Union 1 - Dartmouth 5

Hanover, N.H. - Two two-goal outbursts and another defensive gem later, the Dartmouth Big Green now has its first two-game winning streak of the season.

The Big Green potted two goals in the first two minutes and 10 seconds of the game, and then added another two in a 22-second span of the second period, providing more than enough offense en route to a 5-1 win over the visiting Union Dutchmen Saturday night before 2,412 fans at Thompson Arena.

The victory, combined with a 2-0 upset of seventh-ranked Rensselaer the evening before, gives Dartmouth (4-7-4, 3-2-3 ECAC) its first four-point weekend of the season and catapults the Big Green, formerly in ninth place, into a three-way tie for fifth in the ECAC standings. Dartmouth now has a five-game winning streak over the Dutchmen and a four-game unbeaten streak overall at home.

With the loss, Union falls to 5-13-0 (3-5-0) on the season.

"We had talked about playing two good games and six periods over a weekend, and that's what we did," said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet. "I thought we played hard tonight. We played against a team that's really physical and tough, and we found a way to score some goals, which was nice."

For Union, the loss came a night after dropping a disappointing 3-2 decision to the Vermont Catamounts. The Dutchmen carried a 2-1 lead into the third period of that game, but permitted two goals late in regulation to notch the defeat.

That negative momentum carried right into this game, as the Dutchmen found themselves with a two-goal deficit less than three minutes into the action.

The Union forwards worked hard enough to hit several posts throughout the contest, but in the end could not beat Dartmouth rookie netminder Nick Boucher, who flagged down 28 saves in improving his record to 4-3-3.

"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to our hockey club right now," Union head coach Kevin Sneddon said following the loss. "There are a lot of guys in that locker room who think they're better than they are. Hopefully, this will show them that you have to work to earn your points in this league."

Dartmouth, which faced - and lost to - four ranked teams throughout the course of its nonconference play in December and early January, is finally reaping the early rewards for all of its hard work.

A night after shutting out the normally offense-happy RPI Engineers, 2-0, the Big Green barely let the Dutchmen have a say. The team's first two-goal explosion began just 23 seconds into the game when freshman defenseman P.J. Martin cradled a pass from center Frank Nardella and sent a 50-foot shot on net. Finding its way through heavy traffic, the puck snuck past Dutchmen netminder Brandon Snee to give Dartmouth the early 1-0 advantage.

Martin wasn't done. Less than two minutes later, with the Big Green skating on a 4-on-3 power play, the freshman one-timed a feed from defensive partner Ryan Poulton through the air and into the back of the net. The two goals, the first of Martin's career, provided a big lift in the early-going.

"We came out strong right away," said Nardella, who recorded a four-point night, tallying two goals and two assists. "The first two shifts were strong for us. It's huge to score two goals in the first two shifts of the game. It's a big lift, and I think it propelled us the rest of night."

Sneddon said, "We found ourselves in a hole and we didn't battle back. We weren't a threat to them at all tonight. That was a pretty easy two points for them."

The Big Green broke the game open with the pair of goals midway through the second period. The first came from sophomore Jamie Herrington, who took a beautiful pass from blueliner Pete Summerfelt at center ice and back-handed a shot past Snee on the ensuing breakaway.

Only 22 seconds later, Nardella intercepted the puck in the Union zone and fired a 10-foot wrister between the pipes to notch the first of his two goals and hand Dartmouth a four-goal lead, the team's largest advantage of the season.

That ended Snee's night between the pipes, and backup Marc Wise, a freshman, came in to go the rest of the way. Wise was dependable throughout the remainder of the contest, allowing just one goal while watching his team break up the shutout when junior Alex Todd lit the lamp late in the middle frame.

Nardella closed the scoring when he beat Wise in the opening seconds of the third period.

"I think we're beginning to see the result of all the tough games we've played," Gaudet said. "We played at a pretty good pace tonight. I think that's something that's a carry-over from playing some of those teams.

"You have to play at a face pace at this level to create offense. You have to skate, you have to be physical, and you have to work really hard. You get what you put into it, and I think that's a big thing for us to recognize."

Each team will meet its traveling partner next weekend. Dartmouth will visit Vermont next Saturday night while Union, now 10th in the standings, will begin a two-day home-and-home series by hosting Renssalaer next Friday night.

Big Green notes: Dartmouth's last weekend sweep came over Winter Carnival weekend last February 12-13 . . . . The Big Green has now won five straight over the Dutchmen . . . . Dartmouth now has a four-game unbeaten streak at home . . . . This weekend's games marked the first time all season that head coach Bob Gaudet made no changes to his offensive or defensive lineups from one game to the next. Dartmouth's line chart in the 2-0 win over RPI and 5-1 triumph over Union were exactly identical, except that senior goalie Eric Almon was not listed the second night because of the flu . . . . Frank Nardella's four-point night ties him with Mike Maturo for the team lead in points. Nardella and Maturo both have five goals and four assists to their credit.