College President Jim Yong Kim and his son, Thomas, dropped the ceremonial first puck to start the 2009-2010 season of Big Green men's hockey this Friday night in Hanover.
Dartmouth (0-1, 0-1 ECAC Hockey) fell to Harvard (1-0, 1-0 ECAC Hockey) 5-3 in the charged season opener, though the Big Green outshot the Crimson 44-28.
"There are a lot of guys lying on the ice, fighting for the pucks it is a very physical game," head coach Bob Gaudet said. "There is no place to hide out there."
Despite an initial 1-0 lead after the first period, Dartmouth soon unraveled, as Harvard notched three goals during the second period and another two during the third.
Alex Killorn scored two of the Crimson's three goals during the second period, with one coming only 87 seconds in to tie the game 1-1.
Two of Harvard's goals were scored during man-advantage situations.
Power plays created a flurry of missed opportunities for the Big Green. Dartmouth scored one goal off of a combined 14 shots during four power play opportunities.
"I think our special teams really battled, and obviously our best penalty killer was our goalie," Harvard head coach Ted Donato said. "I think we won the special teams game."
With Dartmouth down 5-1 and 11 minutes remaining in the third period, Adam Estoclet '11 notched the Big Green's only power-play goal to get Dartmouth back onto the scoreboard and into the game.
Evan Stephens '11 and assistant captain Scott Fleming '11 both assisted the goal.
Last year, Estoclet led the Big Green in overall points with eight goals and 24 assists, Fleming posted a team-high 13 goals and Stephens was the team's highest-scoring defenseman with five goals and 14 assists.
"It was great for the team's morale to get a little bit of life," netminder Jody O'Neill '12 said.
O'Neill ended the night with 23 saves. Last season, he was both the Ivy League and ECAC Rookie of the Year, with a save percentage of .923 and a career-high 48-save game.
"I thought O'Neill was one of the best goalies in the league last year," Donato said. "The goals we scored tonight, I thought in general, were NHL-caliber shots."
Assistant captain Joe Gaudet '10 also potted a goal 13 minutes into the third period off of an assist from Kyle Reeds '11 to bring the Big Green within two. Dartmouth, however, failed to capitalize on any further potential scoring opportunities.
Despite the 5-3 score, the momentum belonged to the Big Green during the second and third periods, coach Gaudet said.
"After the first period, it looked like Harvard was going to be a really solid defensive team, but our kids went into another gear," he said. "Momentum shifts happened during the course of the game. I thought the first period was theirs and the next two were ours, but it just didn't work out with the scoreboard."
The scoreboard did not reflect the shot differential, as Dartmouth outshot Harvard 21-8 in the second period and 18-7 in the third period. Crimson netminder Kyle Richter made 41 saves throughout the game, 37 of which were made during the second and third periods.
"You have to tip your hats to them," coach Gaudet said. "I thought our kids battled really hard until the end. [Harvard's] goalie was phenomenal. In another night, I think we would have had seven goals."
Two minutes and 43 seconds into the first period, Rob Smith '10 scored Dartmouth's first goal, unassisted, from the left side of the net. The Big Green did not make it onto the scoreboard again for another 46 minutes.
Dartmouth maintained the 1-0 lead throughout the first period despite being outshot 13-5.
Despite his disappointment after losing the home opener, captain Peter Boldt '10 said the team remains optimistic about the rest of the season.
"We saw that we have a level of intensity and competition that we can access and need to access," he said. "Outshooting and outworking a team that is ranked ahead of us gives us a lot of hope."
Dartmouth now faces a challenging four-game road trip during the next two weeks. The Big Green will face No. 6 Cornell (1-0-0) at 7 p.m. on Friday and Colgate University (2-2-3) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Cornell will meet Dartmouth for the Big Red's home opener, while Colgate has already played seven games this season.
No. 11 Princeton (1-1-0) and Quinnipiac University (4-1-0) will then confront Dartmouth the weekend of Nov. 13.
"It will be another good experience for our guys to battle through and hopefully find a way to win one on the road," coach Gaudet said. "We have a tough stretch on the road. It's one of those years when this might be the toughest hockey league in the country."
