The women’s ice hockey team jumped into the 2014-2015 season, preparing to enter winter break with a 4-2 record. The Big Green (7-7-1) had opened the season with a four-game winning streak, but dropped the two following games against St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University.
Following the two losses, Big Green faced off with then no. 5/6 ranked Boston University on Nov. 29, nearly two weeks after the final day of fall term classes and just after Thanksgiving .
BU scored four points, and held Dartmouth scoreless through much of the third period. The two-goal effort by Lindsey Allen ’16 and Laura Stacey ’16 was not enough to overcome the deficit, and the game ended with a Dartmouth loss 2-4.
Dartmouth opened December with its first Ivy League matchup of the season against Harvard University. The match would ultimately leave the team with a four-game losing streak. The aggressive Crimson offense produced 69 shots, four of which found their mark. Brooke Ahbe ’18 scored the only goal for the Big Green, also her first goal playing for Dartmouth. Despite the loss, Robyn Chemago ’17 saved 38 shots on goal — a career high.
“Harvard was really good at working down low and working in the corner,” Chemago said. “When I was able to see the puck, be confident in myself and stay square to the puck… It made it a lot easier to do my job.”
Dartmouth next faced then no. 4 ranked Quinnipiac University and Princeton University, coming away with a tie and a loss, respectively.
The two teams traded goals within in the first period.The Big Green took the lead in the second period, but Quinnipiac answered back just over a minute later, and scored again after a faceoff.
Just 34 seconds into the third period, Dartmouth bounced back with a goal by Morgan Illikainen ’15. The game ended in a 4-4 tie and headed to an scoreless overtime.
“They’re a quick team, and they transition quickly,” Karlee Odland ’15 said. “We just have to try and play quicker and make simple decisions… We have to beat them all over the ice.”
The next day’s game against Princeton started with both teams holding their own. By the third period, though, Dartmouth lost control, allowing the Tigers to score three goals and bring the final score to 2-5.
Next, the Big Green took on no. 1 ranked Boston College then boasting a 16-0-1 record compared to Dartmouth’s record of 4-5-1. The Eagles’ offense produced six goals in the game, while Dartmouth’s offense earned one.
The Big Green headed to Burlington the following Sunday to challenge the Vermont Catamounts. Despite a scoreless first period, the Big Green offense was able to pick up the pace. Allen emerged from the game with four points, after an assist and a hat trick, leading to a 6-2 Dartmouth win, its first since Nov. 8th.
Dartmouth carried that momentum into its New Year’s Eve game against Northeastern, and an impressive offense sealed the 5-1 victory. Allen and Odland accounted for two goals each, with Illikainen adding one as well.
Following a 1-5 defeat at the hands of the Yale Bulldogs, the Big Green came out strong against the Brown team on Saturday for its first Ivy League win of the season. The Dartmouth offense, which had struggled to find the back of the net the day before, exploded in the first period and maintained pressure throughout the game.
Odland attributed the offensive dominance to using “every area of the ice” when making offensive drives. Brown had just 28 shots in the game, while Dartmouth had 72.
Ahbe said that while the transition coming from the challenging loss was difficult, putting that loss out of their minds was the key to their success in the next match up.
Looking at the winterim overall, Odland shared her sentiment about the team’s success.
“There was a stretch where we played teams that were ranked top ten in the nation and we lost those games,” Odland said. “But I think that by playing teams that were talented we grew as a team.”
Dartmouth’s current record has moved to 7-7-1 overall and 3-5-1 in conference.
“We’re hungry. We want to show them that we’re hungry for the puck all the time,” Chemago said. “We’ve had our ups and downs… but if we work hard I’m very confident we can be successful next weekend.”
The Big Green will have the opportunity to demonstrate that hunger on Friday at 7 p.m. against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
