Chris Hills’ goal with 1:39 left in regulation broke a 2-2 tie, boosting Vermont to a 4-2 victory over Dartmouth in the championship game of the Ledyard National Bank Auld Lang Syne Classic on Saturday.
Hills picked off an errant Big Green pass in the slot and fired a 15-foot wrist shot past Dartmouth goalie Nick Boucher, giving the Catamounts (9-4-0) a 3-2 lead.
With Boucher on the bench in favor of the extra skater, Vermont got an insurance goal with 3.6 seconds on the clock when Graham Mink found the empty net.
Vermont jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period. Bryson Busniuk opened the scoring 4:39 into the game, and J.F. Caudron notched a power play goal three minutes later.
Dartmouth (4-7-0) answered in the second period, tying the game on goals by Dory Tisdale at 2:18 and Mike Maturo at 13:59.
Boucher made 29 saves for Dartmouth, while Vermont’s Andrew Allen stopped 17 shots to earn tournament MVP honors.
Voted all-tournament were Boucher, Maturo and Tisdale from Dartmouth, along with J.F. Caudron and Andreas Moberg from Vermont. Rounding out the team was New Hampshire’s Colin Hemingway.
The two teams meet next weekend for a home-and-home ECAC series starting back at Thompson Arena on Friday.
