Hockey: So Very Close
THE Dartmouth hockey team came within one goal and less than three minutes of making the impossible become the possible this season. "Our main goal this year is to make the top eight in Division I," said Coach George Crowe in his pre-season outlook. "And from there anything is possible." What was possible was for Dartmouth to finish fourth in Division I regular season play, defeat Clarkson in overtime, 2-1, at Hanover in the ECAC quarterfinals, oust defending national champion and top-seeded Boston University, 5-3, at Boston Garden, and reach the finals of the tournament. Unfortunately for the Green, a University of New Hampshire goal with less than three minutes remaining in the third period gave the Wildcats a 3-2 victory and the Division I title.
The consolation prizes were not so bad: a trip to Detroit for the NCAA championships in late March and Dartmouth's first Ivy League title since 1963-64. Four teams qualified for the national championships: New Hampshire, Dartmouth, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
"Obviously, we're pleased with the season," said Crowe at 4:00 a.m. after the New Hampshire game. "We were close enough to win it, but you have to be pleased to end up number two when you're picked 14th out of 16 teams before the season began. It's a credit to the kids. They worked hard and had a good team spirit. Our finish was not based on individual stars but on team performance."
The trip to sold-out Boston Garden was a first for Dartmouth. Dennis Murphy's overtime goal against Clarkson gave Dartmouth the ticket for its trip to Boston and upset of favored BU. Through two periods in the semi-final game, BU matched Dartmouth scores by Don O'Brien, Murphy, and Buddy Teevens, but Steve Higgins and Chip Bettencourt scored in the final period to give Dartmouth the victory. Captain Mark Culhane and Higgins scored in the championship game against New Hampshire.
At the nationals in Detroit's seedy Olympia rink, the Green scored first in the semi-final against North Dakota but withered as time went on and lost, 4-2. Dartmouth beat its earlier nemesis, New Hampshire, 7-3 in the consolation game for third place. Minnesota took the championship from North Dakota, 4-3.
Dartmouth went to the nationals with an overall record of 18-8-2. In Division I the club was 15-7-1, and the Ivy title was won with an 8-2 record. The leading scorers were Murphy and Ross Brownridge, both juniors. Murphy had 18 goals and 28 assists, and Brownridge scored 20 goals and 23 assists.
Other players scoring more than ten goals were Culhane (14), Higgins (14), and Bettencourt (11). Goalie Bob Gaudet, a sophomore, gave up only an average of 2.99 goals per game overall and was best in the Ivy League with 2.09 goals allowed per game. Gaudet and Brownridge were named to the all-Ivy first team, and Murphy and senior defenseman Bob Grant were second- team selections.
