Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. (3/1/08) - The Dartmouth men's hockey team scored four power-play goals on its way to earning a 5-2 win over Colgate on Saturday, Mar. 1, at Starr Rink. The win gives the Big Green an 11-14-4 overall record and 6-13-3 mark in ECAC Hockey play, while the Raiders drop to 14-14-6 overall and 8-9-5 in the league. Colgate will host a first-round playoff series, while Dartmouth will be on the road next weekend; both teams must wait for the results of the league's other games before knowing their first-round opponents.

After a scoreless first period, during which Colgate outshot Dartmouth 14-9, Big Green senior Nick Johnson gave his team a 1-0 lead 2:39 into the second period with a 5-on-3 power-play goal. Freshman Evan Stephens took a pass from senior J.T. Wyman at the right point, then sent the puck down to Johnson on the opposite side. Johnson one-timed the puck into the net, short side.

Less than two minutes later, Colgate responded to knot the score at 1-1. Freshman Francois Brisebois (Montreal, Que.) came off the bench, and picked up a clearing pass by sophomore Jason Williams (Plattsburgh, N.Y.). Brisebois crossed the blue line on a breakaway, and made a few quick stick handles to fool Dartmouth senior goaltender Mike Devine before slipping the puck between the netminder's legs.

With just over five minutes to play in the middle frame, Dartmouth scored another power-play goal to go up 2-1. Sophomore Peter Boldt put the puck on net, and Colgate senior goalie Mark Dekanich (North Vancouver, B.C.) made the save, but Jon Grecu attempted another shot off the rebound. Through a flurry of activity in front of the crease, Johnson got his stick on the puck and put it past Dekanich.

The Big Green made it a 3-1 game 5:37 into the third period with its only even-strength goal of the game. Sophomore Joe Gaudet took a break-out pass from classmate Josh Gillam and carried the puck over the blue line. He took a shot from the left faceoff circle, which Dekanich stopped. However, Boldt picked up the rebound, skated through the crease, and slid the puck into the open side of the net.

With 5:04 left in regulation and Dartmouth on the power play, Boldt held the puck low on the right side. He sent it up to Gillam at the right point, who drew the attention of the Raider defense before finding freshman Jon Wolter low on the opposite side, and the rookie scored on the back-door play. After the goal, Colgate head coach Don Vaughan pulled Dekanich in favor of senior Justin Kowalkoski (Young America, Minn.).

But the change in netminder wasn't enough to stop the Big Green. After hitting the post on his initial shot, Jon Grecu buried his own rebound at the 18:50 mark to give Dartmouth its fourth power-play goal of the night.

The Raider seniors had the last word in their final regular-season game at Starr Rink. With just 31 seconds on the clock, senior Mike Werner (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) found classmate Ben Camper (Rocky River, Ohio) for Colgate's second goal of the game. Both Werner and Camper recorded two points on the weekend.

Devine earned the win after making 44 saves as his team was outshot 46-30 on the night, including 20-10 in the third period. Dekanich finished his appearance with 21 saves, while Kowalkoski recorded four stops over the final 5:04. Colgate earned a 44-24 advantage on faceoffs, paced by a pair of seniors: Camper won 11 of his 14 attempts, while Tyler Burton (Langley, B.C.) went 11-for-16.

Colgate will enter the playoffs as either the seventh or eighth seed, and will host either the ninth or tenth seed in a best-of-three first-round series at Starr Rink next weekend. Four teams could still finish ninth or tenth, including Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Brown, or Dartmouth. The Raiders will not know their first-round opponent until the last regular-season ECAC Hockey game has finished.