Dartmouth Defeats RPI in First Round Series; Advances to ECAC Quarterfinals Against Union

Courtesy of Big League Pics

The men’s hockey team advanced to the ECAC quarterfinals in dramatic fashion Sunday night, stunning Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 5-4 with three unanswered goals in the third period. Brad Schierhorn ’16 shot the game-winner with 3:14 remaining.

The 5-4 win was Dartmouth’s first win despite trailing after the first two periods in two years.

The overarching theme of the intense three-game series, and Dartmouth’s season overall, was resiliency. Dartmouth, who started 2-11-1 due to a rash of injuries, was the series underdog and at first it showed in Game 1.

RPI dominated Dartmouth 4-1 Friday in Game 1, bombarding February’s ECAC Goaltender of the Month Charles Grant ’16 with 33 shots. Senior Ryan Haggerty, RPI’s leading scorer, netted two goals.

Dartmouth rebounded in Saturday’s Game 2, as Eric Neiley ’15, the Big Green's leading scorer, netted two goals in a 3-2 win to force Sunday’s game. Jesse Beamish ’15 scored the equalizer before Neiley won the game.

Neiley was on fire, netting two goals and having a third called off. Neiley’s two-goal effort was his third of the season. 

The stage was set for an epic winner-take-all Game 3 and both teams exceeded expectations.

RPI led at the end of the first period 2-1 and the second period 4-2. All RPI needed to do to advance was maintain its lead for 20 minutes.

But Neiley disagreed, cutting the lead to one 2:10 into the final period before Brandon McNally ’15 nailed the equalizer with 11:12 remaining. 

Schierhorn completed the comeback with a wrist shot into the top right corner, sending Dartmouth's bench into celebration. 

The key matchup heading into this weekend was between Grant and Haggerty. In the end, Haggerty may have won the head-to-head match-up, scoring four goals on Grant, but Dartmouth won the series.

If there had to be a most valuable player, though, it would probably be Neiley. Without him, Dartmouth would remain home next weekend. Even more important was the outstanding first line play of Neiley, McNally and Grant Opperman ’17, who combined helped lead Dartmouth to victory. 

Clarkson University defeated Princeton University on Sunday, making Dartmouth the lowest remaining seed in the ECAC tournament. Dartmouth will play No. 3 Union College next weekend in another best-of-three series for the chance to participate in the semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Dartmouth Travels to RPI for ECAC Playoff Showdown

The postseason fates of Dartmouth and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute depend on the performances of Charles Grant ’16 and junior Ryan Haggerty, making the showdown between both players the key match-up of the series.

“The team’s been playing really well over the last few weeks so we’re confident that we can pull out a couple wins,” Grant said.

After earning the 10th seed entering the ECAC Hockey First Round, Dartmouth (8-17-4, 7-13-2 ECAC) will be on the road squaring off against RPI (14-14-6, 8-9-5 ECAC). The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals.

Dartmouth heads to RPI who swept the season series against the Big Green, winning both matches 7-1 and 4-2. Dartmouth, however, has gone unbeaten in six of its past eight games and is a completely different team than it was when playing RPI earlier in the year.

By comparison, RPI has gone an improbable 4-4-2 over the past 10 games, oftentimes falling flat at inopportune moments. Last weekend, with the sixth seed on the line, RPI was annihilated 5-0 by Yale.

Dartmouth’s recent string of performances has given the players the confidence and the momentum to believe they can advance to the Quarterfinals with a couple good outings.

“ECAC Championship play is what we look forward to all year,” Tyler Sikura ’15 said.

This weekend will be the fifth time both teams have played each other in the playoffs. All-time, RPI is 7-5 against Dartmouth in playoff encounters, but split the series record 2-2.

“RPI is going to see a different team this weekend than they did earlier in the season,” Sikura said.

Dartmouth will try to take Haggerty, RPI’s biggest scoring threat, out of the game by keeping him away from the net, Grant said.

Haggerty leads RPI in goals, 24, and points, 14, with five game-winning shots while Grant has been one of the nation’s hottest goaltenders in recent weeks.

Earlier this week, Grant was named ECAC hockey men’s goaltender of the month for February, posting a 4-0-1 record, which included a historic shut-out of Cornell. Grant’s shut-out was the third shut-out all-time by a Dartmouth goaltender at Cornell in 54 years. The first ever shut-out occurred in 1927.

This weekend will also be the first time Grant will face RPI’s offensive lines this season as he was not in the net during both previous outings against RPI.

If Haggerty is effectively taken out of the game, senior Brock Higgs and junior Matt Neal, who have combined for 24 goals and 52 points, can fill in nicely for Haggerty, but they won’t be able to match his superior production.

Grant will need to maintain his stellar play to keep RPI from netting too many goals that could sink Dartmouth’s hopes. If Grant can keep RPI from scoring more than two goals in each game, Dartmouth can counter with its first and second lines.

