On the weekend before homecoming, the team showed their resiliency, battling back from second-period scares to get two big wins. 

On Saturday 22nd the Big Green took on Thomas College at Barwood Arena, the same venue where they barely escaped with a 1-0 victory last year. Despite shutting out the Terriers in both games last year, Thomas struck first off a rebound put top shelf and held onto the lead for the rest of the period. Early in the second, the borderline unstoppable Dartmouth power play found an answer as Trey Croddick beat the goalie with a quick wrist shot. Thomas hung with the Big Green throughout the second putting up 13 shots, one of which found the back of the net late in the period to give them a 2-1 lead heading into the final frame. Undeterred, only one minute into the third Trenton Jiang and his golden mane took a step down from the point to knot the game up at two goals a piece. Only a few minutes later, Thomas made the mistake of gifting the Big Green another power play. A signature one-timer from Spencer Watson gave Dartmouth the lead and they never looked back. Freshmen Ben Offit and Bennet Mosk made their newfound presence felt as they extended the lead to three goals. In a last-gasp effort, Thomas brought the game back to within two with two minutes remaining, but the steady stick of Ryan Irving found an empty net to solidify a 6-3 final score. 

The next day, Dartmouth returned home to Thompson for an afternoon game against the newest addition to the NECHA, Colby College. Both teams felt each other out in the first period posting a combined total of only sixteen shots. Two of those found paydirt for the Big Green though as Croddick and Dylan Witzke boosted the team to a 2-0 lead. Everybody knows that a two-goal lead is the most dangerous in hockey though, and the first half of the second period proved that to be true. Things got a little hairy for Dartmouth as Colby turned up the heat scoring two quick goals to tie it up. Thankfully, ACHA rookie Dylan Witzke picked up his baton and began to conduct the Big Green’s offense assisting Offit, Watson, and Offit again before the period was out. Witzke’s symphony was far from over though as he picked up two more of his own in the third giving him his first hat trick of the season. Watson’s fourth power-play goal of the year was the final nail in the coffin for the Mustangs as they fell 8-2. Witzke had a hand in all eight of those goals putting up video game numbers with five assists and three goals. 

With the two wins, the Big Green improves to 4-0 heading into their Battle of the North with conference rival the 6-0 CMCC Mustangs on Thursday, November 3.