Dartmouth Skates to Scoreless Tie with Union
| Scoring Summary |
|---|
| Union | Dartmouth |
|---|---|
|
G:
N/A
A: N/A Sh: Luke Cain - 6 Sv: Keith Kinkaid - 29 |
G:
N/A
A: N/A Sh: 2 Players (#12, #14 - 4) Sv: James Mello - 37 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Union | Dartmouth |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plays | 0 for 4 | 0 for 3 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 4 (8) | 4 (8) |
| Shots on Goal | 37 | 29 |
| Face Offs Won | 40 | 37 |
HANOVER, N.H. - In what proved to be a great defensive battle, Union and Dartmouth went down to the wire in an ECAC Hockey contest on Saturday evening in Thompson Arena. The scoreless tie proved to be the third for the Big Green in the school's history and the second against Union. The two goalies were credited with 66 saves between them.
Dartmouth had several great chances to break through in the first period as Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ont.), Evan Stephens (Bessemer, Mich.) and Jim Gaudet (Etna, N.H.) each had great looks at the net.
In the second, Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) had his shot bobbled by the Dutchmen's netminder, Keith Kinkaid but there was no one in a white uniform there to corral the rebound and attempt a put-back.
Junior goalie James Mello (Rehoboth, Mass.) faced intense pressure throughout much of the game as Union had several flurries in which traffic around the net could have had the puck sliding over the line a couple of times but the junior netminder was up to the task each time.
Late in regulation Union's Luke Cain had two consecutive shots on net, drawing Mello out beyond the arc but freshman defenseman Taylor Boldt (Niwot, Colo.) was there to slap the puck away while standing in the goal mouth.
A pair of blue liners in Mike Keenan (Weymouth, Mass.) and Stephens each had shots on net in the waning minutes of the overtime frame but neither was able to get the game winner.
"Union is one of the better teams in the country and I thought our guys played a very consistent 65 minutes of hockey," said head coach Bob Gaudet. "We didn't give them a lot to work with and it was nice to salvage the point this weekend after losing last night. I thought we played very disciplined and we're learning more and more about our time after each game."
Mello finished with 37 saves and earned his first career shutout while Kinkaid had 29 saves. The Big Green is 1-2-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the league while Union is now 6-1-2, 1-0-0.
Dartmouth will hit the road next weekend for a pair of ECAC Hockey games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
