Dartmouth 1 - Brown 3

By Dave Sherzer

Providence, R.I. - This time, Dartmouth couldn't come back.

Junior Mike Murray scored just 14 seconds into the game, but Brown stormed back for three first-period goals and held on for a 3-1 win over the Big Green Friday night before an announced crowd of 1,953 at Meehan Auditorium.

Dartmouth (10-9-4, 7-5-4 ECAC) has lived dangerously in recent weeks, spotting opponents a couple goals before coming back to earn points in the standings. In the four games leading up this one, the Big Green went to 2-0-2 despite facing a third-period deficit in each.

This time, the Bears (9-11-2, 5-8-2 ECAC) didn't allow the Big Green a sniff, showing jump in their collective steps as they secured a big ECAC and Ivy League win in front of their characteristically quiet and disengaged crowd.

"It's definitely not easy when you're digging yourself a hole. That's not the way you want to play," defenseman P.J. Martin said. "It's been working for us the last few weeks, but tonight we just weren't lucky enough to get bounces. That's the way it goes."

For the Big Green, this defeat may sting just a little bit more than usual because it's the only game of the weekend.

The rest of the league, except for Harvard, will be in action Saturday night, giving those 10 teams a chance for advancement while Dartmouth's points total will remain the same.

"We definitely wish we had a game tomorrow night," Martin said. "It's never fun to an end a weekend on a loss. Now, we get to go home and think about it all week. That's not what I'd like to do."

Murray scored his second quick goal of the calendar year, wristing in a rebound 14 seconds in for his fifth netter of the season. On Jan. 18, Murray lit the lamp against Clarkson just 15 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Mike Maturo earned the secondary assist on Murray's goal, giving him 30 points for the season and 16 points in eight career games against Brown.

But the early goal proved to be the highlight for Dartmouth, as Brown executed its first two power plays to perfection and grabbed a 2-1 edge at the 11:24 mark. Keith Kirley and Brent Robinson scored the Bears' goals.

"They worked hard and earned their goals," said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet, who missed a chance to earn his 150th career win against the team he coached for nine seasons (1988-89 to 1996-97). "We would have liked to have done a better job killing penalties, but they made good plays. You have to give credit where credit is due."

Brown took the momentum and ran with it, gaining some insurance at the 14:26 mark when Chris Legg secured the puck off Mike Turner's stick and broke free. Nick Boucher (27 saves) was helpless as the home team went up by two.

The rest of the game was a matter of hard work and smart play by the Bears, who had a number of offensive flurries and received superb goaltending from sophomore Yann Danis (31 saves). Danis was particularly first-rate in the late moments, when the Big Green pulled its goalie and applied extra pressure.

Dartmouth's loss was its second of the season against an Ivy opponent and first since the season opener at Harvard.

The Big Green (4-2-1 Ivy) still has nine Ivy points, two fewer than Cornell (5-2-1 Ivy) and Harvard (5-3-1), although those teams have played one and two more games, respectively, than Dartmouth.

The Big Green men have three Ivy games remaining - Cornell next Friday, Princeton on Feb. 22 and Yale on Feb. 23 - as they vie for the program's first Ivy title since 1980.

"Every team in the standings is separated by a few points, so every game is really crucial, especially in the Ivy League," Martin said. "We had a big lead and that loss doesn't help us at all. Hopefully, we can come back strong against Cornell, Princeton and Yale, and pull out an Ivy League title."

Dartmouth returns home for the next four games, hosting Cornell and Colgate next weekend and Princeton and Yale the weekend after.