Princeton takes tough 7–3 loss at home against Dartmouth in Ivy League showdown

Men’s ice hockey (8–14–2 overall, 7–9–1 ECAC) suffered a tough 7–3 loss at home to rival Dartmouth (5–17–3, 4–12–2) on Monday evening. This marks Princeton’s first loss to an Ivy League opponent this season, as they were previously undefeated in the league. This game is also the third in the past five in which the Tigers have given up seven goals.

The Big Green started out fast and scored two goals within the first six minutes of the game, giving them an early 2–0 lead. Dartmouth’s forward Matt Hubbarde opened the scoring after forward Sam Hesler forced a turnover and assisted Hubbarde for the goal. Forward Sean Chisholm followed that up with a slap shot that leaked through Princeton’s junior goalkeeper Aidan Porter.

With 7:45 to go in the first period, Princeton jumped on the board with a goal from senior forward Finn Evans. Evans took a pass in the slot, assisted by sophomore forward Adam Robbins and ripped it home to cut the lead to 2–1. However, the Tigers could not build the momentum and conceded a power-play goal with 2:37 from forward Joey Musa, assisted by forward Nick Unruh and defender Harrison Markell. The period finished at 3–1 in favor of Dartmouth.

At the start of the second period, sophomore forward Ian Murphy was left alone in the slot, and he drove home a one-timer, with assists from junior forward Spencer Kersten and Robbins, at 1:31 to make the score 3–2. This was the third game in a row with a goal from Murphy.

After that, the Tigers sputtered on both ends of the ice. Shortly after Murphy’s goal, defenseman Jack Cameron, assisted by Musa and Hubbarde, scored for Dartmouth to make the score 4–2. Then, with 1:50 to play in the second period, forward Mark Gallant added another goal to make the score 5–2 heading into the third period, with assists by Chisholm and defender Tanner Palocsik.

The Big Green scored again 6:42 into the third period on a goal from forward Braiden Dorfman to make the score 6–2. Princeton would cut into the deficit with 7:43 to play when senior forward Corey Andonovski potted a rebound to put the score at 6–3 with assists from Murphy and Kersten.

An empty-net goal with 21 seconds left from forward Steven Townley wrapped up the score at 7–3 and delivered the win for Dartmouth. The loss is a tough one to swallow for the Tigers, who outshot the Big Green 37–24 but ran into Dartmouth’s tough goalie, Clay Stevenson. Princeton also had a goal wiped off the board in the second period when Evans appeared to deflect a shot from the point with a high stick.

The Tigers are back on the road this weekend at Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday.

Ben Burns is an Associate Sports Editor at the ‘Prince’ who typically covers basketball, hockey, and soccer. He can be reached at bwburns@princeton.edu or on Twitter @bwburns5_.