Sports
By earning a split in road games against Brown and Harvard this past weekend, the Dartmouth men's hockey team started 1996 off on the right foot.
While the Big Green's 4-2 loss to the Brown Bears on Friday night was a disappointment, the squad redeemed itself with a 2-1 victory over the Harvard Crimson on Saturday, to earn its first two points of the year in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
The Big Green still reside in last place in the ECAC -- the team is 1-6-0 in the conference and 2-11-1 overall -- but several aspects of the team's recent play is extremely encouraging, especially the team's penalty killing unit, which has surrendered just one power play goal in its opponent's last 25 tries with the man advantage.
In addition, the team's defensive system -- which was torched for 54 goals in the Big Green's first 10 games -- appears to finally be paying dividends, as the squad has given up only five goals in its last three games.
Brown 4, Dartmouth 2
The Big Green came out flying in the first period of Friday night's game against Brown at Meehan Auditorium, but could not find the net in the final two periods.
Brown's Charlie Humber broke a 2-2 tie with 2:15 left in the second period, and Adrian Smith added an insurance goal with just 1:11 left in the game to ensure the 4-2 Bears' victory.
The Big Green jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first, on goals by Jeremiah Buckley '98 and Matt Giedt '99, but could not hold the advantage.
By the end of the first stanza, Brown goals by Scott Bradford and Marty Clapton had evened the score at 2-2.
Goalie Scott Baker '97 stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced against the Bears.
On the bright side, the Big Green thwarted all eight of Brown's chances with the man advantage.
Dartmouth 2, Harvard 1
Throughout the entire 1980s and early 1990s, Harvard's Bright Hockey Center was a house of horrors for the Big Green -- until last season, Dartmouth had not won against Harvard on the road since the 1980-81 season.
But Saturday night, the Big Green won for the second time in as many years at the Bright Center, snatching a 2-1 surprise victory from the Crimson in their own building.
