Dartmouth Unable to Hold Off Yale
NEW HAVEN, Conn. Despite taking the early lead, the Dartmouth men's hockey team was unable to hold off a high-powered Yale offense as the No. 5 Bulldogs won a 7-3 contest in the championship game of the Ivy Shootout on Saturday evening.
Yale scored six unanswered goals from the end of the second period through the final frame as the Big Green could not find an answer for Yale's scoring. The home team recorded 14 goals on the weekend after taking a 7-4 win over Brown the previous night.
Jason Bourgea (South Burlington, Vt.) tallied his first career point in the Big Green's opening season win over Princeton on Friday and he continued that scoring with the first goal of the game on Saturday against Yale. Linemate Nick Walsh (Shannonville, Ont.) assisted with his second helper of the year.
At 14:30 the Bulldogs tied the contest after Broc Little lit the lamp but the two sides stayed tied for the remainer of the period as Dartmouth held a slim advantage in shots on net, 12-11.
Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ont.) came out in the second and scored his first, breaking the tie early into the frame as classmate Matt Reber (Edina, Minn.) racked up his second assist in Dartmouth's two games.
Yale tied the game at 2-2 with a penalty shot by Little midway through the frame before taking the first lead of the contest off a goal by Denny Kearney right before the period ended. The Bulldogs pressured Big Green netminder Jody O'Neill (Nepean, Ont.) mightily as Yale recorded 12 shots to Dartmouth's six before the second break of the contest.
The home team continued with the pressure right into the final period of play with three straight shots on O'Neill but the sophomore was able to come up with a save everytime.
The final 20 minutes began as a very back and forth contest as each side was able to generate some offense and get shots on the respective goalies. Early in the frame, Mike Keenan (Weymouth, Mass.), Dustin Walsh (Shannonville, Ont.) and Connor Goggin (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) each put shots on Yale's netminder Ryan Rondeau but it was the Bulldogs that was able to capitalize on its opportunities with their fourth goal of the game.
Yale's Brian O'Neill was able to get the rebound off of Goggin's shot, taking it full ice and putting it past O'Neill on the goalie's stick side. The Bulldogs continued to score when Kevin Limbert added to his team's total at 11:17 as Yale took a 5-2 lead.
Less than a minute later a four-goal lead was put on the board for the Bulldogs when Clinton Bourbonais put the puck in the back of the net. Limbert tallied his second of the game at 13:31.
Matt Lindblad (Winnetka, Ill.) got one back with his first collegiate strike late in the final period as Dartmouth recorded its first power play goal of the season, but it was not enough.
The Big Green was 1-for-6 on the power play while Yale finished 0-for-4. Dartmouth finished with 39 shots to Yale's 26. Rondeau finished with 23 saves while O'Neill had 32.
The Big Green opens up its home season next weekend with ECAC Hockey games against Rensselaer and Union.
