Box Score (PDF)

HANOVER, N.H. — The men's hockey team shook off an unsavory start, but ultimately conceded the winning goal toward the end of a 3-2 loss Friday night against Dartmouth at Thompson Arena. Cole Bardreau and Joakim Ryan each had a goal and an assist for the Big Red.
 
Dartmouth (12-8-4, 9-6-2 ECAC Hockey) extended its unbeaten streak to seven games when Eric Neiley scored the winning goal with 7 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the third period. Cornell (10-11-3, 8-8-1) got caught out of position defensively when a player made a diving attempt to clear the zone near the boards toward the wall. The puck jumped over his stick, and the Big Green quickly transitioned into a four-on-three down low. Working the puck across the tops of the circles, Brandon McNally fed Rick Pinkston, and his backhand pass across the slot teed up Neiley for an open shot that beat Cornell goalie Mitch Gillam high to the stick side.
 
It seemed unlikely the game would be so close after the start the Big Red endured. Dartmouth scored twice in the first half of the opening period, including Brad Schierhorn's finish of a pretty passing play just 19 seconds into the game. Jesse Beamish was then credited with the Big Green's second goal after the puck was inadvertently knocked into the net by the Cornell defense at the 8:11 mark.
 
But Dartmouth immediately ran into penalty trouble following Beamish's goal, with interference and high-sticking penalties in fairly quick succession giving Cornell a two-man advantage for 1:29. The Big Red only needed nine seconds to capitalize on the opportunity, with Bardreau netting his fourth goal of the season. After winning the draw in the Dartmouth zone, Jake Weidner started a passing play from the right circle to Ryan at the center point and across to Bardreau at the top of the left circle for a one-timer that sailed past Kruger's blocker.
 
The Big Red kept momentum, with Ryan almost scoring on the ensuing five-on-four. Matt Buckles then had a short-handed breakaway a few minutes later, but was stick-checked as he tried to shoot.
 
Cornell then tied the game on Ryan's first goal of his injury-truncated season. The play started with a controlled breakout behind the Cornell net, with Jacob MacDonald, Bardreau and Christian Hilbrich working the puck through the neutral zone and back into Bardreau's path along the left half-wall. Bardreau shielded off his defender as he wheeled behind the net and up into the right circle before dishing off a pretty back-handed pass across the high slot to Ryan breaking into the middle with speed and acres of open ice. With traffic mounting in front of Dartmouth goalie James Kruger, Ryan fired a shot under his blocker to tie the game at 2 with 4:47 left in the opening frame.
 
Cornell's penalty kill was then the star of a scoreless second period. The Big Red was short-handed four times in the frame for a total of 6:41, but it managed to keep the Big Green at bay. Gillam's best save came on Tyler Sikura's one-timer from the right circle with 1:40 left in the period. The nation's leader in goals-against average and save percentage entering the weekend finished the night with 26 saves.
 
Cornell wraps up the weekend at 4 p.m. Saturday at #13/14 Harvard. The game time was originally 7 p.m., but it was moved up three hours with a possible blizzard developing in the metro Boston area.