NEW HAVEN, Ct. -- The Big Green knew that containing the Bulldogs in their own building on Friday night would be a tall order. After all, the Bulldogs were in first place in the ECAC, and their home record was a perfect 12-0-0. Every single team that had entered Ingalls Rink during 1997-98 had left a loser, with no one even managing a tie.

But on Friday night, Dartmouth played perhaps their best game of the season. They passed crisply, hit hard, played tight defense, and got some of their best goaltending of the year from Jason Wong '00. And when the 65 minutes of heart-stopping hockey was over, Dartmouth had become the first team not to lose in Ingalls this year, as they earned a thrilling 2-2 tie with the ECAC leaders.

Early on it looked like it could be a long night for the Green, as the host Bulldogs got on the board just 55 seconds into the game, with first-line center Jeff Hamilton doing the honors. Hamilton took a deflection in front and put it past Wong to put Yale up 1-0 and send the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

But if the Yale fans were thirsty for yet another blowout (the Bulldogs earlier this season annihilated Cornell 11-0 at Ingalls Rink), then the Green would not give them one. Dartmouth settled back, kept their poise, and made the Bulldogs play Dartmouth's kind of game.

At 5:47 of the first period, the Green's patience paid off, as Jon Sturgis '98 banged home a rebound in front on the powerplay to even the score at 1-1.

The Green got a huge lift near the end of the first stanza, as defenseman Scott Peach '99 took a feed from Curtis Wilgosh '99 near the top of the left faceoff circle and blasted a rocket past Yale goalie Alex Westlund. The goal, which put the Green up 2-1, came with just 31 seconds left in the first period.

Yale evened it up at 4:18 of the second, as the Bulldogs' Matt Cumming exploited a giveaway by the Big Green defense, feeding Hamilton on a 2-on-1 in front. Hamilton's deflection beat Wong, who couldn't cover the left post in time, and tied the score at 2-2.

But that's the way the score would stay through another 26 minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime.

Both squads had good chances to win late in the game, with Dartmouth's best opportunity coming in the final minute of regulation when Dave Whitworth '98 was stopped on a 2-on-1 by Westlund. In the overtime, Cumming chipped a pass in front just wide of Wong and the net.

The real story of the second half of the game was Wong and Westlund's great goaltending. Both netminders made some great saves, several of them of the acrobatic variety.

When it was all over, the Green had to be at the same time disappointed that they had to settle for one point when they played well enough to win, but also pleased that they were able to fight till the end with the ECAC's best squad.