The men’s hockey team let another third period lead slip away, settling for a tie against ECAC foe Dartmouth College 2-2 in a goalies’ duel before 2,702 fans Friday night.

Sophomore goaltender Nathan Marsters made several key saves throughout the game, while junior forward and ECAC scoring leader Marc Cavosie picked up two goals, as the Engineers partially fought off a third period rally by the Big Green.

RPI came out in the first playing solid overall hockey, forcing Dartmouth goaltender Nick Boucher to make several beautiful saves before the Engineers got on the board at 17:17.

Marc Cavosie slipped through the defense, took a pinpoint feed from senior forward Matt Murley, skated in front of the crease, and deposited the puck around and behind Boucher, after waiting patiently for him to go down and out of the play.

Cavosie then put the Engineers ahead by two on a power play early in the second period, when he took a perfect pass from junior Forward Carson Butterwick on a two-on-one break and one-timed it between Boucher’s legs and into the net. Butterwick put the perfectly-timed, perfectly-placed pass just over the Dartmouth defenseman’s outstretched stick and onto the tape of Cavosie’s stick, who got his 16th goal (and 37th point) of the season at 15:53 of the period. Murley got the second assist on the goal.

When asked if Marc Cavosie was the best player in the league, Head Coach Dan Fridgen responded “I would say so. He’s a threat anytime he’s out on the ice and he’s tough to get a piece of. He’s certainly a force to be reckoned with, and when you pair him up with a guy who’s as gifted as Matt [Murley], it’s certainly good. But we have to be a better team around them and not rely on them too much, because not one or two guys are going to win hockey games.”

RPI let up on defense a bit late in the second period, and Dartmouth took advantage, scoring their first goal at 19:54 after RPI repeatedly failed to clear the zone. Marsters had no chance on the play, as forward Frank Nardella was left to streak in alone and tap a pass from behind the goal into the open net.

The momentum then fully switched in Dartmouth’s favor, as they came out the hungrier team in the third period after smelling blood late in the second. Following numerous chances (and several gorgeous saves by Marsters), Lee Stempniak tied the game for Dartmouth at 8:17.

This sparked some life in the Engineers, who picked up their play defensively and offensively for the remainder of the game, but were unable to capitalize on two great chances as the third period wound down.

RPI got a scare midway through overtime, when—with senior defenseman Steve Munn and a Dartmouth player in the box for matching roughing minors—Dartmouth streaked into the Engineer zone on a two-on-one. Cavosie raced into the play from behind and broke it up. He was then called for interference, even though it looked like he simply jumped around the Dartmouth player, avoiding illegal contact with him.

According to Fridgen, killing off the questionable Cavosie penalty was the highlight of the game. “It was a disappointing call, especially when you think the referee has put his whistle away. There were some scoring opportunities ... one in particular that he [the referee] didn’t call when our No. 8 [Chris Migliore] was pulled down, and that’s gotta be called. We can’t control the officiating, but I thought we did a real good job of coming through and killing that four-on-three penalty off at a crucial point in the game.”

Munn seemed happy with his team’s overall effort. “The intensity and the attitude was pretty similar, for the most part, [between this game and the game against Dartmouth six days ago in Troy]. They were two very, very hard-fought, gritty, chippy games ... but we’ll take the one point on the road. I’m real happy with how everybody played. We had guys stepping up. We had two freshmen D-men [Blake Pickett and Matt McNeely] out there who are doing a fantastic job.”

Marsters made 42 saves for RPI, while Boucher grabbed 35 for Dartmouth.