The Harvard women's hockey team has been on the road for the last two weeks: from bus to ice to bus.

Last night, the Crimson climbed back onto the ice, and the travel had obviously taken its toll. Harvard suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Dartmouth at Thompson Arena in Hanover, N.H.

The Big Green took control early in the first period. Two minutes into the game, sophomore forward Caroline Horn tallied Dartmouth's first goal. Eight seconds later, Dartmouth scored again when Sarah McDaniel swept around Harvard's defense and beat goaltender Gillian D'Souza.

"They scored two goals in the first five minutes and we had a little panic session," Harvard Co-Captain Martina Albright said. "But we calmed down."

Harvard finally began to take quality shots. In fact, the Crimson outshot Dartmouth, 17-6, in the second period. But the Big Green made its shots count, while Harvard failed to capitalize on its opportunities.

Midway through the second session, sophomore Beverly Stickles emerged from the penalty box just in time to see a Sarah Pettus shot slip past D'Souza.

Just over a minute later, Dartmouth's Judy Parish took the puck and scored unassisted for a 4-0 lead.

Early in the final period, Harvard got on the board. Sophomore forward Sandra Whyte took the puck from a Dartmouth player's stick and shoved it past Dartmouth goalie Kelly Coyne.

The Crimson failed to score on a power play six minutes into the period, but the trend of missed opportunities ended after Dartmouth's Parish was escorted off the ice for tripping midway through the period.

With nine seconds left on the penalty, sophomore forward Lauren Messmore tipped in a pass from Stickles past Coyne for the second Harvard goal.

Harvard had their fair share of chances, taking 43 shots against a tough goalie.

"Everyone played pretty solid," Albright said. "They were playing hard and emotionally. With all this road-tripping I think we're just lagging."

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson will host the Ivy League Tournament this weekend at Bright Center.

Big Green, 4-2 In Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth  2-2-0--4 HARVARD  0-0-2--2

First Period: 1, D, Caroline Horn 2:04, 2, D, Sarah McDaniel (Parish, Pettus) 2:12. Penalties--D, Sarah McDaniel (hooking) 6:22; Sarah Pettus (checking) 17:54;

Second Period: 3, D, Pettus (McDaniel, Parish) 10:54; 4, D, Parish (unassisted). Penalties--H, Beverly Stickles (interference) 8:43; D, Parish (checking) 16:55, D, Lori Jacobs (tripping) 16:55;

Third Period: 1, H, Sandra Whyte (unassisted) 3:42 2, H, Lauren Messmore (Stickles) 14:14; Penalties--D, McDaniel (roughing) 5:57,; D, Parish (tripping) 12:23.

Saves: D, Kelley Coyne 11-17-15--43; H, Gillian D'Souza 11-6-7--24.

Power Play: D, 0-1; H,, 1-6.