The Big Green men's hockey (3-17-1 overall, 2-12-1 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference) sunk deeper into the mire of a disappointing season this weekend with a 6-3 loss to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Friday and a 5-3 loss to Union College Saturday.
With six games left to play, the team must extricate itself from the swampland of 12th place in order to make the playoffs.
Though the Big Green played well, they seemed unable to escape the misfortune that has trailed them all season.
"They were better games than we had played," Dion Del Monte '95 said. "There were still a few mental lapses which cost us, though."
The team expected to walk away with Friday's game against RPI, but ended up falling behind 4-1 by the end of the second period. The Big Green were unable to erase the deficit in the third, as they and RPI each scored a pair of goals.
Saturday, Dartmouth came out fighting against Union, trying hard to rebound after Friday night's debacle. The team must pass 10th-ranked Union, whom it trails by five points, in order to nab the final playoff spot.
Despite their efforts, the Big Green found themselves behind 4-2 by the end of the second period. The team battled valiantly, outshooting Union 15-5 in the third period, but never quite tying that goal.
"They were two disappointing games," Thomas Ruzzo '97 said. "Against RPI, we were hoping to steal one from them."
"Against Union, we thought we gave it a good shot," he said. "Things just haven't been clicking for us this year and that game just sums it up."
In the last minute of play Saturday night, Darren Wercinski '97 was ejected from the game for brawling with Union's Chris Hancock.
Wercinski obtained an automatic one-game suspension for the incident, which will add him to the list of absentees from the team's roster for Friday night's game against Harvard.
Wercinski will sit out along with three injured players - Alex Dumas '97, Yannick Roussin '95 and Patrick Turcotte '95. Turcotte broke his hand Friday against RPI.
"Obviously, with these losses, this puts us in a difficult position vis-a-vis the last playoff spot," Coach Roger Demment said.
"In order for us to get that last spot, we have to win a majority of the last six games," Demment said.
The daunting task is not made easier by the fact that the opposition for these last six games includes the top three teams in the ECAC: Harvard, Brown and Clarke.
"We're just lacking one or two things that will put us over the top," Del Monte said. "It's kind of frustrating, because I don't think we're a 2-15 team."
One cause for hope has been the performance of goalie Ben Heller '97, who had a solid game against Union Saturday night.
