Dartmouth Dumped by Cornell

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth men's hockey team dropped a physical, 4-1, game to the visiting Cornell Big Red on Saturday in front of 4,009 in Thompson Arena. Sophomore Joe Gaudet (Etna, N.H.) was the lone scorer for the Big Green as Dan Nicholls potted two for Cornell. The loss drops Dartmouth to 3-3-1 overall, 2-3-1 in the ECAC while Cornell improves to 4-3-0 and 4-2-0.

Dartmouth had several good chances early in the opening period, starting with Nick Johnson (Calgary, Alta.) who ringed one off the post. The Big Green led in shots early but Cornell came storming back, starting with its first goal at 13:11. Patrick Kennedy took a hard shot that Dartmouth netminder Mike Devine (Orchard Park, N.Y.) made the save on. Raymond Sawada was waiting for the rebound as he stuffed it past Devine for the 1-0 lead.

"We played really hard," said head coach Bob Gaudet. "Cornell is a big, strong team. We had nine freshman on the ice but I feel like they held their own. There were times that we really outplayed Cornell but unfortunately it seemed like our mistakes ended up behind us and they were able to cash in."

Dartmouth's first power play opportunity of the night resulted in no shots as Cornell had a chance to take a 2-0 lead with two shots saved by a sprawling Devine. The Big Red potted its second of the night as both teams were down a man. Jared Seminoff took a shot that the senior Big Green goalie saved easily but Evan Barlow was able to gather the puck and wrap it around a prone Devine.

The Big Green answered as Cornell was on its second power play opportunity of the night. Johnson stole the puck at the Big Red's blueline, shooting up to a streaking Gaudet who hammered it into the back of the net with his first collegiate short handed strike.

The second period began after a 13-minute delay due to lighting difficulties as Dartmouth was able to kill its remaining penalty. The Big Green was not able to even get a shot on net until midway through the stanza as Cornell controlled the puck.

The Big Red added to its total at 14:07 when both teams rushed the Dartmouth net. Joe Scali got a shot off before crashing into Devine, sending him flying. With the Big Green goalie on his back, Nicholls cashed in cramming the puck across the line.

Nicholls added his second of the night at 11:34 after a clear attempt off the boards by Dartmouth caromed off a skate to the waiting rookie. The Big Red freshman faked Devine out of the net, shooting around him for the 4-1 final.

Dartmouth had its second straight night of outshooting its opponents. The Big Green managed 23 to Cornell's 22. Both teams were unable to score on the extra-man advantage as the Big Red was 0-for-4 and Dartmouth was 0-for-3.

"Our freshmen are definitely getting that game-time experience that we need," Gaudet said. "We continue to work hard and seem to be in every game so our future is bright. We just need to learn how to minimize our mistakes and learn from each game we play."

The very end of the contest proved to be as physical as the first 60 minutes of play as two players from each team were handed game disqualifications for fighting. The Big Green's Gaudet and Rob Smith (Brooks, Alta.) along with Cornell's Scali and Justin Krueger will all miss their team's next games.

Dartmouth will be back in action at home on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 1:30 pm against Bentley. The game will be the first of a doubleheader as the Big Green women's team will play at 5:00. Fans are encouraged to support Dartmouth's toy drive for CHaD by bringing a new, unwrapped toy.