HANOVER, N.H. - Sophomore Josh Gillam (Peterborough, Ontario) scored the game-winning goal early in the third period to spur Dartmouth to a 5-1 win over Bentley in non-conference Division I hockey action on Saturday afternoon at Thompson Arena. The Big Green improved to 4-3-1 with the win, while the Falcons fell to 5-8-1.
Gillam broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth minute of the final frame when he knocked in the puck from the midst of a scrum of players right in front of the net, with assists on the goal credited to senior J.T. Wyman (Wayzata, Minn.) and junior Brandon Harrington (Rochester, Minn.).
Gillam's goal was the first of four Big Green tallies that put the game out of reach in the final period. Junior Connor Shields (Edmonton, Alberta) ripped a shot up high to make it a 3-1 game with just under five minutes to go. Freshman Kyle Reeds (St. Louis, Mo.) added an empty-netter at the 18:51 mark and classmate Adam Estoclet (Orono, Minn.) scored his first collegiate goal with the goalie back in 38 seconds later.
Dartmouth struck first in the game, scoring on its first shot of the afternoon when freshman Scott Fleming (Plainfield, Ontario) took a low angle shot from the left side that snuck behind Bentley freshman goalkeeper Joe Calvi (New Lenox, Ill./New England Jr. Huskies) to give the Big Green a 1-0 lead.
That score held up for the remainder of the first period and the bulk of the second until junior Jeff Gumaer (Webster Groves, Mo./Springfield Jr. Blues) evened the match with 1:20 on the clock in the middle frame. Junior Tom Dickhudt (Woodbury, Minn./Fargo-Moorhead Jets) dished up the left side to Gumaer, who skated up to the left circle before firing the puck high past the reach of Dartmouth junior goalie Dan Goulding (Toronto, Ontario).
Goulding made 24 saves to earn the win for Dartmouth and notched an assist on Shields' goal in the third period. Calvi stopped 39 shots for the Falcons, a personal best in his young career, while allowing four goals as the Big Green held a 44-25 advantage in shots.
The game was marked by five-on-five action for the bulk of the contest as each side was whistled for only two minor penalties each and neither team was able to capitalize on their few power play opportunities.
The Falcons are back in action on Friday at 7:05 p.m. when they return home to open a two-game series with defending Atlantic Hockey regular season champions Rochester Institute of Technology at Ryan Skating Arena in Watertown, Mass.
