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No. 13 Dartmouth Upsets No. 10 Colorado 5-4 in National Collegiate Club Championship First Round
ATHENS, Ohio -- Mike Bazylewicz (Gr., Manchester, Mass.) notched a hat-trick to earn Player of the Game honors and power the No. 13 nationally ranked Big Green of Dartmouth College to a 5-4 upset victory over the No. 10 ranked Buffaloes of the University of Colorado in the eighth and final first round game of the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship at Ohio University.
The win places the Big Green into a second round matchup against No. 1 ranked and defending National Collegiate Club Champion California Polytechnic State University at 9:00 a.m. on November 15, while Colorado falls into a second round matchup against the host Ohio University Bobcats at 9:50 p.m. on November 14.
Against Colorado, Dartmouth trailed only once as the Buffaloes jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to an advantage goal by Taylor Horowitz (Jr., Upland, Calif.) with 3:31 left in the first period. The goal lead stood for less than three minutes as Nicholas Riolo (Gr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) netted the equalizer with 34 seconds left in the period to ignite the Big Green offense.
Dartmouth used a three-to-nothing scoring advantage all courtesy the hand of Bazylewicz in the second period to pull away from Colorado as he tallied goals at the 6:04, 1:02 and 34 seconds marks to push the Big Green out to a 4-1 lead by halftime.
Colorado clawed its way back into the game as Horowitz and Clint Beall (Sr., Albuquerque, N.M.) found the back of the cage at 4:04 and 3:21 of the third period to pull to within a goal at 4-3.
The Buffaloes balanced the scoreboard at the 5:52 mark of the fourth period as Mike Oetken (Jr., Sacramento, Calif.) buried a shot off an advantage opportunity to knot the score at four-all.
Dartmouth and Colorado remained tied for only 1:42 as Doug Nelson (Jr., Hillsdale, Ill.) broke through the Buffaloes' defense and uncorked a shot which eluded goalie Kevin Webster (Jr., Denver, Colo.) for the game-winner with 4:10 left on the clock.
In cage, Webster finished with eight saves for Colorado, while Kyle Finnegan (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) blocked away seven shots in the victory for Dartmouth.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| University of Colorado | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Dartmouth College | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Dartmouth Goals: Mike Bazylewicz (3); Doug Nelson; Nicholas Riolo
Colorado Goals: Taylor Horowtiz (2); Clint Beall; Mike Oetken
Saves: Dartmouth - Kyle Finnegan (7) ; Colorado - Kevin Webster (8)
Ejections: Dartmouth - 6 ; Colorado - 3
Sprints: Dartmouth - 3 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Colorado - 1 (3rd)
