Dartmouth 2 - Harvard 5

By David Sherzer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The 15th-ranked Dartmouth Big Green came out Sunday night like the team that averaged 52 shots in the preseason.

Then, gradually, the dark-jerseyed visitors from Hanover started to play more physically – and it cost them.

Eleventh-ranked Harvard answered a pair of early Dartmouth goals with five of its own, laying the groundwork for a 5-2 win in front of 2,211 at Bright Hockey Center in this early battle between ECAC and Ivy League rivals.

The key for the Crimson – which suffered an embarrassing, 4-2 loss to dismal Brown the night before – was a two-goal outburst midway through the second period.

Skating with a two- and then one-man advantage, Harvard lit the lamp twice in a span of 26 seconds. Brett Nowak and dangerous junior Dominic Moore recorded the goals.

After that, Harvard held on, as goalie Will Crothers (26 saves) improved after his early trouble.

"The two goals in the second period killed us," said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet, who returns for his fifth season. "We didn’t recover, and we’ve got to be able to. It seems to be an even game and then all of a sudden, they’re up by two. It was tough."

Dartmouth (0-1-0, 0-1-0 ECAC) came out strong but was ultimately victimized by its own physicality and Harvard’s potent first line.

The Big Green had two devastating sets of penalties.

The first came at 16:03 of the first period when junior Chris Hontvet and Nowak incurred matching minors to top off a five-minute major and game misconduct handed to sophomore Mike Turner for hitting after the whistle.

The Crimson scored on the ensuing five-minute power play.

Midway through the second, junior Trevor Byrne and rookie Lee Stempniak were sent to the box at the same time for minor penalties.

That’s when Harvard pulled off the two-goal outburst that Dartmouth never overcame.

"We talked about it all week. There’s going to be some adversity in all games," co-captain Mike Maturo said. "The two goals were unfortunate but they weren’t the only reason we lost. They still scored another goal after that, so we just didn’t come out to play in the second period."

Things looked good for Dartmouth early.

The Big Green came out spirited and scored on its first chance on the power play. After a Maturo shot resulted in a juicy rebound, Mike Murray – the returning scoring leader – punched it in for a 1-0 Dartmouth lead.

Dartmouth failed to convert on a 5-on-3 minutes later but did score as the second man was coming out of the box.

This time, it was Frank Nardella who chipped it up and in, giving the Big Green a ton of momentum at the time.

"We played really hard and we had some good opportunities," Gaudet said. "We got a couple of good goals, but then I think Harvard played well to come back."

In typical ECAC fashion, the trailing team soon had chances with the extra man. The Crimson failed to score but built a solid attack on a power play at the 12:28 mark.

Seconds later, Harvard was on the board. Nick Boucher (33 saves) used every trick in his playbook to make a series of saves off the Crimson’s top line, but junior Aaron Kim eventually rifled in his first of the season, cutting the Big Green lead in half.

After a Tim Pettit goal knotted the score at two late in the first period, the game became increasingly physical in the middle frame, a style that proved to favor Harvard.

Dartmouth incurred a total of 27 penalty minutes after its initial two goals. As a result, the visitors – whose hopes for an early statement were buoyed by those early scores – scarcely developed a rhythm the rest of the way.

"It was a special teams game," Gaudet said. "It was a game that was there for the taking in the second period, but we got a couple of tough ones that hurt us. There were guys that I didn’t get on the ice for long stretches of time because we were either on the power play or killing penalties."

The Big Green had its most damaging stretch in the second. At 7:40 in the period, P.J. Martin banged home a rebound for an apparent 3-2 Dartmouth lead.

But the goal was called back due to a man in the crease, giving way to Harvard’s two-goal spurt.

Nowak began the run and then Moore made it 4-2, giving each member of Harvard’s top line a goal apiece. In all, the trio of Kim, Moore and Pettit racked up six points on the night.

With the Harvard win, Bright Hockey Center maintained its reputation as a house of horrors for Dartmouth.

The Big Green suffered an identical 5-2 defeat here last year and has now lost six in a row in this brick building in Cambridge.

The last Dartmouth win at Bright was a 2-1 decision back in 1995-96.

"I have no idea what it is," Maturo said. "It always seems like it’s the first game of the year or one of our first games. I thought we were ready – I think we were ready – but it just didn’t happen for us. There’s no explanation for it."

Dartmouth will have a chance to get some quick revenge against the rival Crimson. The Big Green hosts Brown in its home opener Friday night and then Harvard on Saturday.

The last time the Crimson visited Thompson Arena, the result was a stunning 7-0 Dartmouth win.

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