Keg jumping was not the only skating last weekend. The women's hockey team beat the Rochester Institute of Technology, 6-0, and Cornell, 5-2. The Cornell win kept Dartmouth in first place in the Ivy League and pushed the team closer to an Ivy title.
Dartmouth 6, RIT 0
RIT (5-8) entered Saturday's game on a two-game losing streak while Dartmouth (12-6-4) had lost none of its last five games.
The game was slower than Dartmouth's recent games. The Big Green scored their first goal of the afternoon three and a half minutes into the game when right-wing Sarah Devens '96 scored a shorthanded goal off a pass from left-wing Captain Rachel Rochat '95.
The goal highlighted a slow first two periods. During the remainder of the first period and throughout the second, play got sloppier. Players from both teams continuously fell. It seemed more of a scramble to get the puck than the disciplined game Dartmouth normally plays.
Dartmouth did have several opportunities to score. Rochat, Devens and center Sarah Howald '96 brought the puck down the ice several times and set up plays, but to no avail.
"Freshman goalie [Sarah] Tueting did very well in goal. She kept us in the first two periods," Coach George Crowe said. Tueting had 13 saves during the first two periods.
The third period saw a sudden change. The Big Green came out ready to score and that is exactly what they did. Just more than one minute was all it took for Howald to let one rip to the upper left-hand corner. Devens earned the assist.
One goal, though, did not satisfy Dartmouth. At 2:46, left-wing Michelle Erickson '96 scored with assists from center Sarah Hood '98 and right-wing Erin Rath '98.
Four and a half minutes into the period, right-wing Malaika Little '97 scored Dartmouth's fourth goal with an assist from left-wing Phoebe Manchester '96. The scoring barrage forced RIT to replace goalie Stephanie Buckley with Lisa Sturm.
The change of goalie did not break Dartmouth's momentum. Twenty-one seconds later the Dartmouth bench erupted again as Little tallied her second goal, assisted by Coelho and Manchester.
Dartmouth's level of play continued to rise. With 2:09 left on the clock, Hood scored Dartmouth's final goal with an assist from Erickson, bringing the final score to 6-0.
"We just didn't want to skate in the first two periods," Crowe said. The team took more shots in the third period alone than combined in the first two periods.
Dartmouth 5, Cornell 2
On Sunday, Dartmouth faced off against Cornell. Dartmouth had beaten the 6-12 Bears earlier this season, 9-0. The game, like the RIT game, began slowly. Penalties gave both teams opportunities to score.
Dartmouth took advantage of one at 10:38 in the first period. Dartmouth was working on a power play as Cornell's Janna Dewar sat in the penalty box for hooking. Center Jessica Clark '98 passed to defenseman Amy Coelho '97 who passed down the blue line to defenseman Michelyne Pinard '98. Pinard scored with a slapshot.
Three minutes later, Cornell retaliated as Dewar followed up a saved shot and scored. At the end of the first period the score was tied 1-1.
Dartmouth got down to business right away in the second period. Devens scored a shorthanded goal assisted by Coelho and Rochat just 1:40 into the period.
Rochat scored again 1:10 later, assisted by Howald. The players took many shots, showing how goal-hungry they were.
With four and a half minutes left in the period, Cornell's goal-scoring trio did it again. Dewar scored with the assist by Schmalz.
Five minutes into the third, Howald scored Dartmouth's second shorthanded goal of the game.
"The shorthanded goals really give you a big lift. They are hard for the other team," Crowe said.
Two minutes later Howald took a pass from defenseman Sara Vogler '96, who was at the opposite end of the ice, and went one-on-one with goalie Sarah Brewster to score. This brought the final score to 5-2.
"It was nice because for the last little while the goals have been spread out throughout the team and we haven't had to rely on just one person or line," Crowe said.