For its first line, Dartmouth will likely keep Eric Neiley ’15, Brandon McNally ’15 and Grant Opperman ’17 together.

Together, the three forwards have been much more productive as a unit than when they’ve been split up. Unfortunately, although they combined for 26 goals and 55 points on the season, including 10 on the power play, their aggressiveness has limited their effectiveness at times.

McNally leads the team in penalties with 27 in 27 games while Neiley is third with 11 penalties.

For Dartmouth to upset RPI, the first line will need to avoid penalties yet somehow maintain the aggression that allows them to be effective.

Sikura serves as the nucleus of the second line and delivers a significant change-up. Although he was out for a large chunk of the season, Sikura has rebounded and provided much-needed depth for Dartmouth’s short-handed, injury-reduced squad.

Since returning, Sikura has notched two game-winning goals, including a dramatic overtime shot in the win over Brown two weeks ago.

Puck drop will occur both Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m., and if a third game is necessary, Sunday’s winner-take-all showdown will also be at 7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth Softball Goes 2-2 in James Madison Tournament

Cold weather in the mid-Atlantic gave softball a day off on Friday. Although temperatures remained relatively cool through the weekend, Dartmouth started heating up as the team competed in the James Madison Tournament in Harrisonburg, Virg., splitting consecutive double-headers on Saturday and Sunday.

“We made a little fire under ourselves to really get us going and get us playing as a team,” Kelsey Miller ’16 said.

Dartmouth bounced back from a rough weekend last week in the Florida International Tournament but, due to cold weather, had to wait until Saturday to play as both of Friday’s games were cancelled.

If anything, Dartmouth was more prepared to play in the cold than its opponents because of Hanover’s cold weather, Karen Chaw ’17 said.

Dartmouth went on to defeat Penn State 6-3 for its first win of the season before caving to Fairfield 7-3.

“It was really exciting to see the team improve from the changes we made since we last played in Florida,” Chaw said.

Chaw won the Ivy League’s first 2014 Rookie of the Week after hitting .333, with a two-run homer and three RBIs, last weekend in the Florida International Tournament. She continued to stand out in Dartmouth’s batting order this weekend, hitting a pair of home runs on Saturday for five RBIs.

Kristen Rumley ’15 and Miller also contributed with three hits each, and Rumley went on to earn her first win of the season, allowing three runs on 10 hits.

Chaw’s first homer couldn’t have come at a better against Penn State. Down 2-0 in the fifth, Chaw homered for three, putting Dartmouth into the lead. A solo shot to left-center allowed Penn State to tie the game, but Dartmouth seized the lead for good with an RBI double by Brianna Lohmann ’16.

In the top of the seventh, Dartmouth added another two runs to seal the game off Chloe Madill ‘17’s double.

The second half of Saturday’s double-header started badly for Dartmouth, as Fairfield jumped to a quick 3-0 lead with a three-run homer in the first. Dartmouth responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by Chaw, her second of the day.

Fairfield added another run in the fifth for a 4-2 lead before exploding for another three-run inning in the sixth.

With the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh, Kara Curosh ’14 crushed a solo home run to left field.

Whereas Chaw was the offensive star for Dartmouth on Saturday, Miller took on the role Sunday, generating five hits on the day, including a lead-off home run against Fairfield. Chaw also performed strongly, notching two hits and two RBIs against James Madison University.

In the first game of its Sunday double-header, a rematch against Fairfield, Dartmouth avenged its loss the previous day with a 4-1 outing.

Rumley was the girl on fire in earning her second win, throwing yet another complete game with nine strikeouts, four hits and just the one run. Rumley’s afternoon was made much easier with excellent run support. She herself notched an RBI, scoring McCalmon on a double in the seventh to seal the game.

Fairfield responded to Miller’s lead-off homer in the bottom of the first with a triple that brought home Fairfield’s leadoff hitter.

Neither team could generate hits over the next five innings as Rumley and her Fairfield counterpart, senior Rebecca Trott, shut down the opposing offense until the sixth inning when Katie McEachern ‘16’s home run to deep center broke the tie, making it 3-1.

Dartmouth nearly eked out a victory over JMU, but a walk-off double stole Dartmouth’s moment and handed JMU a dramatic 3-2 win.

“We did a lot of the little things right such as stringing hits together,” Miller said. “Even though we ended up losing, it was definitely one of our best games.”

Rumley’s pitching services were once again called into action, and she held JMU scoreless for the first five innings. Unfortunately, Dartmouth’s batting lineup was also held in check.

Dartmouth finally scored in the fifth as Chaw’s hit to center field scored runners on first and second, putting Dartmouth on top 2-0 with two innings left.

Needing just six outs for another victory, Rumley tried to close the game but JMU finally scored on a single and a sacrifice fly, tying the game heading into the final inning. McCalmon then relieved Rumley, who ended her day after pitching almost 13 straight innings.

