Yale at Dartmouth 11/17/00

HANOVER, N.H. - The top line remained hot. A sizeable crowd showed up. Heck, even the power play came to life.

Still, the Dartmouth Big Green couldn't shut down Yale's vaunted first line, and the combined four goals and nine points from those three Bulldog forwards were enough to afford Yale a gritty 5-4 win Friday night at Thompson Arena.

Dartmouth received two goals from sophomore right winger Mike Murray, while linemates Mike Maturo (one goal, one assist) and Kent Gillings (one assist) contributed to the effort as well.

The Big Green (1-4, 1-2 ECAC) finished the night 2-for-6 on the power play, but still couldn't avoid its second consecutive defeat.

"I liked everything but the final score," head coach Bob Gaudet said, "but the score is the bottom line. And this is a bottom-line business. I think we'll find a way."

Yale's dangerous first line struck from all angles, with Hobey Baker Award candidate Jeff Hamilton leading the charge with a goal and three assists. Sophomore left winger Nick Deschenes added two goals - both with the man advantage - as the 14th-ranked Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1) finished the night 3-for-3 on the power play.

"It's kind of been made easy for me," said Deschenes. "Jeff [Hamilton] and Ben [Stafford] control the puck a lot and make smart plays. If I'm just positioned right, I'm bound to get some opportunities. I was fortunate to score a couple goals tonight."

The teams skated to a highly competitive first period that ended in a 1-1 tie.

Dartmouth scored with 2:48 left in the period, as Murray tallied his first of the season off a 2-on-1 breakaway, opting to fire the puck on net rather than pass it to Gillings. Murray's goal was his first in almost a year, and Gillings' assist on the play gave him six points in five games.

The Big Green appeared to take control from there, but Yale's first line struck with nine seconds to go in the period. Skating along the boards, the dangerous Hamilton slid the puck across the crease to Stafford, who one-timed it past goaltender Nick Boucher (17 saves) for his fourth of the season.

Dartmouth reclaimed its one-goal lead early in the middle frame, as Murray beat goaltender Dan Lombard (34 saves) on a power play for the first two-goal game of his career.

The home team, armed with momentum, was outshooting Yale by a wide margin midway through the second, but the Bulldogs quickly took control by showing effectiveness on the power play.

Deschenes made it 2-2 with a rebound goal, banging home a Hamilton attempt. Four minutes later, Deschenes lit the lamp again, tipping a Jeff Dwyer shot past a helpless Boucher. Both of Deschenes' goals came in man-advantage situations.

The Bulldogs appeared to ice the game early in the third period, beating the normally dependable Boucher for two quick goals. The first came on a beautiful play by Hamilton, while sophomore Evan Wax gave Yale a comfortable 5-2 margin just over a minute later.

The Big Green made it interesting by cutting its deficit to one, as juniors Maturo and Chris Taliercio each scored midway through the period. But Dartmouth could never bridge the gap, as a strong showing from Lombard allowed Yale to fend off a series of late power plays.

"We took the late penalties, which bothered me," Taylor said. "And then we gave up an even-strength goal [to Taliercio]. But I thought we showed a lot of character to pull out the win on the road."

The Big Green will be back in action Saturday night when Princeton comes to town.

Big Green Notes: Defenseman Carl Desjardins made his first appearance since last season's Yale game at Thompson - a span of 32 contests. Desjardins, who paired with freshman Mike Turner and took Pascal Lalonde's place in the lineup, missed a good portion of the 1999-2000 campaign with a serious concussion. ... In an attempt to bolster a Dartmouth offense that was connecting for only 2.5 goals per game, head coach Bob Gaudet made some line changes. The first line stayed the same, but Jason Costa joined Ryan Sinclair and Jamie Herrington on the second line; Chris Taliercio returned to team up with Frank Nardella and Chris Baldwin on the third line; and Michael Byrne moved from the second line to replace Halsey Coughlin on the fourth. Byrne skated with center Dan Casella and right winger Peter Mahler. Defensively, sophomores P.J. Martin and Pete Summerfelt switched places. Martin partnered with Trevor Byrne, while Summerfelt paired with Brian Van Abel. ... Murray's last goal came on Nov. 27, 1999, against Western Michigan. ... Mike Maturo now has a goal in three consecutive games, a feat no Dartmouth player achieved last season. In fact, Maturo is the last Big Green player ever to do it - he crafted a three-game streak as a freshman from Feb. 12-19. ... Taliercio now has two goals - exactly half his output from all of last season. Taliercio tallied four goals and four assists in 22 games last season. ... Freshman Darren Gastrock replaced Nick Boucher in goal after Yale's fifth goal and played a perfect 17:33, making seven saves.

Scoring by Period
Team	1	2	3	Total
Yale	1	2	2	5
Dartmouth	1	1	2	4

Goals
Period	Team	Goal	Assists	Time
1	D	Murray	Gillings, Maturo	17:12
1	Y	Stafford	Hamilton, Deschenes	19:51

2	D	Murray	Martin, T. Byrne	3:44 (PPG)
2	Y	Deschenes	Hamilton, Wax	9:15 (PPG)
2	Y	Deschenes	Dwyer, Hamilton	13:18 (PPG)

3	Y	Hamilton	Wax, Deschenes	0:49 (PPG)
3	Y	Wax	Earl, Sauve	1:53
3	D	Maturo	Summerfelt, T. Byrne	7:53 (PPG)
3	D	Taliercio	Nardella	10:40

Saves by Period
Player-Team	Min.	1	2	3	Total
Lombard (Y)	60:00	8	14	12	34
Boucher (D)	41:53	6	11	0	17
Gastrock (D)	17:33	-	-	7	7

Penalties
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time
1	D	Mahler	hitting after whistle	11:56
1	Y	Rodgers	roughing	11:56

2	Y	Bauman	interference	1:16
2	Y	bench	too many men	3:22
2	D	Casella	roughing goalie	6:50
2	Y	Dart	hitting after whistle	6:50
2	D	Summerfelt	obstruction holding	8:50
2	D	Murray	obstruction holding	11:52
2	Y	Gauger	hooking	14:13
2	D	T. Byrne	interference	19:33

3	Y	Jelenic	roughing	3:11
3	D	Taliercio	holding	3:11
3	Y	Dart	tipping	3:21
3	Y	Dwyer	roughing goalie	5:56
3	Y	Jelenic	cross checking	7:36

Yale 5 - Dartmouth 4

Friday, November 17, 2000

Attendance: 2,065

Scoring by Period

Team 1 2 3 Total

Yale 1 2 2 5

Dartmouth 1 1 2 4

Power Play Goals/Power Play Opportunities

Saves by Period

Player-Team Min. 1 2 3 Total

Lombard (Y) 60:00 8 14 12 34

Boucher (D) 41:53 6 11 0 17

Gastrock (D) 17:33 - - 7 7