HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth sophomore forward Hayden Stavroff extended his goal streak to four games and junior defenseman Matt Fusco tallied the eventual game-winning goal as Dartmouth defeated Cornell 2-1 on Saturday night at Thompson Arena. The Big Green killed a 6-on-4 power play in the final 34.5 seconds to hand Cornell its first ECAC Hockey loss of the season.
Cornell (2-2-0, 1-1-0 ECAC Hockey) mostly controlled play in the third period with a 26-11 edge in shot attempts, but managed just an 11-9 advantage in shots on goal. Big Green junior goaltender Emmett Croteau stopped all 11 shots he faced in the final frame, finishing with 23 saves to preserve the victory for Dartmouth (4-0-0, 2-0-0 ECAC Hockey), which opened with four consecutive wins for a second straight year.
Freshman goaltender
Alexis Cournoyer made his third consecutive start for the Big Red, stopping 24 shots in the loss. Freshman forwards
Reegan Hiscock and
Connor Arseneault each recorded their first collegiate points, with Hiscock netting his first goal.
"It was a hard-fought game," said
Casey Jones '90, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey. "I didn't think we had everybody ready to play at the drop of the puck. We gave up the early power-play goal, but I thought we got a lot of momentum off our penalty kill as the game went on. We hung around and just couldn't get the equalizer."
Stavroff continued his torrid start to the season, netting a power-play goal seven seconds past the halfway point of the opening period to put the Big Green ahead. The sophomore forward extended his goal-scoring streak to four games after taking a pass at the left post from Hank Cleaves, lasering a wrist shot past a sprawling Cournoyer to record his sixth goal of the season and enter a four-way tie for the league lead.
Dartmouth doubled its lead 1:55 into the second period as Fusco scored while Cornell had a delayed penalty coming. Cornell challenged for a potential missed offside call, but the officials kept the call on the ice.
Cornell cut the Big Green's lead in half past the halfway point of the period as Hiscock netted his first collegiate goal 11 seconds after the expiration of his interference penalty. Arseneault also notched his first collegiate point, initiating the scoring chance off a breakout from the Big Red's defensive zone after knocking down a loose puck at the top of the slot.
Despite allowing a power-play goal in the first period, Cornell killed off all three Dartmouth power plays in the second period, holding the Big Green to four shots across the trio of man advantages.
"We made a mistake on the rotation [on the first penalty kill]," Jones said. "We're bringing guys along on the penalty kill, and we're going to have some of those early here. But I did think our penalty kill gained momentum for us as the game went on after that one."
Cornell had a chance to tie the game after pulling its goaltender and drawing a penalty with 34.5 seconds left, creating a 6-on-4 opportunity. The Big Red were unable to pot the game-tying goal despite two saves by Croteau on the doorstep of the crease following a win on the ensuing faceoff.
Special teams proved to be the difference in the contest, with Dartmouth converting on 1-of-4 power plays while Cornell went 0-for-4.
"The two games we've lost this year, we've lost the special teams battle," Jones said. "That's pure and simple. We got to flip that because we're not giving up a lot of goals 5-on-5. If we take care of special teams as we grow here in the season, it'll be critical for us."
GAME NOTES
• Dartmouth won for the third consecutive time over Cornell, marking the Big Green's first three-game winning streak in the series since a four-game run from Feb. 28, 2014, to Jan. 22, 2016. Despite Dartmouth's recent success, Cornell still holds an 88-53-9 advantage in the all-time series.
• Saturday's one-goal decision marked the 10th time in the last 12 overall meetings between Cornell and Dartmouth that a game has been decided by one goal or ended in a tie. At Thompson Arena, tight games have become the norm, with each of the last seven, 11 of the previous 12, and 15 of the prior 17 meetings being either one-goal games or ties.
• Dartmouth posted its second consecutive victory over Cornell at Thompson Arena, marking the Big Green's first win streak over the Big Red at the venue since back-to-back wins on Nov. 30, 2018 (3-2) and Dec. 7, 2019 (2-1).
NEXT UP
Cornell returns to Lynah Rink for a four-game homestand beginning Friday, Nov. 15, when the Big Red hosts Brown (1-3-0, 1-1-0 ECAC Hockey) before facing Yale (2-1-0, 2-0-0 ECAC Hockey) the following night. Both games are set for 7 p.m. puck drops and will be streamed on ESPN+.
"We'll have to look and figure out why we weren't ready to play at the drop of the puck tonight," Jones said, "and we're really looking forward to being in front of our fans for a four-game homestand."
