It was the second shutout loss of the year for Dartmouth (11-7-3, 8-5-1 ECAC) and it came at the hands of one of Harvard's strongest performances of the season. The Crimson (17-1-0, 14-0-0 ECAC) maintains its perfect ECAC record with the win.
The Big Green started slowly and was outshot by Harvard 17-5 in the first period. The Crimson got on the board with a power play goal 14 minutes into the game after a series of offensive barrages that proved too much for Dartmouth goalie Mariel Lacina '10.
Harvard scored again midway through the second period, once again outshooting the Big Green 11-6 in the second period.
Harvard's smothering defense blocked multiple shots before reaching the goal and was able to keep the Big Green from mounting a sustained attack.
The Big Green had two power plays during the first two periods but could not capitalize.
The final two goals of the game came midway through the third period when Harvard took advantage of its fifth power play. Dartmouth had several near misses but could not slip the puck past the keeper.
"Harvard is a strong team without many, if any, weaknesses," head coach Mark Hudak said. "I'm not surprised by how they have been performing. I thought they would be at the top from the beginning of the year and knew that it would take a near-perfect game to beat them."
Dartmouth has been playing without key players Jenna Cunningham '10 and goalie Carli Clemis '09 due to injuries. Their absence has been felt, though Lacina, Clemis' replacement, saved an impressive 39 shots in the Harvard contest and has performed well all season.
"Harvard came out extremely strong against us," Clemis said. "Early in the game we were put in a tough position killing penalties, and Harvard was able to maintain that momentum throughout the first period. In terms of holding Harvard off, Mariel played absolutely unbelievable. She was the anchor of our defensive zone."
The Big Green will host Yale (9-8-4, 6-6-2 ECAC) and Brown (3-14-4, 2-9-3 ECAC) this weekend. Dartmouth has already defeated both teams this season.
"We need to shoot for second in the Ivy League and third or fourth in the ECAC," Hudak said. "If we can do that, we can have home ice advantage in the playoffs, which will be more important this year than it has in the past."
