In a homecoming trip to Providence, Dartmouth goalie — and Rehoboth, Mass. native — James Mello turned in a spectacular performance Friday night, making 39 saves to power the Big Green to a 3-0 victory over the men's hockey team. The win is the 200th of Dartmouth Head Coach Bob Gaudet's career, making him the second-winningest coach in Big Green hockey history.
"James was just great," Gaudet said. "He played a great game. I thought Brown played a really solid game, and he was obviously a difference for us."
"I played just down the road for La Salle (Academy) for three years and my whole family's from here," Mello said. "To come in and get two points from a good Brown team is awesome — especially not giving up a goal is just the icing on the cake."
It took less than a minute for Dartmouth (13-7-3, 9-5-2 ECAC) to find the back of the net, quieting the sizeable Brown (7-11-4, 5-9-1) student section that came out for the "Winter White Out Game." With only 35 seconds off the clock, left-winger Nick Walsh beat Bears goalie Mike Clemente '12 from close range, putting the Big Green up 1-0.
"It's awful," said Brown Head Coach Brendan Whittet '94. "We step out, we're ready to go and within seconds, we're down 1-0. And it's a faceoff goal. It's the stuff we talk about all the time."
After giving up the quick goal, the Bears worked hard to create numerous chances, but were denied 12 times by Mello in the first period. In one of the squad's best opportunities, Brown forward Jake Goldberg '14 controlled the puck with only Mello to beat, but his wrist shot from the faceoff circle was eaten up by the Dartmouth netminder.
At 10:25 in the first frame, the crowd at Meehan Auditorium sat in silence after Brown forward Bobby Farnham '12 crashed face-first into the boards after a hit from behind by Dartmouth defender Evan Stephens. Farnham lay on the ice for several minutes after the hit, but was able to skate off under his own power, and, to the crowd's applause, soon returned to the ice. Stephens received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit.
Dartmouth was able to kill the five-minute penalty, and at the end of the first period, held on to its 1-0 advantage.
Six minutes into the second period, Brown looked poised to strike on a power play, but the stout Dartmouth penalty kill denied Bruno again. Mello made several masterful saves, including one from point-blank range in the power play's waning seconds to keep Brown scoreless.
Just after the kill, it was the Big Green's turn to go a man up — but unlike Brown, they were able to capitalize. A minute into the power play, Dartmouth center Matt Lindblad was able to finish from close range along the right side of the goal, doubling his side's lead. As the teams headed into the locker room after two periods, the Bears held a 25-14 shot advantage over the Big Green, but found themselves trailing 2-0.
After both sides traded shots in the third, Brown went on the power play after a high sticking call on Dartmouth's Eric Robinson with fifteen minutes left to play in the game. Yet again, the Big Green killed the penalty, turning away every scoring opportunity Brown created. Mello continued his stellar play in goal, denying Brown forward David Brownschidle '11 from point-blank range with a spectacular save.
Again and again in the third, Brown was unable to convert. On several occasions, the puck kicked around in front of the Dartmouth goal, but not once could a Bear corral and bury it.
Dartmouth put the game away with only two minutes remaining. On a two-on-two play, Big Green center Doug Jones kept the puck himself, weaving his way in front of the net and beating Clemente, glove-side, for his team's third tally of the night.
Soon after, the buzzer sounded and Mello skated off with the second shutout of his career.
"We had some Grade-A chances," Whittet said. "The kid made ridiculous stops, so give him credit."
Whittet also said his team has faced a string of stellar goalie play in recent games.
"It's a really frustrating time, because I don't think we can work much harder," he said. "The goaltenders are playing very well against us."
The loss is Brown's fourth in a row. The Bears have failed to string together a consistent stream of wins after their Jan. 16 upset of then-No. 1 ranked Yale.
Whittet said he was disappointed with the team's recent results, but admitted that the losses are a part of the team's growing process.
"This is a big undertaking," he said. "This is a process for us to try to rebuild this program. It's not going to happen overnight, so there are going to be some ups and downs."
