UNH-Dartmouth Tie New Hampshire Showdown: Goal-by-Goal

Grayson Downing 2 Goals

Adam Clark 33 Saves

DURHAM, NH - It's been 15 years since the Dartmouth College hockey team has visited the Whittemore Center. The 2014-15 version of the Big Green have played very well against top-ranked teams with victories over Boston University, Denver, and Union College and a tie against Harvard. With an overall record of 6-4-3, Dartmouth entered the came as a favorite over the 5-11-2 UNH Wildcats. However, UNH has been on a bit of a positive streak with 2 wins (Maine & Nebraska-Omaha) and an overtime loss (UNO) in the last 4 games.

For the third game in a row, UNH sent out the top three forward lines of Thrush-Downing-Kelleher, Eiserman-Poturalski-Willows and Foegele-Smith-Correale. Junior defenseman Brett Pesce, in his third game since returning from a knee injury, was again paired with sophomore Matias Cleleand as starters on the blueline. Stalwart freshman Adam Clark was in goal - he has started in 18 out of UNH's 19 games this season. One interesting change behind the bench was the switching of roles of Associate Coaches Scott Borek and Glenn Stewart. For this game, Borek coached the defensemen while Stewart coached the forwards.

Dartmouth got on the board with a power play goal in the first stanza. UNH struggled to generate shots on Dartmouth goalie James Kruger over the first period and a half. Their 8th shot on goal came midway through the second period off the stick of Cleland. It beat Kruger and appeared to tie the game 1-1. However, the goal was disallowed after a lengthy video review. The officials decided that UNH had been offside. Dartmouth went ahead 2-0 early in the third after stealing the puck in the low slot.

Senior Alternate Captain Grayson Downing has been on fire lately. He followed up his hat trick against Maine and game-winner against Nebraska-Omaha with both of UNH's goals against the Big Green. Downing is now the leading goal scorer on the squad with 10 goals and is tied for 5th among Hockey East goal scorers.

Goal-by-Goal Breakdown

PERIOD 1

Brad Schierhorn (From Patterson & Robinson)
11:56 of Period 1 - Dartmouth 1, UNH 0
~ Dartmouth was on the power play after a tripping penalty on freshman Cameron Marks.
~ Patterson's slapshot split the UNH penalty kill unit. An uncovered Shierhorn redirected the puck over Adam Clark's right pad.



Casey Thrush Bids
~ UNH only managed 3 official shots on goal in the first period. Senior Alternate Captain Casey Thrush challenged the Dartmouth goalie a couple times.



Adam Clark Saves
~ In all, Clark faced 35 shots on goal and he made 33 saves.
~ Dartmouth peppered Clark with 12 shots in the first period and he kept the score close.



PERIOD 2 - No Scoring

Matias Cleland's No-Goal, Goal
~ About 8 minutes into the second period, UNH went on their third power play. Cameron Marks set up Cleland for a slap shot from the point. The puck sailed past Kruger, the Dartmouth goalie.
~ As this video shows, the refs and linemen huddled at center ice immediately after the puck went in. After an extensive review of the video replays, the officials ruled that Casey Thrush crossed the blueline before the puck and negated the goal.



Adam Clark Saves
~ Clark faced another 13 shots on goal in the second period.
~ Over the final 5 minutes, Clark made several key stops to keep UNH in the game.



PERIOD 3

Jack Barre (From Bullock & Hesler)
2:37 of Period 3 - Dartmouth 2, UNH 0
~ After matching penalties to John Furgele and Tyler Sikura, the teams played 4-on-4. Junior defenseman Harry Quast unsuccessfully attempted to intercept a wrist shot from the halfwall.
~ Barre dove for the loose puck in the low slot and managed to flick a backhand over Adam Clark's glove.



Adam Clark Save
~ With 13:45 left in regulation, Dartmouth broke through center ice on a 3-on-1 break. Matias Cleland hustled back to make it 3-on-2.
~ Adam Clark stymied Dartmouth's opportunity to put the game out of reach by blocking Corey Kalk's low wrister. It was Dartmouth's 24th shot on goal.



Grayson Downing-9 (Assisted by Tyler Kelleher-11 & Casey Thrush-9)
13:15 of 3rd Period - Dartmouth 2, UNH 1
~ With the clock down to only 7 minutes, UNH went on their 6th power play. Once again, the top line of Thrush-Downing-Kelleher came through with a huge goal.
~ Tyler Kelleher and Casey Thrush worked the puck around the corner and behind the Dartmouth goal.
~ Downing gathered the puck while skating backwards out into the low slot and flipped a wrister top corner over Kruger's blocker.
~ For the second time, the fish was tossed over the glass toward the Dartmouth goal.



Grayson Downing-10 (Assisted by Matt Willows-8 & Andrew Poturalski-7)
19:20 of 3rd Period - Dartmouth 2, UNH 1
~ Adam Clark was pulled with 2 minutes left in regulation. UNH maintained puck possession in the Dartmouth zone for over a minute.
~ Freshman Andrew Poturalski dug the puck off the half-wall and flipped a backhand pass to Senior Captain Matt Willows at the goal line to Kruger's right.
~ Willows slipped a cross-slot pass to Downing open on the left doorstep and he buried it.



OVERTIME - No Scoring

Shane Eiserman Boarded
~ 10 seconds after the puck was dropped in overtime, Dartmouth's defenseman Ryan Bullock threw a dangerous hit on freshman Shane Eiserman right in front of the Dartmouth bench. Eiserman's head smashed into the boards.
~ Bullock was fortunate to escape with only a 2-minute boarding penalty.



UNH OT Bids
~ Though the official score sheet indicates UNH did not have any shots on goal during the overtime period, they did generate a few bids.



Adam Clark Save of the Game
~ In the final minute of OT, Adam Clark made two huge saves to secure a point for UNH.
~ The save of the game came with 15 seconds left. Clark flashed his left leg pad a blocked a one-timer.





With the tie, UNH improved its overall record to 6-11-2. On Tuesday night, they will face Providence College at the Whittemore Center. The remaining 15 games of the regular season are all against Hockey East teams. UNH's Hockey East record is 1-5-1.