The Huskies were led by forward O'Brian White, the 2007 national player of the year and Hermann Trophy winner, who scored both goals for UConn, one in each half.
The loss dropped the Big Green to 6-4-1 (1-0-1 Ivy), while UConn improved to 6-3-4 (3-3-1 Big East). The Huskies also improved their all-time record against Dartmouth to 23-16-5.
The Big Green has struggled away from home this season. Since beating national powerhouse University of Indiana, 4-0, on Sunday, Sept. 7 in South Bend, Ind. Dartmouth is now 1-4-1 on the road following the loss to the Huskies Wednesday night.
Dartmouth gave UConn all it could handle during the match, holding the total shot advantage, 14-13, and led in shots on goal, 6-4.
The Big Green tried to jump out early in the match with a pair of shots by forward Lucky Mkosana '12 in the 14th and 16th minutes. Mkosana, however, could not get passed Connecticut goalkeeper Josh Ford.
The Huskies immediately struck back in the 17th minute with White's first goal on the day. Teammate Tony Cascio broke through a trio of Dartmouth defenders and fed Akeem Preistley down the sideline, who subsequently set White up in the center of the Dartmouth box with a good look at the Big Green net.
Dartmouth goalkeeper and co-captain Sean Milligan '09 said that, despite White's reputation, the team did not treat him any differently than it has treated star players in previous matches.
"Obviously we were aware of him," Milligan said. "But we didn't change our game plan too much. We had a mental lapse, and he made us pay."
But the Big Green kept the pressure on the Huskies despite the early deficit and managed to pull even with UConn just five minutes later.
Dartmouth back Donnie Surdoval '10 positioned himself in front of the net and connected on a header off a corner from Andrew Olsen '11. The tally was Surdoval's second goal of the season.
Both teams aggressively looked to get an edge before the break, but the first half ended with the score locked at 1-1.
Dartmouth came out strong in the second half, but goalkeeper Ford stifled the Big Green offense. The Big Green had a series of four corners within a three-minute window starting in the 57th minute but could not connect for a goal.
Milligan also displayed some deft goaltending, deflecting a hard shot from UConn's Priestley four minutes into the final half.
Ultimately, it would be UConn who found the go-ahead goal, with Cascio and White connecting again. Cascio found White from the right side of the box, and White placed a shot high in the net to bring the score to 2-1 with 73:46 elapsed in the contest.
The Big Green pushed until the 90th minute but could not tie contest. Pumi Maqubela '10 had a free-kick opportunity in the final minutes, but a UConn defender got his head on the shot to clear it out of the Huskies box.
"As a team we didn't really do anything wrong," Milligan said. "We might have had a few mental lapses, but they just have a few good players -- a bunch of really good players, actually."
UConn's Ford finished with five saves, while Dartmouth's Milligan finished with two.
The loss hurts Dartmouth's shot at an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. The Big Green can point to an early-season upset over Indiana and a brief period as a top-25 team, but with an early loss to the University of Notre Dame, along with some tough losses to Sacred Heart University and the University of Vermont, the team recognizes that the rest of its games present must-win situations.
The Big Green's next challenge will be Saturday when it faces the University of Pennsylvania at Burnham Field as part of the Homecoming festivities. Penn, like Dartmouth, has spent time on the national rankings this season.
The Quakers have been clicking on offense in league play. Penn is second in the Ivies with four goals scored in two conference games but tied for sixth with four goals against when facing league foes.
Regardless of a tough Ivy League schedule, Milligan is confident that Dartmouth will make the most out of its remaining schedule.
"The key going forward is going to be to transfer our play against top competition into the Ivies," Milligan said. "If we play that way against some of the Ivy teams, we should not really have a problem.
The Big Green and Penn kick off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Burnham Field.
