Despite a hat-trick against Colgate University and another goal against Cornell University, co-captain Sarah Parsons '10 couldn't lead the Dartmouth women's hockey team to a win this weekend. The Big Green has yet to capture a win in 2010, losing to both the Raiders (7-14-3, 3-6-3 ECAC Hockey) and the Big Red (9-7-3, 8-1-3 ECAC Hockey).
In Friday's game, the Big Green (6-10-2, 4-8-1 ECAC Hockey) gained traction offensively in the latter part of the second period. Parsons and Jenna Cunningham '10 shattered the Raiders' momentum, scoring two goals in the last two minutes of the period, making the score 5-3.
Colgate's early onslaught of goals, however, proved to be too much for Dartmouth. Each team notched another goal in the final frame, making the final score 6-4.
Head coach Mark Hudak said injuries as well as the team youth made it difficult to execute a come back.
"The other team gets the momentum and it is hard to grab it back," he said. "All of the sudden the game just gets away from you."
The Raiders posted the game's first goal seven minutes into the first period; Parsons redirected a pass from Camille Dumais '13 and deadlocked the game at 1-1 seven minutes later.
Eager to enter the first break with a lead, Colgate's Jenna Klynstra posted the Raider's sole power-play goal with 30 seconds remaining in the period to take a 2-1 advantage.
The Big Green had little time to contemplate the loss before taking on Cornell the following day and adjusting to the Big Red's physical style of play.
With Dartmouth and Cornell riding five and four-game winless streaks, respectively prior to Saturday's match-up, both teams were looking for a win.
The Big Green's ineffectiveness at converting three extra-skater chances in the opening frame proved costly, as the Big Red capitalized on Dartmouth's sole penalty and snatched the lead midway through the first period.
Parsons fought back with 10 seconds remaining in the second period, when she sent a wrist shot past Big Red netminder, Amanda Mazzotta, on a man-advantage play.
Dartmouth only converted one of six power-play chances, yet this was only the second power-play goal conceded by Cornell this season. The Big Red's penalty-kill unit is now 65 of 67, which is first in the nation.
Despite being down 3-1, the Big Green had the momentum going into the second intermission. The final frame remained scoreless, however, and the game ended in a frustrating loss for Dartmouth.
The Big Green had not dropped any games to Cornell in the past 10 years, and Dartmouth had gone 19-0-1 against the Big Red in their 20 previous meetings.
The Big Green has now gone over three weeks without a victory. Its last win came against the University of Vermont at the end of December. Dartmouth's next chance to break the six-game winless streak comes against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Thompson Arena on Friday at 7 p.m.
