Dartmouth 2 - Colgate 3

By Dave Sherzer

HAMILTON, N.Y. - Two potential points gone by the wayside. Twenty minutes of domination all for naught. One disappointing night etched in every player's memory.

Dartmouth played a dominating first period but couldn't maintain the same intensity for the final 40 minutes, blowing a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss to Colgate Friday night in front of a sparse gathering at Starr Rink.

The game looked to be going in Dartmouth's favor until the Raiders outworked the Big Green in the second period, netting a couple of goals on a broken-down defense to knot the contest at two.

Colgate (5-11-0, 3-4-0 ECAC), which entered the game in 11th place in the ECAC standings, tallied the game-winner with 9:45 remaining in the third, as Kyle Doyle took a centering pass from Adam Mitchell after a battle along the boards and buried his third of the year.

The loss, Dartmouth's second in a row, marks the second time the Big Green (7-7-1, 4-3-1 ECAC) has fallen short against a team in the bottom tier of the league. Dartmouth lost 3-2 to Vermont, which had one win at the time, on Dec. 1.

"This is definitely regrettable. So was the Vermont loss," said co-captain Mike Maturo, who scored the team's second goal of the night. "We know that each chance for two points counts in this league. This hurts, but we have to come back tomorrow night and show we can win on the road."

Two of Dartmouth's problems in this game were a lack of finishing on offense and a few mistakes on defensive positioning that proved costly.

The Big Green racked up a 2-0 lead on a 12-5 shooting advantage in the first period, but could have had more against a Colgate team that looked over-matched.

In the final two periods, the Raiders scored three goals on three plays in which the scorers managed to get shockingly wide open, including the game-winning play in which Doyle was all alone in the slot as the Dartmouth players were drawn along the boards fighting for the puck.

The biggest downfall, in head coach Bob Gaudet's opinion, was an intangible that frustrates him to no end: that his team simply got outworked for a sizeable part of the game. When Dartmouth could have driven the nail in Colgate's coffin, the Raiders started hitting with gusto and outracing the Big Green to pucks, which helped them get good looks at the net.

"We didn't play for 60 minutes tonight," Gaudet said. "Hard work and mental toughness have been our trademarks as a team. That's how we've been able to have some success. You can't let it slip for any stretch of a game and expect to win."

The first two periods were virtual mirror images of one another. Dartmouth outscored Colgate, 2-0, in the first period and had a 12-5 shooting advantage. In the second, it was the Raiders who won 2-0 and claimed a 12-9 lead in shooting.

The Big Green looked to be en route to a rout in the opening 20 minutes, playing with confidence and challenging netminder David Cann with tough shots.

Rookie Lee Stempniak gave Dartmouth a 1-0 lead at the 5:59 mark, one-timing a bouncing pass from Jamie Herrington between Cann's legs for his fourth goal of the season. Pete Summerfelt earned the second assist.

Dartmouth continued to dominate, claiming a 2-0 lead at 17:39 when Mike Maturo poked his 20th point of the season into an unguarded net. Cann had left to clear the puck, but his failed attempt was scooped up by Chris Baldwin, who sent it to Maturo for the score.

"I thought we were very successful in the first period," Gaudet said. "I just wish we were able to sustain that for the entire 60 minutes."

The tide turned in the middle frame.

Colgate slowly got back into the game and nearly cut its deficit in half when Kyle Doyle tipped the puck between the pipes. But Doyle was called for a high stick, keeping the score 2-0, Dartmouth.

But 2-1 would come soon enough. Sophomore Paul Kelley broke free after taking a pass from Scooter Smith, racing across the blueline before blasting a blazing shot past Dan Yacey from the right circle at 10:45.

Late in the period, Brad D'Arco got into the act, chipping a centering pass from Rob Brown past Yacey's glove to even the score at two.

"We came out pretty hard in the first period and took a 2-0 lead, but we put it in neutral in the second and let them back in the game," Maturo said. "Unfortunately, we've been taking a period off in each of the last few games, and it's been killing us."

Play in the third was more even, but Colgate claimed its first lead of the game on a power play.

With Chris Baldwin in the box, Doyle netted his goal at the 10:15 mark, putting Colgate head coach Don Vaughan on the road to his 100th career ECAC victory.

The Big Green will look to shake off this disappointment when it takes on Cornell Saturday night in Ithaca.

Big Green Notes: Dartmouth welcomed junior Kent Gillings back to the lineup after a two-game absence due to food poisoning. Gillings played center between Mike Maturo and Chris Snizek, moving Mike Murray down to play between Chris Taliercio and Chris Baldwin. … Senior Frank Nardella missed the first game of his career, ending an iron-man streak that saw him play 107 consecutive games. Nardella was a healthy scratch. … Baldwin played in his 100th career game, becoming the 42nd member of the century club in school history. Maturo, Herrington and Nardella passed the 100 mark earlier this season. … Maturo now has 20 points (10g, 10a) in 15 games this season.