The women's hockey team has hit rough times, and it just can't seem to pull out of the slump.
Up until two weeks ago, the team had only lost five games over the course of the season. Going into this past weekend's competition and since a Feb. 4 game against Northeastern, Dartmouth had won only one of four games. This weekend's 3-1 loss to Providence 3-3 tie with Brown did nothing to help this record.
The tie to Brown will most likely give Cornell the Ivy League title this season.
"It's pretty disappointing," co-Captain Michelle Erickson '96 said. "We needed to win for the Ivies. But we have a new goal now and that's the Nationals."
A second period lapse left Dartmouth trailing Providence 2-1 on Saturday, a deficit the Big Green never recovered from. Providence took home the 3-1 nonleague win.
Emilie Schnitman '98 stepped up and put Dartmouth's only goal of the game on the boards at 10:41 in the first period. As Amy Coelho '97 screened defenders, co-Captain Sarah Howald '96 crossed the puck to Schnitman coming in down the right side. Schnitman sent the puck flying to the low left corner and past Providence goaltender Meghan Smith.
The two teams held each other in check for the extremely fast-paced and intense remainder of the first.
"The first period was a great period," Coach George Crowe said. "It was definitely one of the fastest periods we've played this season."
Sarah Hood '98 came up with one near goal for the Big Green. Hood, with only Smith between herself and another Dartmouth goal, was tripped from behind by Providence's Katie Lachapelle before she could get the shot off. While it may have cost Dartmouth a goal, Lachapelle did her time in the penalty box for the offense.
Back in the second, the Lady Friars came out strong and showed dominance while the Big Green pulled back somewhat. During this Dartmouth lapse, the team took only four shots compared to the 10 and 12 of the first and second periods, respectively.
Within three minutes, Providence had racked up two goals, stealing Dartmouth's lead for the rest of the game. At 1:20, Providence's Alison Wheeler fed the puck to Alana Blahoski who sent it into the lower left corner of Dartmouth's goal.
One minute and 28 seconds later, Providence's rookie and high scorer Laurie Baker took a slapshot from just inside the blue. The puck sailed through the Dartmouth defense and directly into the bottom left corner.
Dartmouth picked up again at the end of the second period and through the third. Providence, however, managed to pick up one more goal. Wheeler's wide angle shot was redirected by a skate blade to round out Providence's scoring.
The Big Green kept up pressure during a Providence power play, playing strong offense during a normally defensive-dominated situation. Dartmouth could not get the puck in the cage and fell to a final 3-1 Providence decision.
"[Providence is] a good team," Crowe said. "They've been national champions for the past four years. You can't beat a team like that if you don't play your best game for three periods."
Howald said, "Overall we played pretty well. If we had played like we did in the first period for the whole game, we would have won. There's no doubt in my mind. We just need to learn to put three solid periods together."
That's exactly what Dartmouth did on Sunday. The team went out hard and played hard throughout three periods plus a five-minute overtime.
Despite the effort, however, Dartmouth was unable to pull of the much-needed Ivy win and tied ECAC second-placed Brown, 3-3.
"It was the first time in a long time that we have put three periods together," Assistant Coach Judy Parish said.
In the past two years, Dartmouth and Brown have tied each other four times, every time the two teams have met.
Dartmouth's first goal only could be called a fluke. Coelho, in a move, dumped the puck into Brown's end to facilitate a Dartmouth line change. As the puck approached the Brown goal, goalie Libby Witchger stepped out of the goal and let the puck slip in.
At 17:43, the Bears put forth a strong offensive and within a minute came up with two goals.
With :03 on the clock, Coelho put away her second of the game with assists from Howald and Hood. This goal tied up the score at 2-2.
An early second period scoring attempt from Howald was thwarted by Brown's Jaime Abel as she tripped Howald in front of the goal. Abel sat out two minutes for the offense, but Dartmouth could not capitalize on the power play.
Four minutes into the third period Dartmouth's Jessica Clark went to the penalty box for tripping. Twenty-two seconds into the power play, another Gorton goal gave Brown a one-point advantage.
Dartmouth came back on a power play Michelyne Pinard '98 took a pass from Coelho and scored. The period came to a close with a 3-3 tie.
Neither team could pick up an extra goal during overtime, ending the match-up at 3-3.
Between the posts for Dartmouth, Sarah Tueting '98 denied 31 shots, including many seemingly impossible shots.
"Tueting was amazing," Parish said. "She had absolute focus. She was great high and great low."
Dartmouth wraps up its season next weekend with two away games against Yale and Princeton. The team hopes to remain in the top four in the ECAC to be allowed to play the first round of the ECAC tournament at home in two weeks.
"We may have lost the Ivies but we can still win ECACs," Hood said. "It's not like we don't have anything left to shoot for."
