Although he admitted that the March 6 loss to Bellarmine University "was just awful," Colin Heffernan '15 said that the team is not letting the recent streak affect it.
"We're not discouraged by those losses because they were all close," Heffernan said. "Except for the Duke [University game], we're just one or two mistakes from winning. If anything, we're getting confidence from those games."
The Big Green played well against the Big Red, but Dartmouth was unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities. Despite a significant shot advantage (34-24), Cornell could not find a way past goalkeeper Fergus Campbell '12 for much of the game. Campbell notched eight saves in the losing effort, matching the total for both Big Red keepers. The saves moved Campbell into eighth all-time for the Big Green. The ground balls and extra-man percentages were very close, with Cornell holding only a slight advantage in each category.
The Big Green also forced 20 Big Red turnovers on the day. Unfortunately for the home team, Dartmouth lost possession of the ball 20 times as well. All but one of the turnovers for the Big Green came on the opponent's side of midfield, as the team converted all but one clear in the game.
The Big Green started the scoring just over six minutes into the game with a goal from Brendan Rotanz '14. Dartmouth could only hold the lead for two minutes, however, as the Big Red finally put one of its 13 first-quarter shots past Campbell to tie the game. The final three minutes of the quarter were scoreless, with each team notching chances but failing to capitalize. Regardless of the score after one period, Cornell had clearly gained the momentum in the game.
The second quarter belonged to the Big Red. Cornell outshot Dartmouth 8-3 in the frame and outscored the Big Green by two. Dartmouth turned it over six times to Cornell's three, and these additional opportunities would prove costly as both Big Red goals came from mistakes by the Big Green. Cornell took the lead just under four minutes into the period off a Dartmouth turnover and extended the lead on a man-advantage opportunity. Dartmouth's only real chance in the frame was a shot by Patrick Resch '14 that rang off the crossbar. The frame ended with the Big Red up 3-1.
The Cornell run continued into the third, with the Big Red scoring the first three goals of the frame. At the beginning of the quarter, Cornell dominated play, tallying shot after shot against Campbell and the Big Green defense. Dartmouth had a flurry of three shots within a minute halfway through the frame, but could not capitalize and turned the ball over. Cornell took a 5-1 lead on another man-up opportunity and then took the next face-off and scored about a minute later to push its lead to 6-1.
The tide began to turn after a Big Green timeout with just over four minutes left. Shortly after the timeout, Nikki Dysenchuk '13 took a pass from Kip Dooley '12 and beat the Big Red keeper to cut the lead to four. Sensing a shift in momentum, Dartmouth continued to create opportunities and was rewarded late in the period, as Dysenchuk again found the back of the net. With just eight seconds left, Dysenchuk scored on a man-up opportunity off of another assist from Dooley.
The Big Green continued to fight back in the fourth quarter, notching an 8-3 shot advantage in the frame and winning the turnover battle, causing nine and giving up five. Shortly into the final frame, Rotanz passed it off to Dooley, who let fly and watched the ball sail into the net to cut the Big Red lead to two. That's how the score remained until the 2:32 mark, when a Rotanz turnover led to a Cornell fast break, which junior Max Van Bourgondien converted to re-establish the three-goal lead.
The Big Green once again turned up the pressure, allowing Campbell to leave the cage and serve as a seventh defender. This tactic was successful, as the Big Green shut out the Big Red for the rest of the game, but only resulted in one goal for the team.
Campbell caused a turnover with 52 seconds left and cleared the ball. After one shot attempt, the Big Green cut the lead down to two as Dysenchuk notched his hat trick off of a Mike Olentine '14 assist, but it was too little, too late, as the Big Green could not get off another shot thanks to spectacular face-off play by Cornell. The game ended with the Big Green on the short end of a 7-5 result.
"We had a tough time finding the cage," Heffernan said. "When we did, we'd just put it straight in the goalie's stick. Our defense was rock-solid all day."
Dysenchuk and Dooley were the high-point men for the Big Green, each recording three in the game. Rotanz notched two on one goal and one assist and Olentine contributed one assist in the contest. In the game, defenseman Eric Clemmenson '14 tore his Achilles tendon, an injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season.
"One thing we're definitely going to emphasize going into practice this week is consistency on offense," Heffernan said. "We're just two or three bad passes or shots away from beating any team in the country. We don't need to change much, just clean some stuff up."
The next game for the Big Green is Tuesday, when the team travels to Long Island to take on Hofstra University before returning home next Saturday to face Yale University at Scully-Fahey Field.
Dooley is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
