Trailing 6-2 by the end of the first quarter, Dartmouth played the Big Red even over the next two periods and entered the final frame down 12-8.
However, the Big Green could not sustain the effort.
Cornell outscored the Big Green 6-1 over the final 15 minutes, extending its nine-year winning streak over Dartmouth yet another season. The Big Red improves to 8-2 overall, 3-1 in the Ivy League.
The Big Red drew first blood less than three minutes into the first quarter, but the Big Green responded with two goals of its own, riding the backs of Alec Hufnagel '06 and Tim Daniels '08. Daniels scored Dartmouth's first goal off of Hufnagel's assist, and less than a minute later, the slick sophomore returned the favor, feeding Hufnagel for a score of his own.
However, the Big Green's 2-1 advantage did not last. Over the next 11 minutes, Cornell tallied five unanswered goals to build a commanding lead that it would not relinquish.
Daniels led the Dartmouth offense, scoring two goals to go along with his assist. Additionally, Daniels controlled a team-high nine ground balls and won 14 of 26 faceoff tries. Brad Heritage '06 added two goals on 10 shots, and fellow co-captain Jamie Coffin '06 added a goal and an assist.
Nick Bonacci '07 attributed the Big Green's struggles and Cornell's resulting success to the Big Red's ability to dictate the pace of the game.
"I think we rely a lot on ball possession," Bonacci said. "Cornell was able to turn it into a really up-tempo game. They were running up and down the field, pushing the ball because they were not afraid to make turnovers. We got away from our game plan a bit; I think we needed to hold the ball a lot more than we did. We would have been better off if we had slowed things down and made it more of a low-scoring game."
This year's Dartmouth squad is averaging just under 10 goals per contest and has never scored more than 15 in a game. The team is not oriented for high-scoring shootouts and, instead, has found success in slow, calculated attacks.
Cornell outshot the Big Green 14-4 in the first quarter, but aside from this total, the game was statistically even. Dartmouth scooped 41 ground balls to the Big Red's 40 and won 17 faceoffs to Cornell's 14.
The Big Green found quality scoring opportunities, managing to put 21 of its 37 shots on goal. However, Cornell goalkeeper Matt McMonagle rose to the Dartmouth challenge, making 12 stops.
Dartmouth's transition game was a problem, as the team totaled five failed clears in 18 attempts.
"We knew we couldn't afford to turn the ball over. I'm not sure what the final total was, but turnovers were definitely a big factor [on Saturday]," Bonacci said.
In addition to the five transition turnovers, the Big Green piled up 15 more on the offensive side of play. Cornell only faltered twice on clears.
With the loss, Dartmouth drops to 4-6 overall, with a 0-2 record in the Ivy League.
The 0-2 mark ties Dartmouth with Brown for sixth place in the conference and casts a grim light on the Big Green's NCAA tournament hopes.
The team can still qualify for the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament but will need help from division opponents. Princeton currently sits atop the Ancient Eight with a 3-0 divisional record, while Cornell moves into second place. Penn is third with a 3-2 record, followed by Harvard at 2-2. Yale is fifth at 1-3.
The Big Green will begin its quest to climb the Ivy League rankings on Wednesday afternoon against Yale. The Bulldogs will travel to Hanover to faceoff against Dartmouth at 3 p.m.
