"The results on the scoreboard certainly are a little disappointing," said head coach Mark Hudak. "More so than any other time during the season I think the kids were really enjoying themselves out there, I think they were feeling more comfortable out there and it was a fun game to coach on the bench."
Both teams went scoreless in the first period, but midway through the second a couple of Big Green penalties proved costly. After Emily Nerland '06 went to the box with an obstruction-hooking penalty at 9:15, the Huskies (8-13-1) had a five-on-three advantage. Only 24 seconds into the power play, Kristen Russell beat Dartmouth goaltender Kate Lane '06 with a shot from just inside the blue line.
Dartmouth (6-7-2, 3-5-1 ECACHL) would answer at the 18:10 mark of the second period when Nicole Ruta '08 won a face-off cleanly and drew the puck back to the point, where Sarah Newnam '09 fired a blast through traffic for the goal. Newnam's goal was the first of her collegiate career and it extended the Big Green's unbeaten streak to three games.
"Sarah just took a real smart, nice, low shot that got through and I don't think the goalie really even saw it," said Hudak. "I'm real excited for her and hopefully that will open some things up for her to start scoring."
The Big Green had a lot of scoring chances and outshot its opponent 31-20 on the game, but was just unable to bend the twine after the first goal.
"A lot of those struggles come from people not playing together prior to this year, having to switch up the lines quite a bit during the year whether it's due to injury or somebody having to leave for national team stuff and certainly the inexperience," said Hudak.
Dartmouth's youth and unfamiliarity with each other was certainly evident early in the second period, when Carrie Thompson '08 and Maggie Kennedy '09 had a two-on-one breakout. Unfortunately for the Lady Green, both Thompson and Kennedy skated right next to each other making it easy for the defender to poke the puck away before either skater could get a clean shot off.
"It was almost like both of them knew that they wanted to go to the net but couldn't decide who was going to go to the net, and who was going to trail, or who was going to take the puck out wide and get the shot versus trying to pass," explained Hudak.
Despite the minor miscues, the Big Green is hopeful that it will all come together down the stretch.
"I think it's going to come. We have been working on some creativity in the offensive zone and of course it hurts us a lot that Tiffany Hagge '06 is out," said Nerland. "She was one of our best scorers and obviously a huge leader out there being our captain, but it's going to give a chance for a lot of other people to step up like Sarah Newnam scoring her first goal."
The Big Green will be back in action on Friday when it travels to Durham, N.H. to take on UNH for another installment of their intrastate rivalry. With their non-conference schedule drawing to a close Friday, the players are quick to note that there are still many things they need to work on before they get into the heart of their tough ECACHL season.
"If we could work on one thing it would be consistency," said Nerland. "If we play as well as we know we can than I think we are going to come out with a few wins at the end of the season."
