BOX SCORE

HANOVER, N.H. (12/31/10) – The Colgate men's hockey team forced overtime in the consolation game at the Ledyard Classic, but Dartmouth scored with 2:23 left in the extra period to hand the Raiders a 4-3 loss.

Colgate (3-14-1) finished the tournament with two losses by one goal. The Raiders had three goal scorers as seniors Austin Mayer (Providence, R.I.) and Kevin McNamara (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) tallied goals, while rookie Chris Wagner (Walpole, Mass.) added a power play goal. Junior goaltender Bryan Bessette (Melrose, N.Y.) made the most of his first start of the year with 39 saves, which was a career-high in the loss.

Dartmouth (7-4-2) got goals from Dustin Walsh, Scott Fleming, Adam Estoclet and the gamewinner from Joe Stejskal. The Big Green was able to erase a two-goal lead by the Raiders in the second period. Jody O'Neill earned the win with 17 saves.

Mayer got the scoring started for the Raiders with his second of the season coming 2:15 into the first with the assists going to senior Wade Poplawski (Winnipeg, Man.) and junior Mark Nasca (Chagrin Falls, Ohio). It was Poplawski's second helper of the year and Nasca's first collegiate point. Mayer was able to find an opening at the right circle and beat O'Neill through traffic for the 1-0 lead with a wrist shot. Dartmouth held an 8-6 advantage in shots after one, but Bessette pushed aside all eight for the Raiders.

Colgate once again scored early coming out in the second period as McNamara scored his first of the season to push the lead up to 2-0. He skate down the right side from the blueline to below the circle and fired a shot from an awkward angle. The puck had eyes through two players and O'Neill never saw it. The goal came 1:31 into the second frame.

Dartmouth cut the lead to 2-1 with 16:42 remaining in the second. Kyle Reeds collected the puck in the corner and hit a streaking Walsh at the top of the crease. Walsh lifted the puck past a sprawling Bessette for the Big Green's first score. Dartmouth came back to tie the game with 12 minutes left in the second to erase Colgate's two goal lead. Fleming skating off the bench and was wide open from the right circle after Matt Reber slipped a pass between two Raider defenders.

The Big Green outshot the Raiders again had the up on shots with 19 in the second to only five for the Raiders. Bessette made 17 saves in the period.

Dartmouth earned its first lead of the contest at 3-2 in the first minute of the third period. Colgate just killed off the first Dartmouth power play and as the box was emptied, Estoclet ripped a wrister from the circle that beat Bessette under the arm on the blocker side.

The Raiders came back with 11:30 remaining in the final frame with a power play goal from Wagner. Junior Austin Smith (Dallas, Texas) slid the puck to Wagner from behind the net and the rookie put the puck on O'Neill and he couldn't handle the shot as he fell to the ice and puck trickled past the goal line to tie the game at 3-3. Sophomore Kurtis Bartliff (Clinton, Ont.) was given an assist on the play.

The Big Green scored with 2:23 left in overtime as Stejskal fired a slap shot from the blueline that deflected off of a Colgate defender and past Bessette for the gamewinner that handed the Raiders their third overtime loss of the year at 4-3.

Dartmouth came out on top in shots with a 43-20 advantage. The Raiders went 1-for-3 on the power play and held the Big Green off the board with the extra man in just one opportunity.

Raiders will be back out on the road next weekend as they return to league play at Quinnipiac on Friday night, followed by a Sunday matinee at Princeton on ESPNU.

NOTES: Colgate played on New Year's Eve for the first time since 1949 … the Raiders scored first for the 10th time this season … Nasca recorded first collegiate point with an assist in his second appearance of the year and 19th of his career … Bessette posted a career-high with 39 saves in his first start of the year … his previous high was 33 against Quinnipiac back on Feb. 7, 2009 ... Smith extended his season long point streak to six games with an assist … Bartliff has scored at least one point in four of the last five games … Wagner scored his fourth of the season and first since the loss to Cornell at the Prudential Center … Colgate went to the penalty box only once, which was the second time this season that the Raiders have been called for only one penalty.