Team Canada Debuts, W. Hockey Falls, 5-4

Retribution for the Harvard women's hockey team will have to wait for a few more months.

The Crimson suffered a tough loss, 5-4, at the hands of Dartmouth yesterday in Hanover.

The win marked the fourth consecutive time the No.1 Big Green (6-0-0, 6-0-0 ECAC) defeated the No.5 Crimson (2-3-0, 2-1-0 ECAC), dating back to last season.

Harvard entered the match with hopes of defeating Dartmouth in its home opener, a feat accomplished by the Big Green against the Crimson last season.

However, Dartmouth would triumph after a hard fought contest, supporting its claim to the nation's No. 1 ranking.

"Everybody battled hard, but we made a few mistakes and Dartmouth capitalized on them," Harvard coach Katey Stone said. " Since we've only practiced as an entire team for four days, we still have some adjusting to do."

The Big Green's game-winning goal came 9:30 into the third period by the hand of forward Kim McCollough. After Crimson junior goaltender Alison Kuusisto had stopped multiple shots, McCollough recovered the rebound a few feet in front of the net and shot it past a sprawling Kuusisto to give Dartmouth a 5-3 lead.

"We played really well at times, but we also had some critical lapses," Crimson junior forward Jennifer Botterill said. "We must improve our consistency and play three solid periods."

The goal marked the second of the period and third in a row for the Big Green, who at one point trailed 2-0.

At the start of the period, Dartmouth defenseman Correne Bredin received a pass from McCollough and took advantage of the screens in front of Kuusisto to shoot it past her and give the Big Green a 4-3 lead.

McCollough tallied a few minutes later to give Dartmouth a seemingly insurmountable lead, but the Crimson fought to get back into the game.

Placing increasing pressure on Big Green goalie Amy Ferguson, Harvard finally broke through 14:56 into the third period.

Senior forward Tammy Shewchuk, making her season debut after missing the Crimson's first four games, came flying down the right side while senior forward Kiirsten Suurkask approached from the left with the puck. Suurkask drew Ferguson to the left side and passed to Shewchuk, who easily found the wide open net to cut the Dartmouth lead to 5-4.

However, the Crimson's comeback would be halted shortly afterwards when Harvard received a checking penalty, which would leave it a man short for two minutes with two and a half to play.

After the penalty expired, the Crimson pulled the goalie and tried to mount a last minute offensive with the extra attacker, but the lack of time would end any hopes of overtime and the Big Green's dominance continued with its win.

"It definitely wasn't our best hockey," Harvard co-captain Angie Francisco said. " They played a great game and we didn't."

The grudge match started very well for the Crimson, who held a 2-0 lead after the first period.

Suurkask opened the scoring at 9:28 of the first. Suurkask was prowling in front of the net with the puck in the hands of Francisco on the left side of the net. Fransico quickly found Suurkask, who promptly slipped the puck past Ferguson's left pad to give Harvard the 1-0 lead.

At 15:10 of the first, Suurkask struck again, this time on the Dartmouth power play. Shortly after Shewchuk received a penalty for high-sticking, Suurkask stole the puck and flew down the ice on a shorthanded breakaway. Facing Freguson one-on-one, Suurkask rifled one over the upper right shoulder of Ferguson to give Harvard the 2-0 advantage after one period.

"We stepped on them in the first period," Francisco said.

The momentum quickly changed in the second.

At 7:00 of the second, after a shot on Kuusisto by Dartmouth winger Carrie Sekela, McCollough found the rebound in front of the net and slid it past Kuusisto's right side to cut the Harvard lead to 2-1.

Two minutes later, the Big Green surprised the Crimson once again. After Dartmouth was called for cross checking, Harvard received a power play and a chance to increase the lead.

Trying to get the puck out if its own zone, the Crimson surrendered an errant pass in front of the net to Big Green winger Carly Haggard, who easily beat Kuusisto upper right from point-blank range to tie the game at 2-2.

Delivered a stunning blow, the Crimson quickly recovered and dented the scoreboard at 19:04. Botterill, also absent from the first four games due to commitments with Team Canada, recorded her first goal of the season off assists from Suurkask and Shewchuk with a cannon shot from the top of the left circle.

With the Crimson leading 3-2 with a few seconds left in the second and looking to carry the lead into the third, Dartmouth once again sent Harvard reeling.

Twenty seconds after Botterill's goal, Big Green forward Kristen King retrieved a rebound after a couple of shots from Haggard and Bredin and beat Kuusisto to her right side to once again tie the game, this time at 3-3, entering the third period.

"It was heartbreaking to have such a short lead," Francisco said.

Dartmouth goaltender Amy Ferguson played well for the Big Green and made several big saves, especially in the third period when the Crimson tried to claw back into the game, including stops on a couple of breakaways.

"We came out flying [in the first], but then had a little bit of a let down," Botterill said. " We should have had many of those rebounds."

The Crimson was outshot 35-23, including a 15-11 margin in the crucial third period.

"We have to work on removing the pressure from the defensive zone," Stone said. "We definitely have to be more poised with the puck."

The Big Green spread its offensive attack with four different players recording goals. Mcollough, Haggard, King, and Bredin all tallied for Dartmouth in the game.

Harvard received goals from Suurkask, Botterill and Shewchuk. Botterill's return was a successful one, with three points in the game. Shewchuk had two points.

However, the star was Suurkask, who either scored or assisted on all of the Crimson's goals.

"I was set up really well," Suurkask said. "I anticipated many of the plays really well."

Kuusisto played a solid game in net for Harvard, stopping 30 of the 35 shots faced.

The Crimson's next game will be today at Boston College at 7:30 PM.