"We came out pretty hard," Big Green captain Nick Johnson '08 said. "But we couldn't get the breaks."
Dartmouth dominated play early in the game, going into the locker rooms after the first period with a 2-1 lead.
Despite being on top for most of the first two periods, Dartmouth could not stop Bobcat forward Jean-Marc Beaudoin, who scored two of Quinnipiac's five goals and assisted another.
"I thought [Beaudoin] played well," Dartmouth assistant coach Dave Peters said. "We know he's a good player."
Quinnipiac (11-5-3, 4-3-3 ECAC) managed to put more pressure on the net than the Big Green, which only came up with 23 shots on net, in contrast to the Bobcats' 34.
Johnson conceded that the Dartmouth squad encountered defensive problems during the contest.
"I think we were weak on our own goal," Johnson said. "We let them kind of take control."
Peters, however, disagreed that the shots on net indicated a defensive problem.
"Shots are very misleading," Peters said. "We felt like we had as many scoring opportunities as they did, and for them to have more shots is not a big deal."
The Big Green went up early in the first period with a four-on-four goal by Connor Shields '09, who managed to capitalize on the extra ice and fired a shot past the Bobcats' goalkeeper Pat McGann.
The Big Green extended their lead with a power play goal when Johnson assisted Rob Pritchard '09.
Quinnipiac responded late in the first period with a power play of its own, and turned the late first period goal into a hot streak when Bobcats forward Eric Lampe capitalized on a turnover.
Lampe one-timed a puck past Dartmouth goalkeeper Mike Devine '08 just two minutes into the second period.
Dartmouth had two more opportunities in the second period, the first of which almost turned into a short-handed goal for Quinnipiac as Lampe skated in on the net just to be denied by Devine's kick save.
Dartmouth, however, could not find a way to use the opportunities to its advantage and left the ice for the second break at a 2-2 tie.
Trying to recapture its momentum, Dartmouth entered the third period with a goal by Adam Estoclet '11 just three minutes in.
Estoclet scored his second goal of the season against McGann, who was playing in his second game of the season.
Jon Grecu '08 slid the puck behind the net to Estoclet, who found a path for the puck beneath the pads of McGann.
With 12 minutes left in the game, the two sides were once again tied by a quick rebound shot assisted by Beaudoin off a save by Devine during a Quinnipiac power play.
Dartmouth could not seem to keep Beaudoin out of its defensive end towards the end of the third period when he fired two shots past Devine to cement the Bobcat win.
"We had a lead and a lot of chances to win that hockey game," Peters said.
Johnson, on the other hand, chalked the loss up to "a ridiculously long break in December."
With that in mind, Johnson does not believe the loss will have ramifications for the rest of the season.
"We can beat both those teams" Johnson said. "And that's the most frustrating part."
The Big Green will try their luck at home when Clarkson comes to Leede Arena on Friday, Jan 11.
