Brawl erupts at end of NCAA game between Cornell, Dartmouth

Some tensions boiled over after the final whistle in college hockey on Saturday night.

In a game between ECAC rivals Cornell Big Red and Dartmouth Big Green, Dartmouth was on its way to securing a 6-1 road victory over Cornell, giving the Big Green its fourth win in five games. However, that wasn’t the story when fans exited Lynah Rink.

As the final seconds ticked down, a battle started around the Big Red’s net between Cornell senior Michael Suda and Dartmouth’s Colin Grable Steven Townley. A couple of hard cross-checks from Suda left some players in green unhappy, leaving players from both sides coming together after the final horn.

After a brief skirmish, it looked like things had calmed down, but some Big Red players took exception to Dartmouth celebrating in front of the Cornell student section, which escalated things into another melee.

No gloves were dropped, but some helmets were thrown off on both sides, with both coaches visibly trying to get players from their respective teams off the ice.

In total, 108 penalty minutes were handed out due to the incident. Six players — Cornell’s Kyle Penney, Jack O’Leary and Ottawa Senators draft pick Hoyt Stanley, along with Dartmouth’s Jack Silverberg, Ian Pierce and Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick John Fusco — received game disqualifications, meaning each will be suspended for at least one game. Three other 10-minute misconducts were also distributed, with Cornell’s Tyler Catalano, Nick DeSantis, and Dartmouth’s Hayden Stavroff receiving 12 minutes in penalties apiece.

The game was already your typical chippy affair between conference rivals, with 134 penalty minutes being handed out on Saturday night. Fusco scored what ended up being the game-winning goal earlier in the game.

As a result of the game, Dartmouth (11-7-2) moved into second in the ECAC, three points behind first-place Quinnipiac. Cornell (8-6-5) sits seventh in the 12-team league.