An up-and-down weekend saw the Harvard men's hockey team's defense sputter, while the offense was firing on all cylinders.

The Crimson dropped a close game Friday night to Vermont (2-2-0, 2-0-0 ECAC), 5-3, surrendering four unanswered goals that left the defense looking overwhelmed.

Harvard (2-1-0, 2-1-0) rebounded Saturday, however, defeating Dartmouth (1-3-0, 1-1-0), 5-2, with goals from three freshmen and solid goaltending from senior Oliver Jonas.

Despite the win, Harvard Coach Mark Mazzoleni was not pleased with his team's effort.

"I didn't think we had a good edge the whole weekend," Mazzoleni said.

Harvard will need to be on top of its game next week when it boards the bus for upstate New York and a pair of games against Cornell and Colgate.

Harvard 5, Dartmouth 2

A full 60 minutes of defense did the Crimson good in its triumph over Ivy rival Dartmouth. After a subpar defensive performance Friday night saw the Crimson give up four unanswered goals to Vermont, the Crimson used a consistent, if not overwhelming, defensive effort and a flurry of freshman offensive contributions to send Dartmouth to its third loss.

Freshman forward Rob Fried led the way for the Crimson by scoring his first two collegiate goals, and Jonas had a strong game in net.

Fried, who scored the eventual game-winner in the midst of a three-goal Crimson flurry in the second period, was not on the Crimson's first line Friday night against Vermont, but drew the start as a result of junior forward Jeff Stonehouse's groin pull. After the Crimson put consistent pressure on Dartmouth goalie Nick Boucher, Fried's goal came during a fierce battle for the puck, which was loose in front of the net at 8:15 of the second period.

"Steve Moore and Tyler Kolarik made my job extremely easy," Fried said. "They are great players; guys like that make my job easy."

While Fried attempted to downplay the significance of his two goals and the part they played in the team's win, Coach Mark Mazzoleni was positive in reference to the impact of his freshman.

"Robbie Fried responded very well," Mazzoleni said. "Good things happen when you play hard."

Earlier in the second period, Crimson junior defenseman Peter Capouch gave the Crimson its opening goal of the second period and began the offensive flurry that would propel the Crimson to victory. Sophomore defenseman Aaron Kim found Capouch on the blueline for a hard shot that found its way past Boucher. That goal put the Crimson up 3-0, but the score wouldn't remain there long.

At 15:13 of the second, Dartmouth's Mike Turner unleashed a hard shot that Jonas turned aside but couldn't scoop up. With the puck loose out in front of the net, Dartmouth's Jamie Herrington collected the rebound and put it past Jonas to pull Dartmouth within two.

That would be as close as Dartmouth would get for the rest of the game, and three-and-a-half minutes later, Fried again found the back of the net by being in the right place at the right time. Captain Steve Moore took the puck in and fired a shot that Boucher deflected. Fried was out banging in front of the net and collected his second goal when he gathered the deflection and slipped it by Boucher.

The Crimson would add a goal in the third period to put the game further out of reach. Freshman Tim Pettit added a goal that was assisted by sophomore Dominic Moore. Senior center Harry Schwefel scored the first Crimson goal of the game at 18:12 of the first period.

Despite freshmen accounting for three goals, and despite the fact that 12 different players got in on the scoring, Mazzoleni was not too happy with his team's play.

"We have more balance than we had last year," Mazzoleni said. "I didn't think we had a good edge the whole night. We were opportunistic on our chances and we got an excellent game from Jonas."

Coach Mazzoleni may have seen areas for improvement, and he may not even have been that impressed with the team's play, but freshman Rob Fried had reason to be, walking from Bright Hockey Center with the game winning puck stuffed into his coat pocket.

Vermont 5, Harvard 3

Vermont returned to ECAC action with a roar Friday night, upsetting Harvard, 5-3, with a dramatic third-period comeback.

It was the Catamounts' first win in 10 months. Vermont's schedule was cut short last year after a hazing scandal forced the cancellation of the remainder of its season last January.

Harvard led 3-1 late in the second period, and controlled the opening 40 minutes of play before Vermont rallied with four unanswered goals.

"Coming into this game, we knew Vermont loved to play a high-tempo chancy kind of game," Mazzoleni said. "For the first two periods, we played the way we wanted to, but in the third we played their style of game, and that was to their advantage."

With the score tied at 3-3, Vermont's Jerry Gernander crept in untouched from the left circle and poked in Ryan Miller's rebound to give the Catamounts the lead with 5:22 to go in third period.

The open style of play in the third period and a couple defensive miscues allowed Vermont to fight its way back into the game after Harvard thought it had put the game in the bag.

"We went into the third with a lead in our own building," Mazzoleni said. "It's just inexcusable to lose."

Things looked better for the Crimson earlier in the game. Down a man with four minutes remaining in the second period, Steve Moore put the Crimson ahead, 3-1, on a feed from his brother, Dominic Moore.

After the puck hit the referee on the Crimson's clearing attempt, Dominic Moore won the foot race to the puck and dished a pass to Steve Moore in the slot who one-timed a shot past Vermont goaltender Andrew Allen.

The Crimson couldn't celebrate for long, however, as the Catamounts struck back to cut the lead to 3-2, 33 seconds later.

After Vermont center Ryan Cox's wrap-around attempt failed, Jonas could not glove the rebound, and winger Graham Mink put in the rebound under Jonas, who was sprawled across the crease.

Vermont tied the game, 3-3, just six minutes into the third period when a wide-open Jerry Gernander fired a one-timer from the top of the hash marks into the far corner off a cross-ice feed from center Ryan Miller.

"There were definitely poor reads on our side from our defensive core," Mazzoleni said. "You'd have guys sliding over to help and leaving someone else open in front of the net."

The team as a whole did not play well defensively, especially in the third, and inexperience on the Crimson blueline allowed Vermont to mount a late comeback.

"We're going to have our moments on the blueline this season," Mazzoleni said. "Our youngsters are going to take a while to develop, and we're expecting a lot from freshman and sophomores."

The Crimson also missed a number of excellent chances to score on the powerplay, going 0-for-8 and blowing five man-advantage opportunities in the first period alone.

In goal, Jonas recorded 35 saves for the Crimson, while Allen turned away 43 Harvard shots at the other end of the ice.

Pettit scored his first collegiate goal five minutes into the second period, and senior Chris Bala pocketed his second of the year just seconds before. Both goals came in 4-on-4 situations.