In Hanover, N.H., on Saturday night, Cornell senior captain Colin Greening scored with 11:47 remaining in the third period to give his team a 4-2 lead. After Greening’s goal, the Red appeared destined to cruise to victory over Dartmouth. However, the Green put together a furious comeback, potting three goals in a span of 4:43, as Cornell fell to Dartmouth, 5-4.
The Red (16-8-3, 13-5-2 ECAC) came into this game as the No.10 team in the country, with a share of the ECAC lead. With the loss, Cornell now falls back into a tie for second place in the league standings, two points behind first-place Yale.
A little under six minutes later, Cornell junior forward Riley Nash kick-started a flurry of Cornell scoring. The Red’s offense had created a scrum in front of the net, creating several rebound chances that were saved by Green netminder James Mello. Finally, Nash picked up a rebound and put the puck past Mello, evening the game at 1-1.
Then, at 9:05 of the first, Locke Jillson notched an unassisted wrap-around goal to give the Red a 2-1 lead. Patrick Kennedy added another goal just 1:02 after Jillson’s, as Riley Nash picked up the assist. Kennedy’s goal put the Red up 3-1 heading into the second period. The first period was played at a high-octane pace, with Cornell putting 19 shots on net and Dartmouth sending 13 shots on Scrivens and both teams creating several scoring chances.
The second period was scoreless, as the defense tightened up. Scrivens made point blank saves on Matt Reber and Alex Goodship to maintain the 3-1 Cornell lead. Both Scrivens and Mellos turned away 10 shots in the second frame.
6:26 into the third period, Dartmouth was finally able to cut into the Cornell lead, when junior forward Scott Fleming scored a power-play goal. After Reber fired a shot on goal, Fleming pounced on the rebound and was able to beat Scrivens, making it a 3-2 game.
However, Cornell extended the margin back up to two when Greening scored with an assist from Riley Nash at 8:13 of the third.
With seven minutes remaining, the Red’s 4-2 lead started to come crashing down. When the Green produced a scrum in front of Scrivens’ crease, Nick Wash was able to squeeze the puck by Scrivens and into the back of the net. Just over three minutes later, after Mike Devin was whistled for interference, Peter Boldt and Joe Gaudet connected for a Dartmouth power-play goal, tying the game at 4-4 to complete the comeback.
The Dartmouth offense did not stop there. Only 1:37 after tying it up, the Green got the go-ahead goal as Estoclet took a pass from Stejskal, and then buried a shot past Scrivens. With that, the Green notched a 5-4 win over a stunned Cornell squad.
Cornell will be back on the ice this weekend as Union and RPI come to town for the Red’s last two regular season games.
Original Author: Mitchell Drucker