Box Score (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. — Cole Bardreau and Matt Buckles scored goals in the third period, but it was too late for the Cornell men's hockey team in a 5-2 ECAC Hockey and Ivy League loss to Dartmouth in front of a sold-out crowd at Lynah Rink.
 
Cornell (8-9-2, 6-6 ECAC Hockey, 3-2 Ivy League) found itself in an early hole when Brandon McNally sprung Eric Neiley between the Big Red's defensemen for a breakaway just 1 minute, 19 seconds into the game. Neiley was tripped up on the play, then scored on the ensuing penalty shot. He had two goals and two assists on the night.
 
Down 4-0 to start the third period, the Big Red made the game interesting by pulling to within two. Bardreau's third goal of the season came just three seconds into a power play early in the third. Jake Weidner won a faceoff cleanly back to Joakim Ryan at the right point, and he teed up Bardreau from the high slot. His shot sailed over Charles Grant's right shoulder to get the Big Red on the board.
 
Matt Buckles then added his sixth goal of the season late in the third period, with the Big Red pulling its goalie in favor of an extra attacker. Jeff Kubiak dug the puck out of Alex Rauter's skate in the right corner, then set up Buckles for a shot from the right circle which beat Grant low to the stick side.
 
But that was as close as the Cornell would get, with Dartmouth (7-8-4, 4-6-2, 3-2-1) icing the game on Eric Robinson's empty-netter with 2.7 seconds left. The Big Green ended a seven-game winless skid with the victory. Grant made 22 saves for the victory in his third start of the season. In three career starts at Lynah Rink, Grant is 2-0-1 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .966 save percentage.
 
Still, Cornell looked to largely have the advantage in play over the first 20 minutes. But a lot of wind was taken out of its sails when Dartmouth doubled its lead with Grant Opperman's goal with 1:16 left in the opening frame. Rick Pinkston's shot from the left point missed to the wide side, then Neiley flagged down the loose puck near the half wall and wheeled a pass to a wide-open Opperman on the back door.
 
Neiley's second goal pushed the visitors' lead to three at 5:07 of the second period — and it was a goal that went entirely undetected until officials' video review 42 seconds after the puck was deemed to cross the goal line. Ryan Bullock's shot from the center point was deflected wide by a Cornell defender in the slot. The puck took a hard carom off the back wall, and Neiley jammed it toward the post to Cornell goalie Hayden Stewart's right. On review, officials could see the puck over the line between Stewart's pads before the goalie kicked it back over the line. McNally then scored Dartmouth's fourth goal on a breakaway midway through the second period.
 
Cornell returns to action next weekend with a home-and-home series against Colgate. The teams start off with a game at 7 p.m. Friday in Hamilton, before the series shifts back to Ithaca at 7 p.m. Saturday.