Clarkson 3 - Dartmouth 5

Hanover, N.H. -- Dartmouth made a super statement on Super Sunday.

After falling behind, 3-1, to the Clarkson Golden Knights before 1,112 fans at Thompson Arena, the Big Green exploded for four unanswered goals from four different players to notch a 5-3 win, the team's first over Clarkson since 1992.

Sophomore Chris Taliercio began the comeback with his first goal of the season, and senior Ryan Poulton nailed a shot from the blueline to tie it at three entering the second intermission. The third period, thanks to a pair of freshman defenseman, belonged to Dartmouth. P.J. Martin tallied the game-winner with a one-timer early in the period, several minutes before Pete Summerfelt capped the scoring with an empty-netter in the final second.

The win was the first for the Big Green (6-9-4, 5-4-3 ECAC) over Clarkson (7-11-3, 2-6-3) since Nov. 14, 1992, a span of 13 games (0-12-1). Dartmouth has now won four of its last six contests, while Clarkson has dropped two straight.

"Our second goal was big for us," Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet said. "After that goal, we really got involved physically and I think we shut them down. I'm proud of the way my guys stuck together and really hung in there. Clarkson is a physical team. This is a big win for us."

At the most basic level, this game set up as a "You have to see it to believe it" situation for both teams.

Dartmouth, which has missed the playoffs for three straight seasons, has been one of the ECAC's biggest surprises this year, including a convincing sweep of Rensselaer and Union three weeks ago. Clarkson, on the other hand, began the season as the defending league champion but has struggled all year long, including a nine-game winless streak back in October and November.

From afar, these teams seemed headed in opposite directions, but they hadn't yet seen each other face-to-face. On Sunday, Dartmouth and Clarkson affirmed their newly attained positions in the league. Despite a strong early effort from the special teams, the Golden Knights were not able to muster enough offense to halt the Big Green's comeback, and Dartmouth moved into a tie with Yale for fourth place in the ECAC.

"This is a huge win for us," Gaudet said. "I thought we played great Friday night [in the 4-3 overtime loss to St. Lawrence]. The team was so disappointed in losing that game. I think the guys showed a ton of character to come back from a 3-1 deficit against a big, strong team in the second game in three nights."

The teams opened the scoring by trading power play goals early in the first period.

Clarkson got on the board first when sophomore Matt Poapst fired a tough-angle shot past goaltender Nick Boucher and into the back of the net, but the Big Green responded quickly when Chris Baldwin tallied a power play netter of his own, his second goal in as many games.

Junior Erik Cole, Clarkson's leading scorer, handed his team a brief two-goal advantage with a pair of highlight-reel efforts. The first came late in the opening period when the right winger skated end-to-end before dumping a wrister past Boucher. The second, coming early in the middle frame, saw Cole end a series of Clarkson shots with a slapshot between the pipes.

"Cole is a great player. He is an NHL caliber player," Gaudet said. "Every time he steps onto the ice, you know something is going to happen. When he scored that goal in the second period, Boucher didn't even have a chance. Even if he had seen the puck -- which he didn't because he was screened -- I don't think he could have stopped it. Cole uncorked it like it was nobody's business."

The Golden Knight 3-1 advantage wouldn't last. In fact, that's all they would get.

The Big Green pulled to within one when Dartmouth's newly inserted second line -- composed of freshman Chris Hontvet and sophomores Gary Hunter and Taliercio -- made its mark when Taliercio snuck the puck past goaltender Shawn Grant.

Soon after, Dartmouth struck again. This time, Poulton beat Grant, connecting for his third goal of the season with a long-range shot that never left the surface of the ice. That ended Grant's night -- freshman Karl Mattson assumed netminding duties for the Golden Knights -- but it wouldn't make much of a difference.

In the end, after Martin had tallied the game-winner and Summerfelt had nailed a last-second empty-netter to close the scoring, Boucher finished with 26 saves for the Big Green. For Clarkson, Grant flagged down 17 saves in limited duty, while Mattson finished the game with 10 saves.

"We played really well," Gaudet said. "I thought our guys did a really good job of protecting the puck and getting on the defensive side of people in our end. There were a couple of great plays, simple things like hitting the puck off the boards and over the blueline. These are the things that we're really trying to have the guys grasp.

"This was a great team effort."

Dartmouth will be back in action Thursday night when it travels to face Union, while Clarkson will return home to battle Princeton Friday night.

Big Green notes: Freshman Halsey Coughlin, sophomore Dan Casella and junior Peter Mahler -- normally the members of Dartmouth's second line -- were pulled in favor of freshman Chris Hontvet and sophomores Gary Hunter and Chris Taliercio. The move, in part, was to give Dartmouth a more physical presence against a strong Clarkson team. It also gave the trio some much-needed rest. Casella and Mahler hadn't missed a game all season . . . . With an assist on freshman P.J. Martin's goal, sophomore Frank Nardella moved into the team lead with 12 points (5g, 7a) . . . . The Big Green's next will face Clarkson in the second-to-last game of the season. Dartmouth hasn't won a game in Potsdam, N.Y., since Feb. 23, 1990 . . . . Dartmouth finished the night 2-for-3 on the power play, snapping an 0-for-16 drought. It was the Big Green's first 2-PPG game of the season.