Dartmouth 3 - UNH 6

By Dave Sherzer

MANCHESTER, N.H. — "Big Game Bouche" became "Benched Bouce."

Junior goaltender Nick Boucher, one of only two NHL draft picks on the Dartmouth roster, continued his season-long struggles with the worst performance of his career Thursday night, allowing six goals in less than two periods as New Hampshire cruised past the Big Green, 6-3, in front of a record-setting crowd of 10,053 at brand-new Verizon Wireless Arena.

Dartmouth took a 2-1 lead at the 17:53 mark of the first period on a goal from Manchester native Mike Maturo, but after that, the Wildcats went to town. They scored a number of different ways -- from the right circle, off a one-timer, off rebounds and off nice individual efforts -- before Boucher was lifted in favor of freshman Dan Yacey with 5:29 to go in the second period.

The Wildcats' success -- they lit the lamp four times in the middle frame alone -- allowed them to reclaim Granite State bragging rights and improve to 11-3-2 overall (6-1-2 Hockey East). Dartmouth (4-4-1, 3-2-1 ECAC) slipped back to the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 17.

"The second period really hurt us," head coach Bob Gaudet said. "I thought we had come around after a slow start in the first period, but UNH is an excellent team and they're very hard to come back on. They deserved to win."

Boucher's recurring problems are of a curious nature because of his strong reputation in the ECAC and in college hockey in general. He was expected to have a good season after winning big games for Dartmouth in its run to the ECAC semifinals last March.

But he has not been himself since Day One. Even in Dartmouth's 4-1-1 start, many among the Big Green felt that Boucher was not up to his absolute best and quietly waited for him to display the All-Star form that they had come to expect.

In the past few weeks, Boucher's problems have been exposed as the Big Green has fallen on hard times, dropping its third game in a row in Thursday night's loss.

Boucher allowed six goals on 27 shots in 34:31.

"I think, at times, we have to give [Boucher] some support out there too," said Gaudet, who announced after the game that sophomore Darren Gastrock will start between the pipes in Saturday night's game against Merrimack. "Nick is a heck of a good goaltender. He's had a great career. It's a team game and I think we need to play better defensively at times."

Playing in front of the largest crowd ever to witness an indoor collegiate sporting event in state history -- the old record was 7,272 at a UNH men's basketball game -- the Big Green was actually in this game through one period of play. UNH junior Josh Prudden opened the scoring, but Dartmouth's top line sprung into action late in the period to build a brief lead.

Mike Murray scored Dartmouth's first goal in acrobatic fashion, taking a pass from Maturo with his back turned to the net. Murray turned around and wristed one past Matt Carney (34 saves) to make it 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, Maturo snapped a blinding shot between the pipes off a faceoff on a power play. Maturo, who attended nearby Belmont Hill before college, now has 14 points in nine games.

"When I looked at the schedule and saw we were playing here, it put a smile on my face," said Maturo, who received a 10-minute misconduct late in the second period, a rarity for him. "It would have been sweeter if we had won."

Indeed, the Wildcats scored 24 seconds after Maturo's goal and never quit, tallying twice in the opening two minutes of the middle frame.

Lee Stempniak scored for Dartmouth at the 2:20 mark of Period 2 to make it a one-goal game, but the Wildcats tallied a couple more in the next 10 minutes to claim a commanding 6-3 advantage.

Colin Hemingway was the biggest star for the boys from Durham, tallying two goals to go along with four assists as he played a part in all six UNH goals.

"Anytime you get six points and a 'W,' you're definitely going to be happy," Hemingway said after the game. "I worked for each and every one of those points. I was skating hard. I guess it was just one of those nights."

Although the game took on a more defensive tone after Boucher's exit, Yacey played well in his collegiate debut. An athletic netminder, Yacey (21 saves) made a number of nice saves in his 25:29, including a sparkling glove stop on a Steve Saviano blast from the circle late in the game.

On the other end, Tim Collins from Lebanon made his career debut in the UNH net, playing the last 2:48 and stopping the one shot he faced.

Dartmouth looks to get back into the win column when it hosts Merrimack Saturday night at Thompson Arena.

Big Green Notes: Dan Casella, who entered the game with a shoulder injury, played a few shifts but did not appear in the final two periods. He apparently injured the other shoulder. His status for Saturday night's game is uncertain.