Dartmouth 4 - Brown 1

Providence - For the first time since 1989, the Dartmouth men's hockey team left Meehan Auditorium with a win.

And it was because of someone who was all of eight years old back in 1989.

With the Big Green coming off a disappointing 7-2 defeat the night before, 18-year-old rookie goaltender Nick Boucher was nearly perfect in his first appearance, flagging down 35 saves as Dartmouth (1-1-0, 1-1-0 ECAC) earned a 4-1 win over Brown (0-3-0, 0-3-0).

Sophomore Mike Maturo scored the game-winning goal less than five minutes into the second period. After several Dartmouth forwards peppered netminder Graham McNally with a series of shots, Maturo dealt the final blow by collecting the puck in front of the net and firing it out of McNally's reach for a 2-0 Big Green advantage.

It was the first of two goals for Maturo, and it was all Dartmouth would need.

In his debut, Boucher showed few signs of nerves. He collected four saves in the first period, 16 in the second, and 15 in the third en route to the first triumph of his young career.

The Bears could not solve Boucher until there were three minutes left in the game, and by then the outcome was all but decided. The victory snappped a six game winless streak (0-5-1) for the Big Green, dating back to mid-February.

"I thought Boucher was really solid," said third-year head coach Bob Gaudet, who earned his first win over the Bears since coming to Dartmouth from the Brown coaching staff in 1997.

"For a freshman playing in his first game, I thought Nick was poised and under control. He never got rattled."

Said Boucher: "It's a good feeling to get that first win out of the way. It's good not to have to that monkey on our backs. A shutout would have been nice, but hopefully that will come. Everyone is very excited right now."

Dartmouth dominated the first period, exhibiting its physical, offensive style while taking 12 shots to Brown's four.

Forward Chris Baldwin opened the scoring for the Big Green early in the game. After teammate Dory Tisdale fired a blocked shot from the blueline, Baldwin collected the rebound and blasted it past goalie Graham McNally for the 1-0 advantage.

Brown turned the tables in the middle frame, outshooting the Big Green, 16-7. However, Dartmouth had two weapons to its advantage, one named Boucher and the other named Maturo. Maturo, a sophomore forward, tallied a pair of goals in the second period as the Big Green opened a comfortable 3-0 margin.

The teams traded lamp-lighters late in the third frame, as defenseman Pete Summerfelt answered Brown's lone goal with an empty-netter in the final minute.

"I was really pleased with the way we came out and battled. Our guys worked hard," Gaudet said. "We had some bounces go our way, and we were able to take advantage. We have a young group of guys, so it was big for us to come back and get this win. We played with a lot of determination."

Dartmouth will open a five-game homestand when it hosts Princeton this Friday night at Thompson Arena. Opening faceoff is 7 p.m.