To start off a five-game home stand, the women's ice hockey team will face only one opponent this weekend. However, the visitors will be the tough Gophers from the University of Minnesota, currently ranked number three in the nation.
Coming off of two tough losses against Minnesota-Duluth, the second-ranked team in the country, the Big Green faces another top-ten team. Seven of the Big Green's last ten opponents have been ranked in the top ten.
Minnesota brings to Hanover an impressive 17-2-1 record, and coincidentally, the Gophers' only two losses were against the Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth.
The Gophers will skate two Team USA stars on the ice this Friday night -- freshmen forwards Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz. The most prolific scoring duo in the nation have combined for a total of 86 points in only 34 games and look to bring their potent offense into Thompson Arena.
In their path is Big Green's senior goaltender Amy Ferguson, who recently took sole possession of second place in Dartmouth's record books with 1,664 saves in her career. She looks to add more to that impressive number this weekend.
Ferguson has faced the Golden Gophers three times in her illustrious college career, but she has only recorded one win in those three contests.
Although the Big Green suffered defeats last weekend, the team managed to remain in fourth place in the latest USCHO poll for women's college hockey. They remained in fourth place partially due to the absence of four tough Dartmouth players, who were unable to compete against Minnesota-Duluth due to prior obligations to the Canadian development camp.
Despite the periodic absence of these players, the quality of team play has steadily improved over the course of the year. The biggest improvement has come in terms of discipline, something that the team lacked in the early portion of the season.
A pleasant surprise for the team this season has been the excellent play of its young freshman class. Jillian Apps '06 and Katie Weatherston '06 have tallied 16 points each, tied for second on the team behind only captain Carly Haggard '03, who ranks 11th in the nation in scoring with 27 points in 16 games.
In order to win the first of five straight contests at home, the team has to remain disciplined and play an aggressive game against the Gophers. The Big Green also needs to focus on preventing early scores, which was a major factor in the losses against Minnesota-Duluth.
The game will start at 6 p.m., an unusual time, to accommodate a student event after the game. A free skating session with hot chocolate and snacks should attract many students to Thompson Arena, where spectators will witness the best match-up in women's hockey for this weekend.
