With a two-game winning streak in hand, the men's hockey team will try to carry its momentum into a four-game road trip, starting with games against Harvard and Brown this weekend.
The Big Green (6-10-2 ECAC, 8-13-2 overall) face off against the Harvard Crimson (10-5-1 ECAC, 12-9-1 overall) tonight at 7:30 and play the Brown Bears (10-5-1 ECAC, 11-8-2 overall) tomorrow night at seven.
Neither of the two games promises to be easy, as Harvard and Brown sit in second and third place in conference, respectively. Both the Crimson and the Bears have 21 points.
Dartmouth dropped a 5-3 decision to Harvard earlier this season at Thompson, and also lost 6-3 to Brown this season.
The Big Green currently sit in 12th and last place in the ECAC, but trail 10th place St. Lawrence by only two points for the final playoff berth.
Despite the strong records of the Big Green's weekend opponents, Coach Roger Demment is optimistic about the team's chances.
"Now that we've broken the [nine-game] losing streak and gotten the monkey off our backs, we're excited about going to Harvard and Brown," Demment said.
Scott Baker '97, who was a major factor in the team's revival last weekend, will get the start in net against Harvard.
Demment will reunite a forward line that was successful earlier this season. Bill Kelleher '96 and Mike Stacchi '95 will be centered by David Whitworth '98. All three forwards garnered honors for performances last weekend. Whitworth earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors for his five-point performance against RPI. Kelleher and Stacchi each made the ECAC Honor Roll.
Shaun Peet '98, Patrick Turcotte '95 and Captain Dion Del Monte '95 will comprise another forward line.
Harvard surged into second place in the ECAC with a big win on the road at Cornell last Friday night. However, fatigue could be a factor for the Crimson, who played only four days ago against Northeastern University in the consolation game of the Beanpot Tournament.
The Crimson offense, led by Steve Martins and Corey Gustafson, is always a threat. Martins, an All-American, is particularly dangerous, as Baker can probably attest. The Harvard forward burned Baker on a penalty shot during the Crimson's 5-3 win at Thompson earlier this season.
Tripp Tracy, who was in net for the Crimson's win last weekend at Cornell, will probably get the start tonight for Harvard.
Brown settled into third place in the conference after a split last weekend. The Bears were routed 8-1 by Colgate but followed up that disappointing loss with a huge win, a 5-4 decision at Cornell the next night.
The Bears jumped out to a big lead in the ECAC earlier this season but have since sagged behind sizzling Clarkson and Harvard.
Brian Jardine and Ryan Mulhern lead a hard-working corps of Brown forwards, and senior Mike Traggio is a solid defenseman.
Junior goaltender Mike Parsons, who has carried most of the load this year for the Bears, will most likely get the start in net on Saturday against the Big Green.
