Hanover, NH –

As the 2019-2020 regular season draws closer to its end, the Dartmouth Men’s Club Hockey team—ranked #1 in the ACHA Atlantic for the first time ever—is gearing up for their final home games of the season. Friday night, the Big Green will face off at 7:00 pm with a strong Worcester Polytechnic Institute team in pursuit of a regional tournament bid. On Saturday, #4-ranked New Haven University comes to town for the second matchup of the weekend at 7:00 pm for what promises to be the most challenging game of the season for Dartmouth. Saturday will also feature an honoring of the graduating senior class of the Dartmouth team.

Friday’s game marks the first home game for the Big Green since November 16, 2019. W.P.I., currently sitting at #15 in the rankings, is looking to build momentum going into the NECHA Colonial playoffs as well as the ACHA Atlantic Regional Tournament. Their leading scorer, sophomore forward Rich Steinberg, is averaging a point per contest thus far and scored the team’s lone goal against New Haven last weekend. For Dartmouth, Seniors Chris McCorkle and Emerson Mahoney are both 4 points away from 40 on the year, with McCorkle having notched his 100th career point against Harvard last weekend and Mahoney 10 points away from 100 points in his career. Junior Joe Signorelli is 3 goals away from a 20-goal campaign, and sophomore netminder Michael Cullen looks to continue his 7-game streak of allowing 1 goal or fewer. Special teams are sure to be a contributing factor, as Dartmouth leads the entire NECHA conference in both power-play success and penalty kill success with rates of 30.3% and 97.4%, respectively. WPI has struggled on the power-play this season, converting 7.9% of their man advantages. Dartmouth will also look to maintain its perfect 7-0 record at home, and WPI will travel on the road for the 6th time this season, but the 1st time in team history to Hanover, NH as these teams face off for the first time ever.

Saturday will be a night to remember, as two of the ACHA Atlantic’s top-5 teams face off in a matchup with major national championship implications. With Dartmouth at #1 and New Haven at #4, the regional rankings could be affected by the outcome of this matchup. Both teams sit in first place in their respective divisions, and both teams have aspirations for a post-season run. New Haven is led by Sophomore Tyler Paine, who was a NECHA All-Star last season and currently leads the club with a staggering 51 points in 17 games as well as breakout star Tyler Robichaud, who has 7 power-play goals this season, the same number of points he had all of last season. The New Haven offense will not go untested, as the Big Green have given up only 22 goals in 15 games this season—a world away from the 18 goals allowed in the first game alone last season. In the last ever home games for Matt Armstrong, Emerson Mahoney, Chris McCorkle, Ty Teodori, and Tyler Baum, the senior class will look to make an impact in a marquee game. Home ice may play a factor as the 6 games New Haven has lost this season have all been on the road, and this is the first-ever matchup between the two squads.

Coach Gary Smith, in his third season with the club, is optimistic about the weekend but knows the team has plenty of work to do. “I am looking forward to seeing how our team performs at home this weekend after playing our last four games on the road; I know for the seniors Saturday night will be special as it’s the last time they get to play at Thompson Arena in front of friends and family.” Senior Captain Matt Armstrong has a similar outlook on the weekend. “I could not be more excited about what we have ahead of us this weekend, especially for us seniors playing our last career home games. It’s truly a privilege to play hockey with the special group of guys on our team and we’re ready to battle for the chance to extend our season.”

Stay tuned on the social media pages for updates on the games.

-Pax Bandicoot, senior editor for Dartmouth Men’s Club Hockey

Follow the team on Instagram @DartClubHockey for in-game updates and additional media