The women's ice hockey team continued its scoring assault on its opponents as it dominated the Boston College Eagles 5-1 at Thompson Arena Wednesday.
In their first five games of the season, the Big Green have outscored their opposition by a margin of 22 goals to seven. After recording a loss and a tie in its two exhibition games, the team has rebounded to register three resounding victories, including 5-0 and 9-1 wins over the New Brunswick Provincial Team last weekend.
Coming into Wednesday's contest with a 2-0 record and having beaten the Eagles 18-0 in the teams' last meeting in 1987, the Big Green jumped on the ice ready to play.
Although Dartmouth dominated BC in the first two periods, outshooting the Eagles by more than 20 shots, the Big Green were not able to score until 12 minutes into the second period when Sarah Devens '96 connected inside from an assist from Amy Coelho '97.
"I think we were pressing a little too hard at first," Coach George Crowe said. "We can play a lot better. We made a lot of defensive mistakes because we were trying to do a little too much with the puck."
Devens, known as "Devil," set the pace for the Big Green with the team's first goal. An inspired Malaika Little '97, with an assist from Phoebe Manchester '96, drove the first shot of the third period in the BC net, putting Dartmouth up 2-0.
"In the third period they started setting up higher in the slot," Crowe said. "They saw Sarah do it, and I think it just clicked for them."
The Big Green certainly did begin to click. In a four-minute span midway through the third period, they knocked in three goals. Devens, Erin Rath '98 and Sarah Howald '96 each scored, giving Dartmouth a solid 5-0 lead.
"We knew we needed to break it open and it happened," Crowe said. "We had some nice goals in the third period. They were a little better shots."
With a shut-out in sight, the Big Green let up slightly and allowed the Eagles to retaliate with nine minutes left on the clock when sophomore Karen Emma broke away and took advantage of the one-on-one situation.
"I think sometimes we start to play down to teams," Crowe said. "We haven't quite learned how to bury a team yet."
The Big Green hope to bury a longtime rival this weekend as they travel to Harvard tomorrow to open Ivy League play. The team will continue its road trip Sunday when it travels to Northeastern to battle the always-strong ECAC team.
"They will definitely be tougher games," Crowe said. "I think this game was a good warm-up for this weekend though. It was a good wake-up call, and I think we'll be ready this weekend for two tough teams."
