Men's Hockey Upsets No. 12 Dartmouth, 4-3

Saturday, February 14

Providence, R.I.

4 p.m.

Brown University

5-19-2, 4-12-2

Dartmouth

17-7-2, 11-5-2

Dartmouth

Brown

Photo by: Jamie Fiedorek

2/14/2026 8:40:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Ben Poitras tallied the game-winning goal with 57 seconds remaining as the Brown Bears (5-19-2, 4-12-2 ECAC) upset the 12th-ranked Dartmouth Big Green (17-7-2, 11-5-2 ECAC) with a 4-3 win Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium in head coach Brendan Whittet's final game behind the bench.

The Bears finished the weekend picking up 5-of-6 possible ECAC League points.

"I couldn't be more proud of the guys, they had a great weekend and just beat one of the best teams in the country," Whittet said. "They battled tooth-and-nail, and when you do that, good things happen. I'm proud of them. The guys are going to do a good job moving forward, and I'll be with them in spirit.

"As I've said all these years I've been here, I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I love this place and I've always put my all into it and worked as hard as I possibly could because of how much pride I have in that jersey and how much respect I have for the guys that have come before and worn that jersey.

"I'm just proud of having the opportunity to guide the ship. I'm proud of all the guys that I've had the opportunity to coach. They're all great men. The biggest things I'll take away are the memories and friendships I've made here over the years. The positive is that I'm going to return, just in a different role. But it's one I look forward to and am energized to be involved with.

"Brown is home, and I know I left this place better than when I arrived. I'm proud of that."

Matt Desiderio opened the scoring 6:19 into the first period with his fourth goal of the season. Andrew King collected a pass from Ryan Shostak and drove to the net before his effort was stopped by Emmett Croteau (22 saves). Desiderio followed the rebound and beat Croteau with the second effort.

The Big Green responded seven seconds later as Hank Cleaves finished a feed from Hayden Stavroff in the slot to beat Brown goaltender Tyler Shea (29 saves). Colin Grable added the secondary assist.

Ivan Zadvernyuk gave Brown a 2-1 lead with a power play goal 4:53 into the second period. Brendan Tighe forced a Dartmouth turnover in the slot and fired a shot on net. The rebound kicked out to Alex Pineau, who moved the puck to Zadvernyuk for his seventh goal of the season.

Cleaves tallied his second goal of the game on the power play 11:03 into the middle frame to bring the game back even. Stavroff and CJ Foley assisted on the goal.

Late in the second period, Michael Salandra tipped a point shot from Owen Dyer past Croteau for his third goal of the season and a 3-2 Bruno lead. Ryan St. Louis added the secondary assist on the goal.

With Croteau pulled for the extra attacker and the Big Green on the power play, Nikita Nikora scored his sixth goal of the season to tie the game with 1:29 remaining in the third period.

Poitras broke the deadlock 32 seconds later with his 10th goal of the season, beating Croteau on a breakaway with a deke to his backhand. Charlie Gollob moved the puck to Zadvernyuk at Dartmouth's blue line, who sprung Poitras on the breakaway with a saucer pass through the Dartmouth defense.

GAME NOTES

King extended his point streak to three games and Shostak pushed his streak to two games with the assists on Desiderio's goal.
Zadvernyuk extended his point streak to two games with the power play goal in the second period.
Gollob extended his point streak to two games with the assists on the game-winner from Poitras.
Dartmouth finished the night with a 32-26 edge in shots on goal.
Brown won the faceoff battle with a 43-for-76 (56.6%) effort. Mike Cataldo (72.7%), Zadvernyuk (68.8%), and Ryan Shostak (68.2%) led the Bears at the dot.
Brown finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play while Dartmouth went 2-for-6 on the man advantage.

The Bears hit the road next weekend to take on the St. Lawrence Saints (5-22-3, 4-13-1 ECAC) and Clarkson Golden Knights (12-15-3, 6-9-3 ECAC). Friday's game against the Saints is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. with Saturday's game against the Golden Knights set for 4 p.m.

Both games will stream on ESPN+ in the United States and on Stretch Internet internationally.

Gallery: (2-14-2026) MIH vs. #12 Dartmouth (2/14/26)

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