Dartmouth loomed with runners in scoring position but Chaw, who had been batting strong all weekend and was the reason Dartmouth was tied, popped out. After a sacrifice bunt to put a runner in scoring position, JMU would win the game with a double to center field that scored the winning run.

Dartmouth won’t play again until Mar. 14 when the Big Green heads west to compete in the University of California-Santa Barbara Tournament and the LMU Tournament.

“As a team we’re working in practice to get better and I don’t think this is the end of our improvements,” Chaw said. “The team will continue to progressively improve.”

Dartmouth Figure Skating Places Second at Liberty University

Sporting fluffy green stick-on mustaches off the ice, the club figure skating team placed second at the 2014 Liberty University Intercollegiate Competition in Lynchburg, Va. this weekend, behind only the University of Delaware. The team finished with 105 points, three points ahead of Boston University, but 36 short of the Blue Hens’ 141.

Dartmouth sent 18 skaters to the competition, earning a total of 18 medals in 16 events.

“Nearly all of our competitors scored points for Dartmouth, which was amazing,” team member Clara Guo ’17 said.

Early on Saturday, Dartmouth led in team points, which are awarded to skaters who place in the top five. Maddy Thornton ’17, Jojo Miller ’14, Caroline Knoop ’15, Alyssa Mahatme ’17 earned silver medals in their respective programs.

Katie Bates ’16 also finished third in the senior ladies long program.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh ’17 dominated the senior men’s short program, sweeping ordinals, while Thornton won the novice ladies long program, landing a double lutz-double toe combination to the music of Santana.

In the dance events, Kelsey Anspach ’15 placed third in the junior solo dance and first in the novice solo dance. Pinar Gurel, a Ph.D. candidate at the Geisel School of Medicine, placed second in the intermediate solo dance, and Victoria Rackohn ’14 and Iris Yu ’14 placed second and third, respectively, in the juvenile solo dance.

Despite leading for most of Saturday, Dartmouth fell behind at the end of the day, trailing Delaware 76-93 after the high team maneuver event, in which Dartmouth’s team of Mahatme, Mahbanoozadeh, Knoop, Kirsten Seagers ’15 and Gurel placed second.

On Sunday, Thornton, Guo and Miller competed in the intermediate team maneuvers, earning gold. Seagers and Knoop placed second and third, respectively, in the junior ladies’ championship long program.

“This competition showed us the depth of talent on our team, and it was inspiring for us to watch each other skate,” Miller, a co-captain, said.

The team has placed in the top three for the past two competitions and has a good chance to qualify for the national championships, Knoop, the other co-captain said.

“We are a team that improves throughout the season, and this weekend set us up nicely for the rest of the season,” she said.

Each season, the three colleges with the most points in each conference are invited to compete at the U.S. Intercollegiate Team Figure Skating Championships. This year, the national competition will be hosted by Adrian College in Adrian, Mich., from April 11-13.

In November, the team placed third at the Cornell University Intercollegiate Competition, 10 points behind Boston University and 35 points behind Delaware.

The team has improved since the fall competition, Miller said.

“We’re starting to find our footing on the ice,” Miller said. “There were a lot of breakthrough performances from our younger skaters who are becoming more and more confident on the ice.”

Later this month, the team will compete again, this time at the University of Delaware.

Dartmouth is developing a small rivalry with Delaware. Last season, Dartmouth defeated Delaware in fall 2012 by 14 points. Delaware would go on to avenge its loss with wins over Dartmouth in March 2013, 125-117, and in the national championships, 98-93. Prior to that, Dartmouth won nationals in 2012 and was the runner-up in 2010, behind BU and came in second place behind Delaware in 2011.

To qualify for the national championships, Dartmouth must remain in the top three schools in the Eastern conference. If Dartmouth places third or better at the Delaware competition, the team will qualify and return to nationals.

“I don’t want to jinx anything,” Yu said. “But I think we are pretty hopeful.”

This weekend’s competition provided Yu with plenty of fun, but also some bittersweet, memories, she said. She will cherish the moments of massage trains, eating dinner as a team and winning “Who want to be a millionaire?” while traveling. 

For Miller, his Dartmouth career has come full circle. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m feeling all of the feels right now,” Miller said. “Liberty was my first competition ever with the team my freshman fall.” 

Since his first competition, he has won gold and silver at nationals, competed in every competition over the last 3.5 years and helped organize nationals last year when it was held at Dartmouth with people he considers his family. 

“This weekend was a blast, full of nostalgia of past experiences with the team and getting to watch the team continue to grow,” Miller said. “The skaters are a riot, and it's always great to hang out and befriend skaters from other colleges. Layer the experience with lots of traveling and no sleep, and it provides for unforgettable times.”

Written by the same author, this story was originally published by The Dartmouth on March 4, 2014.