The Dartmouth men's hockey team is celebrating a historic week, highlighted by their first-ever ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship and a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1980. The Big Green clinched the ECAC title with a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against Princeton at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid. Hayden Stavroff opened the scoring for Dartmouth with his nation-leading 29th goal of the season, assisted by CJ Foley and Hank Cleaves. Despite being outshot in the first period, the Big Green maintained a 1-0 lead. Princeton leveled the score in the third period, but Dartmouth's resilience was on full display as they secured the championship in overtime.
With the ECAC title in hand, Dartmouth earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking only the sixth appearance in program history. The Big Green, boasting a record of 23-7-4, have set a new program record for wins in a season. They are seeded second in the Worcester Regional and will face Wisconsin, the 12th overall seed, on Thursday, March 26, at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. This matchup will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.