After suffering a 5-2 loss to No. 16 University of New Hampshire in the annual Battle for the RiverStone Cup Saturday, the Dartmouth men's hockey team fell 4-1 to Harvard University on Monday.
"We're still working hard," Nick Walsh '12 said. "The two losses obviously hurt, but I think we still know how good our team is. If we keep our heads in it, we'll be able to turn it around."
The Wildcats (10-7-4, 9-2-3 Hockey East) outshot the Big Green (4-13, 2-8 ECAC Hockey) 38-26, dominating Dartmouth particularly in the second period by a shot margin of 11-3.
Despite a 2-2 tie at the end of the first frame, the Big Green could not hold on, as New Hampshire notched three power-play goals to earn the 5-2 victory. Dartmouth was 0-4 on power-play opportunities.
"We've been struggling on our special teams," Walsh said. "We are getting chances, but we can't seem to bury it. It will come, and once it does we'll be able to go on a bit of a run."
Walsh drilled the Big Green's first goal, while Matt Reber '11 slapped in the second goal of the night for Dartmouth.
Walsh has now scored three goals this season, after contributing two in last weekend's 9-4 victory over Brown University.
Reber has also posted three goals this season and is third on the team in scoring, with 13 points.
Despite outshooting Harvard (4-10-2, 4-5-2 ECAC Hockey) on Monday, 38-29, the Big Green failed to capitalize on its scoring opportunities. Evan Stephens '11 notched Dartmouth's only goal of the night off assists by Reber and Walsh.
Crimson freshman Louis Leblanc easily penetrated the Big Green's defense, scoring twice during the game. He leads the Crimson with eight goals so far this season.
Dartmouth returns to the road this weekend to take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 7 p.m. on Friday and No. 13 Union College at 7 p.m. the following day.
Union (13-4-5, 7-0-3 ECAC Hockey) currently sits atop the ECAC standings with 17 points, while the Big Green is tied with Clarkson University in last place with four points.
"We are just going to try and get back to the basics," assistant captain Scott Fleming '11 said. "We look forward to playing those two teams, and we have done well against them in the past. Hopefully, it can propel us into the end of the season."
