The men's hockey team had another frustrating weekend, losing to Brown on Friday night and Harvard on Saturday night.
The Big Green put forth good efforts both nights, but found themselves on the short end of both decisions, losing 6-3 to Brown and 5-3 to Harvard.
Harvard 5 Dartmouth 3
Saturday night the Big Green, bolstered by a lineup shakeup by Coach Roger Demment, skated well but were stymied by Crimson goalie Tripp Tracy.
Tracy was on fire for Harvard, making a career high 37 saves. Harvard also got a big boost when they scored on a rare penalty shot opportunity.
Midway through the third period,with the Big Green trailing 5-2, David Whitworth '98 breathed some life into team with a wraparound goal to pull Dartmouth within two goals.
But this would be the last time that either team would light the lamp, and the 5-3 score held.
The balance of the game was still in doubt late in the second period with Harvard clinging to a one-goal lead, but unheralded Crimson winger Scott Swenson extended the lead to 4-2 with his second goal of the game and third of the year. Swenson came down the left wing with the puck in what looked like a 3-on-2 break.
But Dartmouth played the rush well, and Swenson had nowhere to pass the puck, so he fired it at the net.
Big Green goalie Scott Baker '97 appeared to get a good look at the shot, but the puck glanced off his catching glove and trickled behind him into the net.
Harvard broke a 1-1 tie in the second period on a Swenson goal. The Big Green got caught on a bad change as Swenson came down the right side unmolested and backhanded a shot under the glove of Baker into the bottom-right corner of the net.
One minute and 17 seconds later, the Big Green fell victim to the most exciting play in hockey, a penalty shot. All-American center Steve Martins, whom Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni called "one of the most electrifying players" he's ever seen, did the honors for the Crimson.
In a shorthanded situation, Martins took a pass and raced down the ice towards the Dartmouth zone.
Dartmouth defenseman Trevor Dodman '95 pursued Martins from behind, hooking him up and trying to make a play on the puck.
The referee originally signalled a two-minute penalty on Dodman, but then awarded Martins a penalty shot.
Baker came out to challenge Martins, but the All-American hardly made a move as he flipped the puck over Baker's shoulder into the upper right-hand corner of the net.
Jeremiah Buckley '98 opened the scoring in the game with his first career goal. Co-captain Dion Del Monte '95 also scored for the Big Green.
Brown 6 Dartmouth 3
Friday night the Big Green fell victim to some bad luck in their 6-3 defeat by the Brown Bears.
Dartmouth trailed 4-3 in the third period when Brown scored a backbreaking goal, with some help from the officials.
With Brown on a powerplay, Bears winger Ryan Mulhern threw the puck at the net from the point. Baker, who had come on in relief of starting goalie Ben Heller '97, made the save and fell to the ice, apparently having smothered the shot under his pads.
The referee blew the whistle to stop play, but as he did so, Brown captain Mike Traggio banged at Baker's pads and the puck squirted into the net from underneath him, clearly after the whistle blew.
But when the red light went on, the referee awarded a goal. Despite protests from the Dartmouth bench, and the more than 3,000 fans at Thompson Arena who heard the whistle blow before the puck was in the net, the goal stood, and Brown led 5-3.
The Bears added an empty-netter with one second left to account for the 6-3 final.
Patrick Turcotte '95 opened the scoring 1:42 into the game off a pretty feed from Owen Hughes '97.
However, in one of their poorest two minutes of the season, Dartmouth's lead evaporated and turned into a two goal deficit, thanks to a virtual defensive meltdown.
Brown made it 1-1 as they capitalized on some confusion behind the Dartmouth net.
As a Brown forechecker threw the puck behind the net and went after it in pursuit, both Heller and Dodman went behind the net to play the puck.
The two collided, and the Brown attacker slid the puck in front of the net. Heller had not yet recovered from the collision, and Brown center Scott Bradford slapped the puck into an unguarded net.
Only 28 seconds later, Brown scored again. Mike Noble ripped a shot from the point that Heller saved but the rebound came to Eric Trach, who beat Heller through the legs.
The Bears scored again 1:15 later as John DiRenzo grabbed the puck off a faceoff and beat Heller top-shelf with a wrister. The three goals allowed in 1:53 prompted Demment to yank Heller and replace him with Baker.
Charlie Retter '98 brought Dartmouth to within 3-2 about two minutes later, but Brown extended to a 4-2 advantage 2:44 into the second when the Bears' Damian Prescott victimized Baker on a wraparound shot.
Dartmouth again pulled to within one on Turcotte's shorthanded breakaway goal, but Brown regained a two goal lead with the controversial goal after the whistle.
The Big Green have only earned one point in their last six ECAC games, and have not won an ECAC contest since Nov. 18, but Demment said the team is far from demoralized.
"I think at this point the guys realize that we did play good hockey and that if we keep up with this kind of hard work we're going to win our fair share of games," he said.
"There's no reason for us to be demoralized at this point."
The Big Green will host two more ECAC foes this weekend, with games against Clarkson on Friday and St.Lawrence on Saturday night.
