Following a tough 3-0 loss at Princeton on Saturday, the women's hockey team capitalized on its strengths, crushing Yale 10-3 on Sunday afternoon. The weekend brought the team's record to 6-3-2 overall and 2-1-0 in the Ivy League.
The Princeton game matched Dartmouth against one of its biggest rivals. "We knew going in against Princeton that it was going to be tough," Coach George Crowe said. "Princeton, Brown and ourselves are at the top of the Ivy League. It was a very intense game, it could have gone either way."
The teams were evenly matched, and the first period ended without score. Dartmouth had several power play opportunities but could not find the goal.
The Tigers came out strong in the second period scoring two goals within three minutes. Their first goal came 11 minutes into the period from Karen Chernisky, followed by one on a power play by P. R. Stark, extending the Tiger lead to 2-0.
The third period played out much like the first with no score until the end when Chernisky, with Dartmouth a man down, slipped in her second goal of the game at the buzzer, leaving the final score at 3-0.
Goalie Sarah Tueting '98 had a great game, posting 27 saves against the Tigers.
"Princeton and Brown are the two biggest Ivy rivals so this was a tough loss," Captain Rachel Rochat '95 said. "It's not the end of the world though, because Princeton lost to Harvard already, whom we beat earlier in the season."
The loss doesn't erase Dartmouth's chances for the Ivy title. "Fortunately in the Ivy League we play everyone twice so we can still take control of the league," Crowe said.
After Saturday's game, the team travelled to Connecticut to take on Yale. The Big Green dominated the game, outscoring the Bulldogs 2-1 in each of the first two periods.
Yale's Rosemarie Roberts put in the first goal of the game ten minutes into the first period. She was quickly matched by two of Dartmouth's seven Sarah's, Sarah Devens '96, who scored Dartmouth's first goal 12 minutes into the game, and Sarah Howald '96, who scored five minutes later.
In the second period, Yale's Roberts scored her second goal followed by one each from Big Green freshmen Erin Rath and Sarah Hood.
Dartmouth came out strong in the third period, with Howald scoring her second goal of the game just 50 seconds into the period. Two minutes later Hood notched her second of the afternoon, extending the Dartmouth advantage to 6-2.
Bulldog defenseman Wendy Yoshino managed to tally one final goal before the Big Green swept the rest of the game. Phoebe Manchester '96, Emilie Schnitman '98, Rochat and Devens each had one goal, ending the game at 10-3.
Goalie Sarah Lenczner '97 had 11 saves, keeping Dartmouth ahead throughout the game. "It was a hard game for a goalie because there were not a lot of shots and action. You tend to get careless defensively in that situation," Crowe said. Dartmouth outshot Yale 55-14.
The weekend illustrated the Big Green's balanced attack. "Scoring was distributed nicely throughout all the lines," Crowe said.
Crowe noted that Michelyne Pinard '98, who had two assists, and Hood had their best weekends of the season. He also noted the excellent play by the line including Hood, Schnitman and Michelle Erickson '96.
The team will host Northeastern at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Thompson Arena. "We are looking forward to picking up the win again on Wednesday versus Northeastern," Rochat said.
Crowe said, "We know we can skate with them. Year in and year out it's been UNH, Providence and Northeastern who have dominated. It's just a question of who is going to play them in the ECACs. Now it's more of a six-team group than a three-team and we're up there."
