The Dartmouth women's hockey team returns home this weekend to play consecutive home games against the Mercyhurst Lakers tonight and tomorrow afternoon. After last weekend's strenuous yet successful trip to Ohio, the Big Green is ranked fourth in the national polls. Pennsylvania-based Mercyhurst (18-5-1, 4-0-0 GLWHL) is currently seventh nationally and is riding a 15-game unbeaten streak.
The Big Green (12-2-2, 7-1-1 ECAC North) remains at the top of the ECAC North standings, with St. Lawrence, Princeton and Brown continuing to nip at its heels. While this weekend's games will not affect the conference standings, Mercyhurst is a formidable out-of-conference opponent, despite being a young program, and the games have significant implications for the national rankings and perhaps for seeding in the upcoming Frozen Four.
"National ranking is much more important than it really should be," said co-captain Kim McCullough '02.
"There are no guaranteed bids to the nationals, so ranking and voting determine our ultimate fate at the end of the season. We basically need to win all of our remaining games against ranked opponents in order to be able to control our own destiny, to as much of an extent as we can, come the end of the season."
Mercyhurst is a third-year Division I program with no seniors on its roster. The team has a mediocre offense but a sensational defense, supported by a pair of remarkable goaltenders. The Lakers are 1-5-1 when giving up more than one goal in a game, but a perfect 17-0-0 when limiting the opposition to one goal or less. Mercyhurst has recorded two key victories over No. 6 Niagara but has struggled against most stronger opponents, including two losses to St. Lawrence, one to Northeastern and one to Minnesota.
Much of the Lakers' success can be credited to their goaltenders, who sport a combined 1.22 GAA and .941 save percentage. Freshman Desirae Clark is a perfect 7-0-0 with five shutouts to her name but will probably not receive the start. Instead, Junior Tiffany Ribble, who has faced most quality opponents, will likely get the nod for the Lakers.
Either way, the Big Green offense will have to pile on the shots in order to put a few tallies on the scoreboard and get past the Lakers' defensive winning ways.
With Carly Haggard '03 (18g, 16a) looking to surpass her team-leading season total from last year of 36 points, the puck drops at Thompson Arena at 7 p.m. tonight and 4 p.m. tomorrow.
