Those wins included a 6-1 victory in Potsdam, home of the Raiders’ first round opponent, Clarkson, and both a win and a tie against Dartmouth.

But Colgate has struggled mightily with the Crimson this season, and that inability to overcome Harvard, even at the times of the season when it was struggling, will loom large if Colgate meets the Crimson in the title game.

NO. 4 DARTMOUTH BIG GREEN

ECAC Record: 10-5-7

Record Against Remaining Teams: 2-1-3

Top Forward: RW Lee Stempniak 36 points, 15 goals and 21 assists

Top Defenseman: Grant Lewis 25 points, 3 goals and 22 assists

Goaltender: Dan Yacey 13-9-8, 2.44 GAA and .914 save percentage

Dartmouth recorded an unbelievable seven ties this season, a testament to its inability to buckle down on defense. The Big Green’s offense, anchored by gifted forwards like Stempniak, Hugh Jessiman and Mike Ouellette, has been dangerous all year.

“Dartmouth has arguably the best forwards in the league—that’s the strength of their team,” Taylor said.

Taylor regarded the Big Green’s defense—or lack thereof—as a major weakness during the season but he, like many observers, was impressed with the commitment to defense displayed in Dartmouth’s playoff series.

The No. 4 Big Green enjoyed a first-round bye, but then drew a quarterfinal series with Rensselaer in Hanover. Much like with Colgate, Dartmouth clamped down after losing the first game of the series.

The team managed to shut out the Engineers 6-0 and 1-0 in games two and three behind consecutive strong performances in net from Yacey.

And even with those defensive gems, the Big Green’s strong corps of forwards managed to pot seven goals on Rensselaer’s Nathan Marsters, one of the ECAC’s hottest goaltenders down the stretch.

Unfortunately for Dartmouth, it faces off against the Crimson, a team that blanked it 3-0 in the regular season finale. This semifinal is a rematch of last year’s semifinal, a game that saw the Crimson post a 5-3 win.