The following day, after five power play opportunities, the Big Green still couldn't make it happen and dropped the second game of the series 1-0.
How could this have happened to Dartmouth? After all, the Big Green boasts four Olympians from the Turin Games on its team and the most skilled players in the Ivy League.
Fret not, hockey fans. These two games pitched the Big Green against a seasoned and well-practiced Lakers squad that has been playing for over a month now. And Dartmouth's standouts, several of whom are only now beginning to make the transition from playing internationally to within the collegiate ranks, do not believe that the losses are indicative of what the rest of the season has in store.
"Starting off the season with two losses was definitely not what we wanted to have happen and we were upset afterwards," Parsons said. "However, it's so early in the season that we can learn a lot from the weekend and bounce back. I think everyone has moved on and is really looking forward to our next couple of games. Our team has so much potential and all of us want to prove that."
In the first game of the weekend, Dartmouth opened on a positive note and netted a power play in the first six seconds of the first period. On a pass from Maggie Kennedy '09, captain Gillian Apps '06 struck the puck past Lakers' goalie Laura Hosier for the Big Green's first goal of the season.
Apps, with the help of teammates Cherie Piper '06 and Julia Bronson '09, scored her second goal of the game on another power play in the ninth minute.
"Mercyhurst had a tough time keeping up with our forwards' speed and took a lot of early penalties for it, which we took advantage of early in the game with a couple of power play goals," Big Green goaltender Carli Clemis '09 said. "They're definitely a good team though. They moved the puck well and took a lot of quality shots in the slot."
Mercyhurst quickly erased Dartmouth's 2-0 lead, scoring twice in 25 seconds in the 16th minute. Stefanie Bourbeau -- who recorded a hat trick in the game -- and Julia Colizza both netted their fourth goals of the season before the end of the first period.
Mercyhurst was relentless out of the gate in the second period and scored its third and fourth goals in under seven minutes.
"I was surprised by their quick transitions in the neutral zone," Clemis said. "They capitalized a few times on our line changes and when we were pinching too low and ended up getting quite a few odd-man rushes."
Midway through the second period, defender Sarah Newnam '09 scored the Big Green's third goal on a Dartmouth power play. The two teams remained scoreless for the next 20 minutes as Dartmouth searched for an equalizer.
However, Bourbeau's third goal ended the Big Green's season opener as the Lakers skated away with their fourth win of the season.
Clemis made 22 saves for Dartmouth in the game, including 10 in the second period.
"We definitely came out flying the first period -- it tapered off a bit in the second, but the offense dominated again in the third," Clemis said. "From my view in the net, I felt like we looked good out there in most aspects, just had a tough time burying the puck."
The two teams took it to Mercyhurst Ice Center again on Sunday afternoon. The Big Green and the Lakers both played three strong defensive periods throughout the game. The only goal of the day came halfway through the second period when Mercyhurst's Lesley McArthur beat Clemis to score her first career game-winner.
Clemis recorded 22 saves for the second consecutive day. Offensively, Dartmouth had five power plays but simply couldn't finish any of them.
Before last weekend, the Lakers had never recorded a win against the Big Green in the teams' six previous meetings. Despite the two losses, Dartmouth still holds a 5-2-1 all-time series edge over Mercyhurst.
"I think the whole team is confident in the talent we have and what we can do this season," Clemis said. "It would be nice if everything came together picture perfect at the very beginning, but we know that every team is going through those first kinks and that Mercyhurst probably went through them too when they had their first games a month ago. We're not too worried."
Dartmouth returns to Thompson Arena for its home openers this weekend. The Big Green will look for its first wins of the season against Union College and Rensselaer. Both games are set to start at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
