SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College men's hockey team dropped a tough 5-4 decision to Dartmouth College on Saturday evening at Messa Rink.

Union (14-15-3, 8-9-3) drops to sixth place in the conference standings, two points back from Dartmouth (9-9-9, 7-6-7) and Clarkson (16-15-1, 10-9-1) who are tied for fourth with 31 points.

Union scored their seventh short-handed goal of the season, the most since the 2016-17 campaign.

Senior Chaz Smedsrud and sophomore and Brandon Buhr each scored a goal and assist while sophomore Nate Hanley tallied a pair of helpers. Senior Tyler Watkins and sophomore John Prokop each scored a goal.

The Big Green struck first in the opening minutes of the game. A shot from the left wall bounced off Cooper Flinton in front. Flinton took an initial shot that was saved by sophomore Kyle Chauvette, but the rebound bounced back to Luke Haymes who buried it.

Special teams became the central focus as three of the four combined goals in the second period came on the player advantage. Down by one, Union got on the board with a power-play goal by Smedsrud. Junior Josh Nixon took a shot from the top of the left-wing circle that bounced off of Cooper Black's pads, but Smedsrud was there to bury the rebound on the powerplay. Dartmouth struck back only 39 seconds later to retake a one-goal lead. After two Union skaters headed to the box late in the second, Dartmouth capitalized with a power-play goal of their own. John Fusco went off for holding, prompting both teams to skate 4-on-4. Hanley took a shot from the left-wing circle that bounced off of Black's pads to Prokop waiting on the doorstep for the short-handed goal.

Union wasted no time in the third period and tied the game at three apiece only 21 seconds into the final frame. Watkins picked a corner to beat Black and knot the game. Dartmouth regained a one-goal lead with a short-handed goal a few minutes later from CJ Foley. The visitors scored the eventual game winner at 5:20 of the game. With Chauvette pulled for the extra attacker, Buhr squeaked the puck by Black's right skate for the score with 2.5 seconds remaining.

After the conclusion of the game, Union honored the six members of the class of 2024 in a post-game: Chaz Smedsrud, Tyler Watkins, Ville Immonen, Liam Robertson, Nathan Kelly, and Ben Tupker.

Union is on the road for the final weekend of the regular season beginning with a trip to Cornell University on Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Lynah Rink.