The rocky landscape of the grueling ECAC conference is made up of hills and valleys.
After this weekend, the Big Green find themselves stuck down in a rut with a three game losing streak. Traveling to ECAC and Ivy League rivals Yale and Princeton this weekend, the Big Green couldn't put together sixty solid minutes of hockey in one night, as they fell to the Bulldogs 5-4, and to the Tigers, 4-2.
While Dartmouth showed flashes of brilliant play, they couldn't string together enough for an all important road victory. At Yale, the Big Green battled back from a 5-1 deficit midway through the second period to within a goal with three and a half minutes to play, but the comeback was squelched there.
Dartmouth had the hot hand early against conference leader Princeton, but couldn't hold onto a 2-1 third period lead. In fact, from the second period of the Yale game, through the end of the second period at Princeton, the Big Green outscored their opponents 5-1. However, this isn't the Continental Basketball Association, where teams get points for period victories.
With the weekend losses, Dartmouth dropped to 8-7 overall, 3-6 in ECAC play.
Yale
Dartmouth entered Ingalls Rink having won six out of their last eight contests, and hoping to notch two more ECAC points against a slumping Yale squad which had dropped three straight.
The Bulldogs proved they were not going to simply roll over and die, as they built on a 2-1 first period lead into a formidable 5-2 advantage at the end of two. The Big Green had fired 27 shots at Yale's Dan Choquette, but only Jon Sturgis '98 and Bill Kelleher '96 were able to find the back of the net.
Coming to life in the third period, Dartmouth made things very interesting as they shut down the Bulldog attack, and came within one goal of overtime.
A minute into the third stanza, Sturgis and Kelleher zig-zagged down the ice and set up a one-timer by Dave Whitworth '98, to cut the Eli lead to two.
The Big Green continued to close the gap as Kelleher carried the puck across the Yale blueline, and slid a pass to trailing defenseman Dave Risk '98. Risk knocked it to Sturgis, who split the posts with five minutes left on the clock.
Princeton
With national powerhouse UVM as their travel partner, Dartmouth can usually count on the Cats to thrash the Big Green's Saturday night opponent, and leaving them wishing they didn't have to play another game.
This theory hasn't panned out the last two weekends, however, as Harvard and Princeton both dropped Friday night games to UVM, and then came back to steal come-from-behind-victories from Dartmouth.
Even with the loss to UVM, the Tigers entered Saturday night's contest at rowdy Hobie Baker Memorial Rink in control of first place in the ECAC.
The Big Green kept the Tiger attack in check through the first period, as Eric Almon '00 denied all six of Princeton's shots on goal.
Dartmouth's offensive attack looked much sharper, and they were able to capitalize on a two-man advantage at 12:46 when blueliner Owen Hughes '97 displayed his offensive awareness, finding the back of the net with assists from Bill Kelleher '96 and David Whitworth '98.
The Big Green kept the pressure on first-place Princeton when Zac Hafer '99 notched the first goal of his collegiate career at 5:19 of the second period.
"Matty (Giedt '99) was able to tie their defenseman up along the boards, so Curtis (Wilgosh '99) just came in, picked up the puck, drew their other defenseman to him and slid the puck to me in the slot," Hafer said. "All I had to do was one time it home."
That he did, to the top left corner, to open up a 2-0 lead. Princeton sharpened its offensive attack and responded at 11:54, however, and everyone at Hobie Baker Rink was expecting a tight third period.
That tight third period never came, as Princeton scored three unanswered goals to maintain their first-place standing, sending the Big Green on a quiet bus ride back to New Hampshire.
"We've just been unable to put 60 solid minutes together in a long time," Hafer added. "Last night we outplayed the best team in the ECAC for 50 minutes of the game, yet came away empty. Our focus this week in practice will be on doing absolutely everything we can to play all 60 minutes Friday against Clarkson, and then again Saturday versus St. Lawrence."
When the Big Green string three solid periods in a row on the same night, they've proven they can compete with the best--as evidenced by their 4-1 humbling of UVM. It will take similar efforts next week to prove victorious over two of the better teams in the conference.
