Usually, if the opponent scores six goals in a game, it adds another mark in the loss column, unless you're the Big Green.
Dartmouth scored eight times Wednesday night against Providence to overpower the Friars to an 8-6 victory in Schneider Arena. The Big Green won while allowing six or more goals for the first time since a 7-6 overtime victory against Harvard in the 1991-92 season, but the defensive breakdown in the third period was alarmingly the team's second in three games.
Prior to the 2-1 victory over Harvard that catapulted the Big Green to number two in the national polls, the team let a win slip away against Brown, allowing three goals in the last period on route to a disappointed 5-5 tie. Wednesday night's contest brought back a near deja-vu for Dartmouth as it nearly surrendered a 6-2 lead going into the last frame.
"The game was similar to the Brown game in the respect that as a team defensively we had some mental lapses and breakdowns," said Tiffany Hagge '06, who scored the last goal of the game to ice it for the Big Green.
"Our D-Zone coverage is something we are going to need to clean up."
While the defense struggled, the offense exploded for the first time since a 9-2 route of Vermont in early November. Most of the scoring came from the sophomore class (7 goals, 9 assists), and the top line of Hagge, Gillian Apps '06, and Cherie Piper '06 combined for 11 points in the contest.
"That line [of Hagge, Apps and Piper] is certainly one of the strongest in the nation in regards to scoring," head coach Mark Hudak said.
"They are strong, skilled and take advantage of opportunities presented to them. As for the sophomore class, I would rank it as the strongest in the nation."
Unfortunately for the Big Green, it will have to shuffle the top two lines in the upcoming weeks. Dartmouth will be missing Apps and Piper to Canadian National evaluation camp next week. Upon their return, Katie Weatherston '06 and co-captain Megan Walton '05 will depart for international competition in Europe.
These key absences should not be a detriment to the team. In fact, it might be a blessing of sorts. As Dartmouth prepares to play top-ranked Minnesota in three weeks, these departures will force the team to shift the lines around and focus on the games on hand.
"Although it is hard to not look ahead to the games against Minnesota, we will be missing some key players over the next couple of weeks," Hudak said.
"So, we have to adjust our lines, work on playing with different people and come up with another power play unit. I think we will be busy enough focusing on that to not be too worried about what comes up in three weeks."
The Big Green (12-1-2, 5-0-1 ECAC) will return home this weekend to defend its undefeated conference record against a pair of ECAC opponents in Colgate (Friday, 7 p.m.) and Cornell (Saturday, 4 p.m.). As a traveling pair, the New York teams have performed feebly against Dartmouth, registering zero wins in the past three years.
However, this weekend's games could prove tough for the Big Green. Colgate (12-7-2, 5-3-0 ECAC) has more conference wins at this point than all of last season. Led by sophomore stars Becky Irvine and Allison Paiano, the Raiders could cause trouble for the Big Green's newly formed offensive lines. In addition, junior goalie Rebecca Lahar has performed brilliantly up to date with a .930 save percentage to show for it.
Despite allowing six goals against Providence on Wednesday night, Dartmouth's star goalie Christine Capuano will start with unraveled confidence from coach Hudak.
"I have a ton of faith in all three goalies," Hudak said when asked about the high scores in two of the past three contests.
"Both the Providence and Brown games were not due to a lack of goaltending " we had team breakdowns, some unlucky bounces and other aspects of the game we could not control."
The Big Green hopes to gain some dominance against its opponents this weekend, especially against Cornell, who will visit Thompson Arena on Saturday afternoon with a goose-egg in its win column. The Big Red (2-11-1, 0-8-0 ECAC) has struggled to a winless conference record, putting up only 9 goals in those contests.
The one bright spot for the Big Red has been the play of its freshman Halina Kristalyn, who leads the team with five goals on the season. However, despite having a balanced team, Cornell will have to struggle with the physical play of the Dartmouth forwards.
"The team will focus on improving our D-zone coverage and staying with your mark down low," said Hagge.
"We need to use these next four games to fine tune and prepare for [Minnesota]."
If all things progress on course, the weekend of Feb. 8 should see a furious series between the two premier women's hockey teams in the country.
The Big Green was denied the top ranking in the polls after its impressive victory over Harvard, but the team will get its chance against the top-ranked Gophers for two games. While three weeks is looking much ahead, the date with Minnesota has been marked in red since the beginning of the season.
