Fueled by sophomore Tim Marks’ hat-trick, the Clarkson Golden Knights overcame an early deficit before 2,778 at Cheel Arena Saturday night. The Knights, who outshot Dartmouth 40-21, found themselves down 2-0 after 8:37 of play, but turned in a stellar second period to prevail over the Big Green as they moved to 3-0-0 in ECAC play.
Senior J.T. Wyman found classmate Nick Johnson to get Dartmouth on the board first with 11:45 remaining in the opening period. Wyman carried in on the left side and found Johnson on the weak side, where he just beat senior goalie David Leggio’s left pad for the tally.
The Big Green tacked on another goal just over three minutes later. Wyman attempted to wrap the puck around the left side but had it deflect off of the left post. Freshman linemate Kyle Reeds sent the loose puck through Leggio’s pads for a 2-0 advantage.
Clarkson closed the gap nearly two minutes later when Marks cleaned up on a loose puck in front. Senior netminder Mike Devine, who had been stellar to start the game, was the victim of the law of averages as he was unable to turn away a barrage of shots. Sophomore Matt Beca had his shot in front stopped by Devine’s right pad, but Marks was able to convert.
“That’s what the game’s about, the momentum. We had it in the first and we let it kind of go towards the end of the first,” said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet.
Senior David Cayer netted the equalizer early in the decisive second period. Cayer released a shot from just outside the right circle that beat Devine to his right side. Freshmen Scott Freeman and Tom Pizzo both assisted on the play.
“We were great offensively,” said Clarkson head coach George Roll. “Every line tonight was going and getting to the net, [Devine] made some good saves; he probably wanted the one back from David but he made a lot of great saves to keep them in the game.”
Clarkson claimed the lead midway through on a power play goal. Beca sent a pass from the left corner out in front where Marks wristed a shot into the upper-right corner, beating Devine over his shoulder.
The Knights padded their lead on Marks’ third goal of the game, thanks to a heads-up play by junior Chris D’Alvise. D’Alvise got in on net but was contested by one Dartmouth defender. Instead of firing a shot on goal, D’Alvise was able to stall the play, giving Marks enough time to get up ice and into the slot, skating to the pass in front before firing a low shot past Devine.
“I thought the second period was the best period that we’ve played all year,” said Roll. “I was really happy and thought we competed hard for sixty minutes.”
The Big Green pulled to within one in the third period when sophomore Harrison Taylor had his shot stopped by Leggio’s pad, only to see classmate Rob Smith poke the puck in. Despite pulling Devine with under a minute to play, Dartmouth was unable to beat Leggio a fourth time.
“I was pleased with the way the guys battled in the third; it’s a sixty minute game and you have to play sixty minutes and I don’t think we did that,” said Gaudet.
