Men’s hockey beat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 3-1, on Saturday night, following a 4-2 victory over Union College on Jan. 30.
According to head coach Reid Cashman, the team fought a “tight,” aggressive game Saturday against RPI.
“I did expect it to be a close game and a tight game and a hard-fought game,” Cashman said.
Goalie Emmett Croteau ’28 expressed how tough the opponents were.
“They’re [a] very hard-nosed, hard-working team, so credit to them,” Croteau said.
Croteau said that the beginning of the game was relatively challenging. The Engineers started strong in the first period, winning several faceoffs and bringing the puck close to Croteau’s net.
However, the Big Green soon began to turn the game around. Although Dartmouth was nearly tied with RPI in shots-on-net by the end of the first period, the Big Green led in faceoff wins 9-6. Forward Hayden Stavroff ’28 emphasized that the team focused on working together to fight back.
“We knew we had better, and went on, executed,” Stavroff said. “Stick together … stay positive and keep pushing through.”
The second period started slowly but picked up at the end of the first half when RPI launched a shot on net. While it initially appeared that the shot entered the net, a review discounted the goal because it was offside. As the game picked up pace, forward Cam MacDonald ’26 and RPI’s Kazimier Sobieski were sent to the penalty box for roughing. They were soon joined by Dovar Tinling from RPI, who was penalized for tripping.
The Big Green successfully capitalized on the power play. Just as the power play was coming to an end, Cooper Cleaves ’29, assisted by Jack Silverberg ’28 and Ryan Schelling ’29, scored 12 minutes and 54 seconds into the period, giving the Big Green a 1-0 lead.
A few minutes later, Dartmouth appeared to have scored, but the shot was challenged by RPI. After a lengthy deliberation, the referees agreed with RPI, and Thompson Arena was filled with the “booos” of Dartmouth fans.
RPI brought the score to 1-1 at 16:08 in the second period after several missed shots. Jagger Tapper, assisted by Ian Scherzer and Thomas Klassek, scored RPI’s only goal of the night. At 17:08, Eric Charpentier ’27 was sent to the penalty box for tripping. He was joined four seconds later by RPI’s Tyler Wallace for hooking. Cleaves and Cummings quickly attempted to score but were blocked by RPI.
With less than two minutes left on the clock, Dartmouth fought back when Stavroff scored a power-play goal, assisted by Hank Cleaves ’28 and Colin Grable ’28. RPI challenged the goal again, stating that Dartmouth was offsides, and the roar of boos from Dartmouth fans returned. Unlike last time, RPI’s challenge was unsuccessful, and the Big Green was once again in the lead at 2-1.
Stavroff, who is one of Dartmouth’s three nominees for the Hobey Baker award, an annual honor bestowed upon the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s top male ice hockey player, is the Big Green’s top scorer. He credited his success in this game, and more broadly, to his teammates.
“[We played] the right way, stuck to our system and [tried not] to do individual stuff,” Stavroff said. “[We] just played as a team.”
With 1:31 left on the clock, RPI tried to even the score. The Engineers’ Rainers Rullers took a shot that was saved by Croteau. With one minute remaining, Stavroff carried the puck from Dartmouth’s zone through the neutral zone into RPI’s territory. Ahead of RPI’s closest player, Stavroff scored Dartmouth’s third goal of the night and his 22nd of the season. The score became 3-1, and the crowd cheered.
Cashman commended the team’s turnaround in the second period.
“I’m so proud of these guys, they’ve really raised the standard of what a Dartmouth hockey player is,” Cashman said. “If you looked at the shots and looked at where most of the second period was played, we felt like we were in their zone a lot more.”
By the start of the third period, the Big Green led in shots-on-goal, 22-13. Still, the team looked to keep scoring.
59 seconds into the third period, RPI’s Luciano Wilson was placed in the penalty box for high-sticking. The game’s aggressive nature continued as both teams played quickly, and the arena filled with the sounds of slashing sticks on ice. A few minutes later, CJ Foley ’27 picked up a penalty for cross-checking.
At 7:54, the puck was right in front of Dartmouth’s net, and RPI was poised to score. It would have been tipped into the net, but Croteau quickly pushed the puck away to the other side of the rink.
The rest of the third period slowed down as RPI fought to equalize. With less than four minutes on the clock, the Big Green was still up 3-1. The Engineers abandoned their goal and placed six players into Dartmouth’s zone as they prepared for their final faceoff. With a more aggressive RPI, Croteau quickly blocked a shot with two-and-a-half minutes left on the clock.
“We’re really aggressive [when we are outnumbered],” Cashman said. “We want to make sure nothing happens on the backside.”
Cashman added that as the season has progressed, there have been more close games where teams have opted to pull their goalie. He expects to see this even more.
Croteau agreed and credited the team’s strong defense to hold off RPI’s attack.
“We just like to kind of stay hard-nose defensively, and hold down our fort,” Croteau said.
This Friday, the men’s hockey team will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to face Harvard. The team previously defeated Harvard 5-4 on Jan. 9.
“We’re excited,” Cashman said. “Everything is about getting better on a daily basis, and the league is so close that every game is important.”
