Officials: Stephan McInchak (R), Terry Sheen, Brian Troester
Player Perspective: Jason Costa
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Dartmouth men's hockey team more than doubled its shot total from Friday night, and two Big Green forwards connected for their first career goals, but the surging Western Michigan Broncos held off the visiting Big Green 5-4 Saturday night at Lawson Arena.
Freshman Jason Costa and sophomore Kent Gillings each lit the lamp for the first time in a collegiate uniform, but their goals and Dartmouth's 40 shots were not enough to avert the Broncos' fifth consecutive win.
"I thought we played a tremendous hockey game from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer," said head coach Bob Gaudet. "We showed intensity, energy and pride out there. I was proud of our guys."
Dartmouth (0-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) played very aggressively after losing 5-0 Friday night.
The Big Green outshot the Broncos 40-27 and finally connected on the power play, finishing 1-for-7. The penalty kill continued to suffer, allowing Western Michigan (6-1-1, 3-0-1 CCHA) to score on three of 10 opportunities, but Gaudet has a positive outlook heading into next Friday night's league opener at Brown.
"I schedule these nonleague games for the benefit of the experience," Gaudet said. "We were tentative last night, but we played well enough to win tonight. I want the guys to play with passion and emotion during the season, and they showed me that tonight."
The Big Green opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game when Costa connected for his first career goal. After blueliner Pascal Lalonde won a neutral-zone battle for the puck, Jamie Herrington winged it to Costa, who dumped it past goaltender Jeff Reynaert (36 saves) for the 1-0 lead.
After that, however, Western Michigan's dangerous attack took control.
The Broncos beat rookie goalie Darren Gastrock (22 saves) on the power play twice in a five-minute span, as defenseman Josh Akright logged his first career lamp-lighter and right winger Jeff Campbell one-timed home a Mike Bishai pass to give their team a 2-1 lead. Western Michigan stretched its lead to two with a Brent Rumble goal late in the period.
The Big Green cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the middle frame when Gillings fired in his first career goal, also Dartmouth's first power-play netter of the season. The Broncos reclaimed their two-goal advantage soon after with a Dana Lattery man-advantage goal, but Dartmouth made it 4-3 midway through the period when flu-ridden Chris Taliercio snapped a Frank Nardella pass to the top of the net.
The teams traded goals in the third period, as Lattery netted his second of the game before Dartmouth forward Chris Baldwin cut it to 5-4 with his first of the season.
The Big Green battled for a few near-misses toward the end, but the game essentially ended when the referees whistled Mike Turner for a cross-checking penalty with just over a minute remaining.
Big Green Notes: Former Big Green defenseman Scott Peach and girlfriend Samantha Sommers were among the 2,046 fans in attendance. Peach, who was second-team All-Ivy in 1998-99, his senior year, now lives in Chicago. Sommers was a women's golf team captain at Dartmouth. ... Dartmouth last took 40 or more shots in a game nearly a year ago. The Big Green logged 40 on Nov. 12, 1999, in a 5-5 tie with Princeton. ... The Big Green blueline dodged a few bullets in this game. All told, the Broncos hit the post three times. ... Defenseman Pete Summerfelt was Dartmouth's shots leader with six. Chris Baldwin had five shots for the second night in a row. ... Two Dartmouth players had two-point nights. Kent Gillings had a goal and an assist, while Trevor Byrne logged two assists. ... Three Dartmouth players were plus-two - Summerfelt, Baldwin and Chris Taliercio. After two games, Taliercio is the Big Green's +/- leader at +2.
Statistics
| Scoring by Period | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
| Dartmouth |
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| Western Michigan |
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Dartmouth: 1 for 7
Western Michigan: 3 for 10
| Goals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Goal | Assists | Time |
| 1 | D | Costa | Herrington, Lalonde | 2:24 |
| 1 | W | Gove | Jarmuth, Bishai | 7:50 (PPG) |
| 1 | W | Campbell | Bishai, Jarmuth | 12:50 (PPG) |
| 1 | W | Brent Rumble | Battaglia, Akright | 13:58 |
| 2 | D | Gillings | T. Byrne, Summerfelt | 4:19 (PPG) |
| 2 | W | Lattery | Yamashita, Rumble | 7:00 (PPG) |
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Taliercio
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Nardella, T. Byrne
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8:20
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| 3 | W | Lattery | Townsend, Jarmuth | 6:14 (4 x 4) |
| 3 | D | Baldwin | Gillings | 10:27 |
| Saves by Period | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player-Team | Min. | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
| Gastrock (D) | 59:15 |
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| Reynaert (W) |
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| Penalties | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time |
|
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Mahler | interference | 7:07 |
| 1 | W | Pasko | charging | 8:56 |
| 1 | D | Nardella | cross checking | 12:37 |
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Gagnon | high sticking | 14:19 |
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Coughlin | holding | 17:35 |
| 2 | W | Wilkinson | slashing | 3:41 |
| 2 | D | Coughlin | hitting after whistle | 3:41 |
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Pasko | hitting after whistle | 3:41 |
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Nardella | kneeing | 4:57 |
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Casella | checking from behind | 6:11 |
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Jarmuth | roughing | 8:57 |
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Casella | tripping | 12:43 |
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Rumble | slashing | 15:18 |
| 2 | D | Gillings | obstruction/holding | 17:07 |
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Miller | obstruction/holding | 4:21 |
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Summerfelt | obstruction/holding | 4:38 |
| 3 | D | Casella | roughing | 7:37 |
| 3 | D | Summerfelt | 10 minute misconduct | 7:37 |
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Jarmuth | holding | 8:00 |
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Martin | roughing | 17:01 |
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Casella | roughing | 17:01 |
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Rumble | playing without helmet | 17:01 |
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Lattery | roughing | 17:01 |
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Turner | cross checking | 18:49 |
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