Dartmouth 1 - Northeastern 2

Boston -- The Dartmouth men's hockey team embarked on a two-game road trip this weekend looking to shore up some holes before a showdown with rival Harvard next Friday. Those hopes were not realized.

Instead, the Big Green left Northeastern's Matthews Arena last night with even more questions after a 2-1 loss to the Huskies. Dartmouth went 0-2 on the weekend, including a 2-0 defeat at Providence Friday night.

Bobby Davis was Dartmouth's most formidable nemesis. He scored both of Northeastern's goals -- including one with less than five minutes remaining -- to lead the Huskies. With the loss, Dartmouth fell to 2-5-2 (1-2-2 ECAC) on the season, while Northeastern improved to 7-6-2 (4-4-2 Hockey East).

"That's a heck of a hockey team we played," said Big Green head coach Bob Gaudet. "We didn't score, but we had our chances. I thought we played well enough to win that game, from the goal on out."

The Big Green men had several goals in mind when they took the ice at 89-year-old Matthews Arena.

They wanted to make a good showing in front of departed assistant coach Jamie Rice, now an assistant with the Huskies. They wanted to make improvements on the power play attack, which entered the night just 3-for-37 (8.1 percent) on the season. Most of all, they wanted to build some confidence before the crucial matchup with Harvard next Friday.

Despite another impressive showing from rookie netminder Nick Boucher, Dartmouth fell short of each of its goals. Senior defenseman Ryan Poulton punched in an early lamp-lighter, but the Big Green could not steal a win from the Huskies, who swept a two-game series with defending national champion Maine last weekend.

The Big Green finished the night 0-for-5 on the power play, and connected on just one of 26 shots on goal.

Still, against a talented, veteran-laden team, numbers can be deceiving. "Our percentage is not good, but our power play is markedly better than it was last year," Gaudet said. "That's where, as a coach of a young team, I've got to look at some of the small battles and see that we're getting better. We just need to get over the hump."

The Big Green opened the scoring midway through the first period when Poulton rifled in a 20-footer. Poulton, the team leader in career points, gathered a blocked shot off sophomore Mike Maturo's stick and lined it through the Husky defense for his first goal of the season.

The Huskies' Davis tallied the equalizer 10 minutes into the middle frame. Skating on the power play, Davis took a pass from fellow senior Roger Holeczy just outside the crease and wristed it between the pipes. It was his fourth goal of the season.

The fifth would come later. Skating from behind the net, Davis snapped the 1-1 deadlock with a seeing-eye wraparound attempt that evaded Boucher's reach and clinched the Husky win.

Boucher, whose Dartmouth career is now just six games old, took two losses over the weekend despite allowing just four goals.

"Unlike a lot of teams in our league, we are coming two days out of exams and playing Providence and Northeastern," Gaudet said. "Not a lot of teams are going to do that.

"If you give up only four goals on the road, you'd like to be better than 0-2. But we're not playing the Sisters of the Poor. We're playing good teams, and it's a tough brand of hockey. I thought my guys fought hard. It was tough for either team to score a goal."

The Dartmouth men now have several days off -- with no classes -- before their rematch with Harvard Friday night at Thompson Arena. The Crimson won the first battle, 7-2, on Nov. 5.

Big Green notes: Head coach Bob Gaudet changed his lineup slightly after Friday night's 2-0 loss to Providence, removing freshmen Halsey Coughlin and Kent Gillings. Sophomores Craig Lund and Chris Taliercio dressed in their place, forming the fourth line along with rookie Mike Murray . . . . Sophomore Carl Desjardins is out indefinitely with a nagging injury. He will be evaluated in the coming weeks . . . . Dartmouth is now 0-2 in the city of Boston this season, including the 7-2 loss at Harvard to open the season.