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."