After four games on the road, the men's hockey team returned to Hanover this weekend for back-to-back engagements against Union and Rensselaer.
On Friday night, the Big Green (3-12-1, 2-8-1) suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Union. A much improved Union (7-7-2, 3-7-1) jumped out to a 4-1 lead first period with one goal each by Chris Albert and Chris Ford, and two by Cory Holbrough. Dartmouth's lone first period tally was scored by Patrick Turcotte '95 on assists from Dax Burkhart '96 and Dion Del Monte '95.
The tables turned in the second period as the Big Green gained on scores by Derek Geary '93 and Mike Stacchi '95. "After a big comeback against Clarkson, we were disappointed with the final result," Brent Retter '97said.
At 2:34 in the third, Turcotte answered for the second time, tying up the Dutchmen at 4-4. The Big Green peppered Union goaltender Luigi Villa with 21 shots on goal. Mike Bracco '94 recorded four saves in the third, but let the all-important game-winner slip by him about midway through the period. Dartmouth outshot the Dutchmen 34-25 in the game.
RPI dismantles defense
After Friday's heartbreaking
loss, Saturday's contest against Rensselaer was not much better for the Big Green. RPI jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back from there, as they coasted to an 8-2 drubbing before a crowd of about 2,218 people at Thompson Arena.
Darren Wercinski '97 and Del Monte provided the only bright spots for the Big Green in an otherwise lackluster effort, each scoring in the second period. After letting five of 24 shots slip by, Bracco was pulled in favor of Ben Heller '97. Heller didn't fare much better, letting three shots between the pipes.
Penalties also surfaced to plague any comeback attempts for the Big Green. Fifteen penalties, six in an important third period, allowed RPI (13-4-2, 7-3-2) to capitalize on Dartmouth's mistakes. The Engineers converted on five of 10 power play opportunities, accounting for more than half of their total scoring. The Green struggled on the power play, converting only one of nine opportunities. "We are not going to win too many games with that many minutes in the box," said Retter.
The Big Green head to New York the next two weekends to face off against Colgate, Cornell (who beat Dartmouth 4-3 in the home opener), RPI and Union. After that, they return home to face league powerhouses Harvard and Brown.
