Going into Thanksgiving break with an undefeated record, the women’s hockey team hoped to extend its winning streak.

But the Bulldogs could only score one goal all week, and their three games turned into three losses.

The Elis (3-3-1, 0-1-0 ECAC-N) fell to Boston College (2-7-1) 3-0 Sunday after losing Saturday to the University of Connecticut (5-5-1, 3-2-0 ECAC-E)

Last Sunday, they were shut out by Princeton (3-3-2, 1-2-0 ECAC-N), 4-0.

The losses dropped Yale to the .500 mark.

For Yale head coach John Marchetti, even three straight losses had a small upside.

“If I were going to find a positive in this, I’d say that some of the younger and more inexperienced players were able to play a lot this weekend and gain some valuable experience that will prepare us for league play,” he said.

In yesterday’s game, the team showed signs of wear and tear after playing UConn Saturday, and a combination of fatigue and injuries contributed to the loss. Wallis Finger ’04, who injured her shoulder Saturday, and a sick Karin Tilly ’03 were both unable to play against BC, depleting an already shrunken lineup.

“We started out the game already short-handed,” Marchetti said. “Because we had to put new people together, we didn’t have very good chemistry in this game.”

The Bulldogs appeared rattled right from the start, as BC’s Jaclyn Kryzak scored just 23 seconds into the game off an assist from Kelly McManus. For the rest of the third period, Yale was out of sync and unable to establish a good setup in the Eagles’ zone.

BC outshot Yale 10-5 in the first period, but Yale goalie Nicolette Franck ’04 made nine saves, even stopping a breakaway, to keep the score at 1-0.

Forward Sara Wood ’02 contributed to the defensive effort, sliding to block several shots in the first period.

The second period was more of the same, with the Elis recording only eight shots on BC goalie Lisa Davis. Meanwhile, the Eagles’ took advantage of Yale’s defensive rotation, which was limited to five players due to an injury to Amy LeClair ’03.

BC scored its second goal when Thia Connelly, who was set up low in the slot, put a wrist shot past Franck. Heide Seidewand and Kathryn Chubrilo were given assists on the goal, which came 7:49 into the second period. Connelly was one of many Eagles who found herself open in front of the cage.

In the third period, Connelly capitalized on a defensive mishap at Yale’s blue line that left her with a breakaway on the right side. Her shot bounced straight down off the crossbar, but McManus, who has 74 career points, was there to put in the rebound and extend the Eagles’ lead to 3-0.

From there, Yale picked up it’s level of play, with Wood and forward Nicole Symington ’05 contributing to Yale’s 13 shots. Strong forechecking by Deanna McDevitt ’03 nearly resulted in a goal, but it was ruled that the puck, which hit off the inside of the post, never crossed the goal line.

“I’ll give us some credit, we worked hard in the third period,” Marchetti said. “Personally, I thought Deanna scored, but I guess it’s all academic. Boston played a very good game, though.”

Franck recorded 23 saves in the loss.

The game came on the heels of Yale’s loss to UConn Saturday. After a scoreless two periods in which captain Katie Hirte ’02 had 30 saves in net, the Huskies’ Laura Stosky broke the tie with an assist from Megan McLeod. About 20 seconds later, UConn struck again when Sara Mahoney put a pass from Jacquelyn McGuire behind Hirte.

“When they scored those two goals within a minute, it kind of put the nail in the coffin,” Marchetti said. “We played well enough to win, but we couldn’t put in our shots. Their goalie was outstanding.”

After Kaitlin Porcaro ’03 was given a penalty for holding, Husky leading scorer Kimberly Berry notched a power-play goal to put UConn up 3-0 at 17:52.

“We just did not capitalize on our scoring opportunities, and they did,” Symington said.

The Bulldogs narrowed the Husky lead to 3-1 when they pulled Hirte for the one-man advantage. Tilly scored the lone Bulldog goal at 19:33, assisted by Erin Duggan ’05 and Keely Macmillan ’05.

Last Saturday’s game against Princeton was also scoreless through two periods. But 55 seconds into the third, Susan Hobson scored. And at13:23 Nikola Holmes scored a power play goal to extend the Tigers’ lead to 2-0.

“After they scored their first goal, we still fought hard in hope of evening up the game,” said forward Kristin Kattleman ’04. “But after they scored their second goal you could see the confidence and enthusiasm in our team deflate.”

The Bulldogs were unable to recover, and Princeton continued to dominate play. At 16:05 Gretchen Anderson scored an unassisted goal, and Katherine Maglione put the puck past Franck at 18:46 to finish the game.

The game was the Bulldog’s first league contest after having played several non-conference games to open the season.

“I think our biggest downfall was that we were too concerned with what they were doing when we needed to just play our game,” Kattleman said.

Marchetti noted that Princeton’s schedule leading to the game had been tougher than Yale’s, making the Tigers better prepared for Sunday.

Next weekend, Yale will be on the road, facing ECAC opponents Cornell and Colgate.

“We need to use this week to get healthier before we go up to north country,” said Marchetti.