Despite hanging with the Blue Devils through the first quarter, the Big Green could not keep up in the second and third, trailing 19-6 going into the final quarter. Dartmouth won the final frame, 3-1, but it was too little, too late as the Big Green ultimately fell, 20-9.
"They have a serious home field advantage," Chris Costabile '13 said. "The grass field and humidity really affects your pocket. The three years I've been on the team, the games with Carolina have all been close. Duke just seems to play well and kill us in the ground ball department all the time."
Despite the disappointing final score, seven Big Green players scored in the game. Adam Hull '15 notched two in the second half, the first and second of his collegiate career. Colin Delaney '12 also contributed two goals. Drew Tunney '12, Nikki Dysenchuk '13, Mike Olentine '14, Patrick Resch '14 and Brendan Rotanz '14 added a goal each in the losing effort.
Tunney also contributed three assists to lead the team in scoring with four points in the game. Dysenchuk pitched in two helpers, and Adam Fishman '15 notched his first career point with an assist on Hull's second goal of the game with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter.
Dartmouth ripped 34 shots in the game, but was unable to capitalize due to superb goaltending from three-year starter Dan Wigrizer, who notched eight saves on 11 shots in the first half to record the win.
Duke tallied 35 shots, including 19 in the first 37 minutes. Fergus Campbell '12 took the loss but recorded five saves. Bernie Susskind '13 notched three saves in the final 22:42 to close out the game.
Both teams went 3-for-4 on extra-man opportunities. Dartmouth caused 17 Blue Devil turnovers, but coughed it up 16 times themselves. Where Duke was able to gain an advantage was in ground balls, tallying 37 to Dartmouth's 27, including winning the battle 10-4 in the second quarter.
Three days later, Dartmouth traveled to Chapel Hill where it fell to UNC, 13-10.
Dartmouth scored the first goal of the game from the stick of Delaney off of a Tunney pass. The Big Green could not hold the lead, however, as North Carolina scored just over 30 seconds later. The first frame ended tied at one, despite 11 shots from the Tar Heels and eight from the Big Green. UNC pulled away in the second quarter, outshooting the Big Green 22-8 and outscoring Dartmouth 8-4 in the frame.
Goals from Alex Del Balso '12, Rotanz, Kip Dooley '12 and Jake Weil '15, who tallied his first career point on a goal with 55 seconds left in the frame, helped keep Dartmouth in the game. The team went into the half trailing 9-5.
Dartmouth pulled within two off of quick goals from Tunney and Dysenchuk, but the Tar Heels scored the next two to re-establish their four-goal lead.
The Big Green tried to claw its way back in the fourth, but could not crack a two-goal deficit. Tunney and Dooley each scored in the first three and half minutes, but North Carolina came back and scored to go up three again. Chris Costabile '13 brought the deficit back to two with just over five minutes to go, but Dartmouth could not score again. UNC struck with just over three minutes to go to take the game, 13-10.
Tunney continued his strong break with four assists for a six-point effort. Costabile and Resch each added an assist in the game.
UNC ripped 58 shots in the game to Dartmouth's 32. Campbell kept the Big Green in the game, recording 15 saves in the losing effort, including three from point-blank range. Turnovers and extra-man opportunities were detriments to the Big Green, as they lost possession 17 times and went 0-for-3 with the man advantage. Most of the Big Green's turnovers came on the offensive box or in the midfield region, as Dartmouth converted 85 percent of its clears in the game.
"We played a lot of zone against them," Robbie Hoffman '13 said. "We let them take a lot of outside shots."
The team returned to New England to take on the Harvard University Crimson on Saturday. The Big Green started slow and could not reverse its recent losing streak in the game, falling 15-10.
Dartmouth scored three minutes in off the stick of Delaney, but gave up the next four goals to end the first quarter down three. The shots in the period were virtually even, as were ground balls. The Crimson was far more accurate than the Big Green, with six of its seven shots going on net versus three of six for Dartmouth.
Dartmouth and Harvard tied the second quarter 3-3, and the Big Green entered the half trailing 7-4. Tunney, Dooley and Resch all tallied goals in the frame but were matched goal-for-goal by Crimson players.
"That's where the game was won," Anthony Fulham '13 said.
In the third, Rotanz cut the Harvard lead to two just under a minute into the half, but the Crimson scored four in a row to gain a commanding lead. With 4:20 left in the frame, Delaney cut the lead back to five entering the final frame. The Crimson put 12 of 14 shots in the frame on net, while the Big Green only put four of seven between the pipes. Harvard also dominated the ground ball battle 12-4.
The fourth ended in a tie, with each team scoring four times. Dooley, Rotanz and Costabile all scored for the Big Green, with Dooley scoring twice. Despite the offensive flurry, the team could not break into the Crimson lead.
Campbell recorded 12 saves and registered his first assist of the season. Dooley and Dysenchuk also added helpers in the game. Both teams recorded 36 shots, but Harvard picked up 10 more ground balls than the Big Green. Dartmouth converted on 87 percent of its clears, but was 0-for-4 on the man advantage. The Crimson converted on five of its six opportunities.
The team returns home to take on No. 3 Cornell University at Scully-Fahey Field on Saturday.
