Officials: Scott Hansen (R), Glen Cooke, Brian Caie
Player Perspective: Mike Maturo
Player Perspective: Pete Summerfelt
By Dave Sherzer
PRINCETON – The victory train, in the form of a Vermont Transit bus, rolled down the East Coast this weekend and left species of canine and feline in its wake.
After disposing of Yale, 5-2, Saturday night, Dartmouth remained in high gear, notching its second big ECAC win in less than 24 hours. The Big Green overcame an early deficit to roll over the Princeton Tigers, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at Hobey Baker Rink.
The two wins gave Dartmouth (3-1-1, 3-1-1 ECAC) its first road sweep of a conference weekend since Nov. 13-4, 1987, when the Big Green topped Yale and Brown.
"It’s a tough road trip. I said that before we came out here," said head coach Bob Gaudet. "I’m sure it has been a long time since we had a road sweep, but that’s history. Our kids played hard every shift. It’s a big weekend for us. Four points on the road is big."
Co-captain Mike Maturo continues to be a superstar for the Big Green.
"Metro" had a goal and two assists against Princeton, giving him five points on the weekend and a league-leading 10 points in five conference games.
His goal against the Tigers may have been his prettiest of the season, as the New Hampshire native took a centering pass from behind the net and had the presence of mind to wait a split second before backhanding Dartmouth’s first goal of the game between netminder Dave Stathos’ legs.
Maturo now has six goals and four assists in five games.
"I got another lucky one tonight," the co-captain said. "We’re really just working hard. The great thing is that my linemates are playing great. It’s fun."
The game was over soon after it started, as Dartmouth displayed its most dominant performance since perhaps the memorable 7-0 crushing of Harvard in Hanover last February.
The Big Green outshot the Tigers by an astonishing 21-4 in the first period and continued to pour it on, holding a 17-7 shooting advantage in the second period and 8-6 in the third to finish the game with 46 shots to Princeton’s 17.
The Tigers (1-5-0, 1-3-0) scored the first goal but melted once the Big Green figured out what it had to do, which was to challenge senior netminder Dave Stathos (33 saves) – who was being observed by a number of professional hockey scouts – with a plethora of shots from all angles.
Maturo tied the game at 1 with his pretty goal midway through the opening period before Byrne made it 2-1, punching one in off a fat rebound off Stathos’ pads. Summerfelt made it 3-1 after one period when he scored with 20 seconds remaining, sending one in from the point. Byrne’s and Summerfelt’s goals came on the power play.
The Big Green showed no mercy in the middle frame, as Snizek netted the first of his career when he one-timed a pass from Byrne before Summerfelt recorded his second of the night at the 7:46 mark.
From there, Boucher (15 saves) and the Big Green clamped down en route to the convincing win.
"This is always a very tough place for us to play, and I thought we played great," Gaudet said. "We played very solid hockey all weekend long. This is a big weekend for us."
The Big Green continues its grueling schedule when it hosts Holy Cross of the recently minted Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tuesday night.
Statistics
| Scoring by Period | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
| Dartmouth |
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| Princeton |
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Dartmouth: 2 for 3
Princeton: 0 for 3
| Goals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Goal | Assists | Time |
| 1 | P | Fouladgar-Mercer | Masear | 5:14 |
| 1 | D | Maturo | Gillings | 11:19 |
| 1 | D | Byrne | Murray, Summerfelt | 16:15 (PPG) |
| 1 | D | Summerfelt | Maturo, Gillings | 19:40 (PPG, GWG) |
| 2 | D | Snizek | Byrne, Casella | 3:49 |
| 2 | D | Summerfelt | Nardella, Maturo | 7:46 |
| 3 | P | Patton | Hursh, Paquin | 7:42 |
| Saves by Period | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player-Team | Min. | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total |
| Boucher (D) | 60:00 |
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| Stathos (P) | 40:00 | 18 | 15 | - | 33 |
| Nomeland (P) |
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Penalties
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Team | Player | Penalty | Time |
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D
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Summerfelt | hitting from behind | 12:13 |
| 1 | P | Beaney | obstruction holding | 15:13 |
| 1 | P | Del Monte | delay of game | 19:35 |
| 2 | D | Maturo | hitting after whistle | 5:13 |
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Del Monte | tripping | 4:18 |
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Taliercio | high-sticking | 19:55 |
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