The Dartmouth men's and women's hockey teams struggled against tough competition over the past two weeks, combining to go 0-3-2 in five games, three of which came against top-10 opponents. The men (5-2-2, 4-1-1 ECAC) went 0-2-1 in their last three, falling to Colgate University (6-6-2, 1-3-1 ECAC) and No. 1 Boston College (9-1, 8-1 Hockey East) and tying No. 10 Cornell University (3-3-2, 1-3-2 ECAC). The women (4-2-2, 3-2-1 ECAC) went 0-1-1 in their weekend set, falling in overtime to No. 2 Cornell (9-2, 7-1 ECAC) and tying Colgate (3-10-2, 0-6-2 ECAC).
The Big Green men suffered a heartbreaking loss to Colgate on Nov. 16, which was the team's first of the season. Thanks to a four-goal third period and a hat trick by Robbie Boudon, the Raiders came storming back from a 4-1 deficit to win the game with three seconds left on the clock.
The Big Green fell flat in the third after exploding in the second for three goals in just over two minutes. Dustin Walsh '13 got the Big Green men on the board, while Brad Schierhorn '16 and Tyler Sikura '15 followed the senior's goal with one of their own. Boudon got his first of the game with just over a minute left in the frame.
The Big Green stretched its lead back to three with a goal off the stick of Eric Robinson '14, but the defense and goaltender Cab Morris '14 could not hold off the Raiders' furious comeback effort, as the Big Green only notched four shots in the final frame compared to 14 for Colgate.
Dartmouth needed a last-minute goal from captain Mike Keenan '13 to salvage a 1-1 tie with Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., last weekend. Goaltenders Charles Grant '16 and Andy Iles dominated the game. Iles, the Big Red netminder, turned away 27 shots, as did the Big Green freshman Grant. Grant stopped seven Cornell shots in overtime to seal the tie.
After two scoreless periods, Cornell's Dustin Mowrey beat Grant just under halfway through the period to give the Big Red a 1-0 lead. Despite 12 Dartmouth shots in the frame, the Big Green was unable to break through until the final minute, when Keenan collected the puck at the point off the boards and let go a massive slap shot that deflected off of a shin pad in front of the net and snuck inside the far post.
The Big Green continued its penalty kill dominance, turning away all three Cornell opportunities to improve its season penalty kill rate to 96.5 percent.
The Big Green battled hard for two periods against the top-ranked Eagles on Saturday, but faltered in the third, giving up three third-period goals to fall, 6-3. Grant started his second straight game and stopped 25 shots in a losing effort. The team was once again staunch on the penalty kill, stalling the Eagles on their only two opportunities of the night.
After falling behind, Rick Pinkston '15 netted his first goal of the year with just over three minutes left in the opening frame. The Eagles came out firing in the second, rocketing to a 3-1 lead. The Big Green responded with two goals in the final minute and a half.
Brandon McNally '15 pulled the Dartmouth men back within one when he deflected a power-play shot from Matt Lindblad '14. Lindblad set up Sikura, who tied the game on a one-timer from the slot.
The Big Green could not keep up the momentum, however, as the team gave up three goals in the final frame. The Eagles scored just 18 seconds into the frame and followed it up just over three minutes later. Steven Whitney put the game out of reach just over seven minutes into the third.
The men next play Bentley University on Dec. 1 at Thompson Arena.
The Big Green women once again played the Big Red tough, falling 2-1 in overtime for the second straight game against Cornell on Friday. In a battle of defenses and goaltenders, Lindsay Holdcroft '14 stopped 28 shots in a losing effort, while Cornell netminder Lauren Slebodnick stopped 29 for the win. The Achilles' heel of the Big Green was the power play, as the team went 0-for-5 on the night and gave up two goals.
Laura Stacey '16 opened the scoring with a breakaway goal with just over a minute to go in the first. She knocked down a pass at her own blue line and embarked on a rush down the ice and found the back of the net. The Big Red tied the game on a rebound shot about six minutes into the second.
Holdcroft came up big in the third, stopping nine shots, including a breakaway chance by Cornell forward Brianne Jenner, who also skates for the Canadian national team. The Dartmouth women had a power-play chance for the final 1:38 of regulation but failed to score despite numerous chances.
Captain Jenna Hobeika '12 took a penalty just 16 seconds into the overtime period, which proved costly, as Jillian Saulnier found the back of the net off of a deflected shot from the point.
The next night, the Dartmouth women ran into some good goaltending and managed to salvage a 2-2 tie with Colgate. The Big Green notched 29 shots in the game, but could only score twice. Holdcroft stopped 23 of 25 shots she faced.
Colgate got on the board first on a wraparound goal midway through the opening frame. The Big Green responded, however, and Sally Komarek '13 tied the game with just 1:11 remaining in the opening frame. The senior received a pass from Margaux Sharp '13 and shot, watching the puck trickle over the Colgate goaltender's shoulder.
In the second, the Raiders regained the lead just under seven minutes into the frame. Captain Reagan Fischer '12 tied the game just five minutes later and neither team could score after that. Fischer's game-tying goal came on the power play once again off an assist from Sharp.
Despite two great chances in the overtime period, the Dartmouth women could not break through. Fischer had the best chance when she took a pass from Hobeika in the slot and missed just wide left.
The Big Green women travel to Cambridge, Mass., to face No. 7 Harvard University on Friday.
