Defenseman Michelyne Pinard '98 described last night's women's hockey game in one word. "Whoah!" Not only did the Big Green romp the Harvard Crimson, dealing them an 8-3 loss, but the team secured its place as Ivy League Champions, an honor it shares with Princeton.
Dartmouth will take on Princeton in the first round of the ECAC tournament this Saturday. Team manager David Grelotti said "We'll show Princeton who're Ivy Champs."
In the first two minutes the teams looked slow and were not quite connecting. Several passes went under players' sticks. But at 2:48, center Sarah Howald '96 put in Dartmouth's first goal off a pass from right-wing Sarah Devens '96, beginning the Big Green explosion.
Six minutes later Dartmouth, truly dominating play, was back to score again. This goal came from senior Captain Rachel Rochat, who received a pass in front of the goal from Howald and placed the puck in the bottom left corner.
But the period's scoring was not over. Sarah Hood '98 scored next with six minutes remaining in the first period off an assist from right-wing Malaika Little '97. Rochat followed with her second goal of the night.
She stole the puck from a Harvard player and scored in a one-on-one situation with the Harvard goalie Erin Villiotte to put Dartmouth ahead 4-0.
Harvard yanked Villiotte after Rochat's goal and replaced her in the net with freshman Jen Bowdoin.
"It was really important to get a good start," Coach George Crowe said. "Erin [Villiotte] is good but if you can score on her quickly she will let down."
Pinard scored the only goal of the second period with 1:22 on the clock. Defenseman Sara Vogler '96 assisted.
Harvard was getting opportunities to bring the puck down the ice but Dartmouth did a better job of recovering and gave Harvard little chance to score.
The Big Green did not let up as they started the third period. Within the first minute of the period, Rochat passed through to Howald who passed flat across the net to Devens. Devens redirected the shot into the net to bring the score to 6-0.
Harvard's first goal came seven minutes into the third period from forward Stacey Kellogg. Dartmouth came back for revenge just two minutes later with a goal from Erickson assisted by Hood and left-wing Phoebe Manchester '96.
At this point, Dartmouth replaced goalie Sarah Tueting '98 with Sarah Lenczner '97. Tueting had 14 saves. Lenczner would get the last three.
Less than 30 seconds later on a power play, Howald went in for her first goal of the night. Hood sent the puck down the blue line to defenseman Amy Coelho '97 who sent the puck to Howald.
With 6:45 remaining in the game, a shot from Manchester hit and broke Harvard Captain Winkie Mleczko's ankle. Mleczko's younger sister, A. J. Mleczko, appeared out for revenge and scored two minutes later. She assisted the next Harvard goal as well, which Leitzes scored.
"This was a huge game for us. We had to win this to get the title. It was our number one goal of the season. We did it," Crowe said.
"It is great to win this year," Howald said. "Last year we were supposed to win it. People didn't think we'd be that good this year."
"I'm so happy. It's the best way to end. Now we're off for a little revenge [at Princeton]," Rochat said.
