first career goal to break a 2-2 tie.
UNH avoided a repeat of the teams’ last meeting, when Dartmouth upset the then No. 2 team 4-1 in the 2012 Ledyard Classic, the first game played in Hanover after 11 matchups in Manchester. After 56 meetings, including Saturday’s game, UNH holds the all-time series advantage with a 34-19-2 record.
Dartmouth stunned the crowd early as Brad Schierhorn ’16 got the Big Green on the board after just 1:07. The forward from Anchorage. redirected a shot between the circles from Grant Opperman ’17 into the net, scoring his second goal in two games.
“We expected to come out playing hard and playing well,” Schierhorn said, adding that it was nice to get an early lead. “It shows we’ve been doing much better offensively lately.”
The early tally was an important advantage for the Big Green, forward Charlie Mosey ’15 said. While the game was technically at a neutral site, it felt like more of a home game for the Wildcats due to the shorter commute, he said.
From there, Dartmouth proved to be its own worst enemy. One minute later, UNH struck back as senior Kevin Goumas took the puck off the backboards and shot it past Charles Grant ’16 for his 27th point of the season.
Dartmouth then handed UNH two straight power plays, escaping the first unscathed, but failing to prevent UNH from capitalizing on the second. About 10 seconds after Josh Hartley ’17 was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking, UNH scored to take its first lead of the night.
For the next 40 minutes, the game remained knotted as both teams traded shots and power plays, but neither gained an advantage.
Grant made a strong save five minutes into the third period when freshman Tyler Kelleher tried to score on a partial breakaway to keep the Big Green within striking distance.
With less than five minutes remaining in the game, a sudden flurry of scoring galvanized the listless crowd. Mosey took a rebound off Jack Barre ’16, and nudged the puck just beyond the reach of junior Wildcat goaltender Casey DeSmith’s glove. The equalizer, with 3:20 left, was Mosey’s fourth goal in the last five games.
Just like earlier in the game, UNH responded the next minute when Speelman scored with a shot that settled just inside the far post. With 2:15 left, Speelman’s goal would be the game-winner. The referees upheld the goal after a lengthy review.
“During the past few games we’ve won, we were able to play consistent and find a way to win,” Mosey said. “This time, we didn’t. We battled back the whole game, but every time we scored, UNH scored right after we did. It was tough and we both had our chances, but UNH came out on top. We just have to close out the game in the third period.”
UNH sealed the game with a final goal with 34 seconds remaining when Goumas scored on a delayed penalty call, increasing his season points total to 28.
Grant stopped 28 shots, including 13 in the second period, and his solid effort kept Dartmouth competitive until the final two minutes.
Dartmouth returns to Hanover next weekend with ECAC matchups against Colgate University on Friday and Cornell University on Saturday. The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. for both games.
