The men's ice hockey team had a disappointing weekend, picking up only one of a possible four points against ECAC rivals Princeton and Yale. The Big Green battled Princeton to a 2-2 tie on Friday night but lost to the Yalies 6-5 on Saturday.
Saturday night's loss was especially bitter because the squad had a 4-2 second period lead but were unable to put the Bulldogs away, giving up four straight goals.
Winger Mike Stacchi '95 scored with 2:09 left in the game and Yale leading 6-4 to narrow Dartmouth's deficit to one goal, but the team could get no closer. The goal was Stacchi's team-leading seventh this season.
Facing a two-goal disadvantage early in the second period, the Bulldogs took advantage of Dartmouth penalties to score on consecutive powerplay opportunities and evened the score at 4-4. Yale added goals by Andy Weidenbach and Jeff Sorem in the third to take a 6-4 lead.
With the score tied 2-2, the Big Green went ahead on a goal by winger Bill Kelleher '96 just 12 seconds into the second period. Co-captain Dion Del Monte '95 added a goal about three minutes later to extend the Big Green's advantage to 4-2.
Dartmouth went ahead 2-1 during a wild stretch in the first period that featured three goals in 36 seconds. Only 17 seconds after Charlie Retter '98 opened the scoring, Yale center John Emmons knotted the score at 1-1. But the Big Green responded 19 seconds later, when Darren Wercinski '97 lit the lamp.
Goalie Scott Baker '97 made 22 saves for the Big Green.
Team members blamed the loss on a lack of discipline and lazy play. Defenseman Dax Burkhart '96 said that the Big Green "sat back" once they had the 4-2 lead in the second period. "As a team we need to learn to put teams away and not let them back into it," he said.
Baker said that with the two-goal lead, "we thought we had it in the bag and started taking lazy penalties."
Friday night the Big Green put forth a strong effort to secure a 2-2 tie against a red-hot Princeton team that had a nine game unbeaten streak entering the weekend.
After a scoreless first period, Princeton center Ian Sharp opened the scoring 4:41 into the second. Stacchi responded with a tally 12:08 into the second, but the Tigers again went ahead on a goal by winger Jonathan Kelley.
With the Big Green behind 2-1, David Whitworth '98 tied the score 6:57 into the third.
Dartmouth overcame a large penalty differential, shutting down the Tigers on all seven of their powerplay chances, including a 54 second five-on-three man advantage in the third.
Baker was solid in the net with 39 saves, seven of them coming in the five-minute overtime period. Most of the overtime was spent in the Big Green end of the ice, but Baker and the Dartmouth defense preserved the tie.
The team was happy to earn one point against Princeton, Baker said, but the loss to Yale made the weekend a bitter disappointment.
The Big Green are home this weekend against Brown on Friday night and Harvard on Saturday night.
