Team Notes: Senior Weekend on Tap at Dartmouth
HANOVER, N.H. – Along with nine seniors, the No. 18 Dartmouth men's hockey will face St. Lawrence and Clarkson in the last regular season weekend of 2010-11. The Big Green is looking to improve on its 15-9-1 overall record, 11-7-2 in ECAC Hockey and capture a first round bye in the ECAC playoffs that start next weekend.
Currently Dartmouth is in a tie with Cornell for third with 24 points while Rensselaer is right behind with 23 and Princeton has 21. Union in first and Yale in second have each secured byes. The battle for the ECAC crown could come down to Saturday night as each matchup holds ramifications. Clarkson is currently tied with Quinnipiac for eighth while St. Lawrence sits in 10th place with 13 points. Teams that finish from fifth to eighth in the standings will host the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Dartmouth has already clinched home ice.
The Big Green is hoping to rebound from two losses last week as Dartmouth was swept by Colgate and Cornell. It was the first sweep Dartmouth has been on the receiving end of this year.
It's been four months since the Big Green has met up with either SLU or Clarkson. In the previous meeting against the Golden Knights, Dartmouth came away with a 7-1 victory after Matt Lindblad, Dustin Walsh, Troy Mattila, Adam Estoclet, Nick Walsh andTaylor Boldt each scored goals. Dustin Walsh had one of his best collegiate games with two goals and one asisst. The next night against St. Lawrence, Scott Fleming, Kyle Reeds, Mike Keenan, Matt Reber and Rob Smith tallied goals in the 6-1 win. Keenan had three points in the contest with two goals and one assist. James Mello was key in net, making 61 saves in the two victories.
Fleming has led the team in scoring since December and currently sits at 99 career points. Classmate Estoclet is right behind with 97 career tallies and should either of them eclipse the 100-point mark they would be the 34th player in school history to reach that mark. Freshman Lindblad is second in scoring with 23 points behind Fleming's 24 and just above Estoclet's 22. Mello has started the last 14 games and is second nationally in save percentage.
Should Dartmouth not secure a first round bye, the Big Green would be in action next weekend at Thompson Arena in a best-of-three series that would begin on Friday. Game time and opponent to be determined.
