Dartmouth.

The hockey team lost last night on a short-handed overtime goal to Dartmouth.

Dartmouth.

We had that school right where we wanted it. We demoralized its highly-touted, "Watch-us-win-the-NCAAs-and-then-see-who-laughs" soccer squad this fall in a 3-1 upset. We embarrassed its then-undefeated but always paranoid football team at the stadium a month ago with a 31-25 triumph that proved to once again turn back the clock on the Green's Ivy Title hopes.

A win in last night's hockey tilt would have been the clincher. A win last evening and Dartmouth would have pulled out of the Ivy League, expelled all of its females, and become one of those agrarian-type prep schools where an expert cowmilker is considered a jock.

But we lost and Darmouth is still in the Ivy League, and I gotta believe they're having free rounds at the soft ice cream machine up in Hanover now.

But let's dwell for a while on the good points in last night's game, because there were many. John Hynes looked nonetheless impressive amidst his rustiness as a Harvard varsity goaltender for the first time. Hynes made 25 saves on the night, and for the latter half of the contest turned aside many with a style seemingly ghost-written by Petrovek.

The Harvard power-play, with all its cardiac caroms and ooh-aah near misses, look inspiringly crisp for an opening game. Although only one man-up tally was managed by the Crimson, you can't help but get the feeling that the Harvard power-play will be more goal-hungry and much nastier than the dyslexia we were treated to at times last year.

And speaking of nasty, you thought the ECAC was close last year? Well hang on to your zambonis because it's going to be even tighter this year. Aside from B.U., who wooed every top high school player East of Oshkosh, and Cornell, who has some sort of deal going with the Ottawa high school system, the race for the other six playoff spots should resemble a Bruno Sanmartino-George Steel Texas Death Match.

So I guess an opening game loss doesn't hurt, except that it ruins the chances for an undefeated season. I'm still bummed though. I think I'll go up to Hanover and egg Don O'Brien's car.