March 4, 2005

Sean Offers had two goals and Mike Ouellette had a goal and two assists as the Dartmouth men's hockey team skated past Yale 7-2 in the first game of the best-of-three ECACHL playoff series at Thompson Arena.

Senior goalie Dan Yacey needed 18 saves to earn the victory, but was not tested in the early going.

Dartmouth (18-10-2), which outshot Yale 37-20, jumped all over the Bulldogs in the opening frame with four straight goals, including a pair of great plays by Big Green captain Lee Stempniak and sophomore Tanner Glass (shorthanded). Stempniak stole the puck from Yale goalie Matt Modelski, who was trying to cover it in the crease. The senior winger scooped up the puck and flipped it over the goalie who had gone to the ice at 12:53. That made it 3-0, and the Elis were in an all-too familiar position for this season.

Yale ended the bleeding with a goal just before the end of the period. Junior center Jeff Hristovski hustled to the corner in the Dartmouth end and quickly fired a lead pass to freshman forward Jean-Francois Boucher, who was streaking toward the net hoping his linemate would see him. Boucher reached out to re-direct the puck into the upper corner of the net with 26 seconds left. It was his fourth goal of the season and a team-high 15th assists for Hristovski.

If the visitors had any thoughts of continuing the little momentum they started at the end of the first, it was dashed quickly. Offers, the junior Big Green defenseman, tallied his second goal of the night just 27 seconds into the period. Modelski (14 saves) came out of the net to his right to make a play and got caught out of the goal. Captain Nick Shalek, playing defense for just the third time this season, tried to fill the crease but the puck was on the stick of Offers in the slot and he did not miss the large opening in the net.

"They came out ready for us, they did not sit back and take us for granted," said Shalek, who was all over the ice making plays in this game. "We dug ourselves a hole early and we will just have to come back tomorrow night with a better effort. It is a make or break game so we will come ready to go."

Ouellette's 20th goal of the year made the score 6-1 and chased Modelski from the Yale net 8:55 into the second period. Junior Josh Gartner became an unlikely star of the game by stopping 16 of 17 shots, including a number of odd-man rushes and point-blank chances.

The Elis made it 6-2 with a pretty, behind-the-net feed from junior forward Zach Mayer late in the middle frame. Mayer found junior center Brad Mills alone in the slot and the Alberta native one-timed the pass by Yacey for his 11th goal of the year. Mills, who had missed the last five games with an injury, leads the team with 24 points.

The banged up Bulldogs (4-24-2), with just one healthy scratch tonight (Will Engasser), were also without the services of junior blueliner Mike Grobe (sick), goalie Peter Cohen (injury) and sophomore defenseman Shawn Mole (injury).

Game No. 2 of the series is 7 p.m.on Saturday.

Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Directo