The Big Green men's hockey team's surprising five-game winning streak has finally come to a halt.
Dartmouth fell by the score of 3-1 to Cornell on Saturday night in Ithaca, N.Y., after the Big Green defeated its fifth-straight opponent in a 1-0 defensive stalemate against Colgate University on Friday in Hamilton, N.Y.
Dartmouth (5-3-0, 5-2-0 ECAC Hockey) has now fallen to a second-place tie in ECAC Hockey with Cornell and Harvard.
Adam Estoclet '11 gave Dartmouth all the offense it needed on Friday, scoring a power-play goal in the third period in a one-goal win over Colgate (4-4-2, 1-3-2 ECAC Hockey). Estoclet leads the team in scoring with four goals and eight assists on the season.
Estoclet connected during Dartmouth's first power-play opportunity early in the final period of play. A series of shots by Doug Jones '12 and Andrew Owsiak '11 resulted in a rebound to Estoclet, which the sophomore forward put in past Raiders' goalie Charles Long.
This was the first shutout of the season for Dartmouth goalie Jody O'Neill '12. He made 28 saves during the contest and now has a save percentage of .941 on the season.
"It's not as hard to come up with saves when there's such great defense in front of me blocking the shots," O'Neill said.
Dartmouth was out-shot, 28-22, during the contest. The Big Green defensive unit, led by Evan Stephens '11, also deserves credit for keeping Colgate scoreless.
"Jody is a good goalie and he makes us play with more confidence on defense," defenseman Jim Gaudet '12 said.
The Big Green failed to capitalize on other scoring opportunities, including eight power-play chances. Halfway through the first period, the Big Green had a five-on-three advantage yet failed to score.
Additional shots by defenseman Connor Goggin '12 and forward Jones during the man-up situation pressured the Colgate goalie, but the pressure could not be translated into a goal. Colgate also had opportunities to tie up the game, especially during its four power plays, but was unable to get the puck past O'Neill.
The Big Green, elated by its fifth win of the season, went into Saturday's game against Cornell (4-0-2, 4-0-2 ECAC Hockey) hoping to extend its winning streak to six games. The squad was optimistic despite Cornell's perfect record going into the game.
"It doesn't matter what the team has done in the past," O'Neill said. "Past performances don't indicate the future ... we weren't intimidated because things were going pretty well for us lately."
This optimism did not bring the Big Green to victory during its 3-1 loss, as Cornell pressured Dartmouth early and the Big Red's Michael Kennedy scored a power play-goal within the first three minutes of play.
Jones scored his first collegiate goal, and Dartmouth's only goal for that matter, four minutes into the third period. He drilled the puck into the net off the rebound from a shot taken by Owsiak.
With one goal and seven assists on the season, Jones is now third in scoring for the Big Green. He is also the leading scorer among freshman on the team.
The Big Red scored its next two goals during the second period of play to take the lead and ultimately seal the game.
Cornell out-shot Dartmouth, 29-28, throughout the contest. This defeat marked a demoralizing end to a notable
