Wow... I'm exhausted! In the longest playoff game in ECAC history (87
minutes, 16 seconds), Colgate defeated Dartmouth 4-3 at 7:16 of the second
overtime. Talk about 2 evenly matched teams - Dartmouth won the first regular
season game 5-4 while Colgate won the second game 7-6 in overtime. Thus,
after more than 10 periods of hockey, the total score is 16-15 for Colgate.
Scoring Summary:
1 2 3 OT1 OT2
Colgate 1 1 1 0 1 = 4
Dartmouth 1 2 0 0 0 = 3
Goals:
First Period:
8:21 Dartmouth (PPG) - Fraser from DelMonte and Turcotte
8:54 Colgate - Dickson from Haddock
Second Period:
6:43 Dartmouth - Dodman from Fraser and DelCarmine
14:47 Dartmouth - Burkhart from Clancy and Turcotte
18:48 Colgate - DeProfio from Haddock and Gibson
Third Period:
16:36 Colgate (PPG) - Gardiner
Second Overtime:
7:16 Colgate - Dickson from Haddock and Gardiner
Saves: 1 2 3 OT1 OT2 TOT
Gates (Colgate) 8 10 17 7 5 47
Guetens (Dartmouth) 9 4 6 13 2 34
This was an intertesting game. The first period was pretty even as indicated
by the saves and the scoring. Both teams had some opportunities but both
teams looked a little tentative, perhaps with playoff jitters. Dartmouth
scored first, but a clearing pass out of the Dartmouth zone ended up on the
stick of Andrew Dickson who tied the score just 33 seconds later. The crowd
seemed to think the pass was offside but it seemed close to me.
The second period Dartmouth began to apply alot of pressure. In addition to
the 10 saves, there were an additional 10-12 shots that just missed the net.
Dartmouth got the next two goals to make it 3-1, but Colgate scored near the
end of the period on a defensive lapse to make it 3-2 after a period that was
totally dominated by Dartmouth.
Despite a great deal of pressure by the Big Green in the third period
(outshooting Colgate 17-7), Colgate was the only one to score. After
swallowing their whistles and letting all kinds of blatant infractions go,
the refs (I think McDunough?) made a questionable call on Dartmouth's Trevor
Dodman for tripping. Dodman was on the ice after a poke check in the
Dartmouth zone and one of the Colgate players tripped over him. This was the
opportunity Colgate needed and they scored the powerplay goal with less than
4 minutes left to tie the game.
In the first overtime, both teams had some excellent chances but both goalies
came up big - either team could have won in this period. During this period
Dartmouth began to slow down as the flu that has stricken many of the Big
Green players began to take its toll. Leading scorer Scott Fraser skated only
every 2nd or 3rd shift for the game, and Chris Clancy, Tony DelCarmine, and
goalie Vern Guetens also became fatigued. Towards the end of the period, the
momentum that Dartmouth had held for the 2nd and 3rd periods began to shift
to Colgate, who continued to skate strongly.
In the second overtime, Dartmouth had some excellent opportunities in the
first few minutes, but eventually the puck ended up in the Dartmouth end
where a slap shot from the left point was deflected and saved by Guetens, but
the rebound was put home by Andrew Dickson at the 7:16 mark.
Dartmouth had a very good season and has definitely become a force to reckon
with in the ECAC. After a 1-7 start they finished the season with a 10-9
stretch. This was a dramatic improvement since Dartmouth had only managed to
win a total of 8 games in its last 3 years combined. The last time the Big
Green had won 11 games was in the 79-80 season. There were also some rumors
from semi-official sources the Coach Demment will be receiving some award
from the ECAC. I'll leave you readers to figure out what that might be ;-).
It has been a fun season. I wish Colgate the best in the playoffs. They are a
good solid team with a chance to upset RPI in the next round.
Speak to you next year. Good luck to everyone else in the playoffs.
Bob Gross
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