The Takeaway: Yale Struggles Against Dartmouth, Loses 7-4
Posted by: Josh SeguinHanover, NH.- The first two periods were an offensive showcase, or a showcase in a lack of defense, as the teams skated to a 6-3 Dartmouth lead after two. In the first six and a half minutes the teams combined for four goals. The lead was enough for Dartmouth and they would hold on to win 7-4. Dartmouth improved to 2-0-1 (1-0-0) and Yale falls to 1-1-1 (0-1-0).
Dartmouth raced out to an early lead three minutes and 27 seconds in as Matt Lindblad scored on a bad rebound off the pad of Yale goaltender, Nick Maricic. The 1-0 lead would not last long as Yale’s, Stu Wilson, would send a puck from right below the goal-line off the shoulder of Dartmouth goaltender, Charles Grant, to tie the game at one. The tie would last all of 47 seconds as Eric Robinson received a feed in the high slot and sent a wicked wrister past the Yale goaltender to make it 2-1. Dartmouth would again be the beneficiary of a bad rebound by Maricic as Dustin Walsh and Eric Linblad came in on a 2 on 1. Walsh took the original shot and Linblad put it under Maricic to make it 3-1 and end the goalies night. Yale would again make it a one goal game off a rebound goal scored by Antoine Lageniere late in the first period.
In the second period, Dartmouth would add three more to their total, while Yale added another. Brandon McNally and Eric Robinson scored even strength and Tyler Sikura scored a shorthanded goal for Dartmouth. Antoine Laganiere added his second of the night for Yale at 12:35 of the second to make it a three goal game after two. Dartmouth had three players with two goals, as Tyler Sikura, Matt Lindblad and Eric Robinson all had two markers in the game.
What I Saw
Yale struggled on defense for much of the first two periods. Defensive breakdowns were abounded throughout, even when Dartmouth wasn’t scoring. From leaving skaters wide-open in the slots and just bad positioning the Yale defense fought the puck the whole night.
What I Thought
The youth in the Yale defensive corps really showed throughout the night. Yale dressed one senior and four underclassmen on the night. Positioning looked the role and their goalies did not bail them out either. Nick Marcic started in the Yale net and gave up three goals in the first six plus minutes. He gave up two off rebounds that could have been saved, but his defense failed to back him up and Dartmouth pounced to an early 3-1 lead.
Dartmouth’s goaltender, Charles Grant, struggled on the night as well. Even though he was spotted six goals in the first two periods, he fought the puck. The first goal given up to Yale was especially bad. It was on a below the goal-line shot by Stu Wilson. It could have changed the early momentum in the game but it didn’t and Dartmouth cruised for much of the game. The response to this goal by Dartmouth was the key to their victory.
What They Said
Yale Coach Keith Allain said: “I thought our guys fought hard until the end but you aren’t going to win many hockey games giving up seven goals. I actually thought we played better tonight than last week, but the scoreboard is all that matters.”
Dartmouth Coach Bob Gaudet said: “I thought it was an entertaining. In the first period I felt we played really well. They are an excellent team and we got timely goals all night.”
Dartmouth Forward Tyler Sikura said, “Yale never lets up on us and my shorthanded goal was a key one in the game. We knew we had to score and keep coming, and we did.”
What They Didn’t Say
Both Yale coach Keith Allain, and Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet were tight lipped on who their goaltenders would be in their respective Saturday night games. All three goalies that played in the game fought the puck and it will be interesting to see who Yale starts especially, but also Darmouth as well.
What Else You Should Know
Yale will play Harvard on Saturday night and will look for a big rebound game at the Bright Hockey Center.
Dartmouth will look to continue their strong start on Saturday night at home against Brown. The Bears come in off a loss to Harvard on Friday night.
Dartmouth had a pair of two goal scorers for the first time since December 12, 2010, where Adam Estoclet and Nick Walsh each scored two in a 6-5 loss to Vermont. In the game they had three two goal scorers.
November 3rd, 2012 at 10:35 pm
[…] Mass.- Yale needed a bounce-back performance after their game at Dartmouth last night and received exactly that as they outworked Harvard for 60 minutes and defeated them […]