Chris Costabile '13 opened scoring with a shot three and a half minutes into the game, giving the Big Green its only lead of the afternoon. Penn (8-4, 4-2 Ivy) answered with two goals in an 11-second burst and went into the first break with a 2-1 lead.
For nearly 10 minutes in the second quarter, neither team scored. Penn then shot past Fergus Campbell '12 who had his seventh straight game with double-digit saves, stopping 10 shots with six minutes remaining in the half. The Quakers tallied one more goal to end the half up by three.
Penn came out hard again after halftime, holding Dartmouth scoreless for the second consecutive quarter. The Quakers spaced out three more goals over the period to widen the margin to 7-1.
The Big Green finally found its stride in the fourth quarter. Mike Olentine '14 struck for an unassisted goal with 10:34 left on the clock and, following the next face-off, Kip Dooley '12 found Olentine in front of the cage for the team's third goal of the game. Dooley connected with Rhett Miller '11 a minute and a half later for the Big Green's final goal of the game, bringing Dartmouth only three away from matching Penn.
By that point it was too late, however, and the Quakers did not stop working the ball, netting two final goals before time expired.
Co-captain Adam Boardman '11 said the team made many of the same mistakes against Penn that it has made all season.
"We had too many turnovers, had trouble clearing the ball and weren't finishing," Boardman said. "We had lots of chances early on that we didn't finish. [Olentine] provided us with a spark off the bench in the fourth quarter and we all felt a sense of urgency, but it was too late."
Despite only scoring four goals, the Big Green managed 21 shots. Penn took 33.
Dartmouth was once again edged out in the groundball battle, allowing the Quakers to scoop up four more loose balls. Another continued problem for the Big Green has been turnovers, and it had 25 on Saturday.
While Dartmouth was only able to possess 8 of 17 faceoffs, and it did a better job clearing the ball in transition, successfully getting 15 of 18 attempts to Big Green players. Dartmouth only converted one of its five man-up opportunities, however.
Head coach Andrew Towers said the loss was "particularly frustrating," as players did not capitalize on important scoring opportunities.
"We did a great job riding, played good team defense and had decent possession in the first quarter," he said.
In many instances, shots made on Penn's goalie were not thought-out and served to turn the ball over to the other team, Towers said.
"We were not making the goalie earn it," he said. "We shot to his stick three, four, five times. We needed to make him move to make a save."
The Big Green continued putting pressure on Penn's solid defense, but failed to support those efforts with strong offensive tactics.
"Our stick-work was a little better today but there were still some frustrating turnovers," Towers said.
Although the team had approached the game with the mindset that a win was crucial for making the League tournament, Towers said Dartmouth still holds a chance if it soundly conquers its upcoming opponent. The Big Green would need to beat Brown University, which it plays next weekend, and hope for losses from Princeton University and Harvard University.
The Big Green will play its final regular season game next Saturday against Brown in Hanover at 1 p.m. The game will also be the team's Senior Day.
