Despite a February slump, the women's hockey team wrapped up the season in style last weekend and, in doing so, earned itself the home-ice advantage for the first round of the ECAC tournament.
The Big Green, seeded third, will battle Northeastern, seeded sixth, on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Thompson Arena. The match should rival all others in the quarterfinals of this tournament.
"I think we're pretty happy to be matched up with Northeastern," co-Captain Sarah Howald '96 said. "We've had three good games with them, and it's a real close match. I think it will be a fun game to play."
Over the course of the season, the Huskies and the Big Green have met three times, splitting the games perfectly. However, Dartmouth has not been as successful playing Northeastern at home as it had hoped to be.
The two teams began the '95-'96 series back on Dec. 30 at the Dartmouth Round Robin Tournament. Northeastern gave a strong showing in this nonleague game, and, despite goals from Howald and Kathleen O'Keefe '99, the Big Green were unable to prevail. Dartmouth fell to Northeastern 3-2.
Two weeks later, Dartmouth traveled down to Boston for a second go at Northeastern. Reminded of the importance of this ECAC game, the Big Green overpowered the still ECAC undefeated Huskies, gaining a 2-1 win.
The two teams came together one last time at Dartmouth on Feb. 4. Neither team could gain an advantage, however, and both had to settle with a 2-2 tie.
So it comes down to two very evenly matched teams.
The Dartmouth offense, led by Howald and Sarah Hood '98, should provide a stinging attack against the Huskies. Howald and Hood have remained at the top of the Dartmouth scoring stats throughout the season. Howald put away 23 goals and 17 assists for 40 points this season, while Hood was right behind with 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points.
Hood holds a slight advantage in ECAC scoring, however, leading her team with 24 points.
Strong defense from Amy Coelho '97 and Sara Vogler '96 has also given other teams difficulty this season.
Stability between the posts has given Dartmouth yet another advantage this season. Sarah Tueting '98 (12-7-3), ECAC Player of the Week on Jan. 16 and last year's first team ECAC pick, has posted a .909 save percentage in the cage.
At the other end of the ice, Northeastern's Danyel Howard, Kathryn Waldo and Jessica Wagner lead in scoring. With 36, 36 and 34 points, respectively, these three should not be taken lightly.
Northeastern's potent defense, led by co-Captain Missi Werner, could be key in this competition.
The Huskies, like Dartmouth, have strength in the net. Shannon Meyers has played in 30 games this season, finishing with a 11-13-3 overall record and a .907 save percentage.
"We're definitely pretty evenly matched teams," co-Captain Michelle Erickson '96 said. "If we're playing our best, we're going to be ready. I think they're going to be really ready, too. The season's on the line for us both."
"We're the underdogs," Northeastern Coach Heather Linstad said. Dartmouth "deserves number three. They've played well this season. We're, obviously, number six. We're also coming up there to play. We're going to have to play our best hockey and we can't make any mistakes."
Dartmouth compiled a successful season again this year, finishing off regular season play with a strong 19-8-3 record overall (11-3-2 ECAC). Northeastern has not been quite as successful as Dartmouth, tallying a 14-14-5 record.
The first few weeks of Dartmouth's season were difficult and inconsistent for the team, but once December rolled around, the Big Green took off, losing only one game between Dec. 9 and Feb. 4.
Turning the corner into February, the team hit a slump beginning with a Feb. 4 match against Northeastern. The Big Green took their second tie in three games at this home event. In the next five games, Dartmouth was able to win only one game, tying one and losing three.
The team saw its goals of a repeat Ivy League championship and of ECAC tournament home ice advantage slipping away, but the Big Green stepped up their play last weekend in two final ECAC and Ivy competitions against Yale and Princeton.
According to Erickson, Dartmouth hopes to use the huge Princeton win to its advantage and to use similar strategies Saturday against Northeastern.
While the team took wins over both Princeton and Brown, these wins were not enough to offset a Feb. 10 loss to Cornell and a Feb. 18 tie to Brown. Dartmouth finished the season one point behind Cornell, giving the Big Red the Ivy title.
Now the team is looking beyond the Ivies now though. Its concentration is fully focused on tomorrow's ECAC match. A win will send Dartmouth to the semifinals to compete against the winner of the UNH-Princeton game this weekend.
"We're going to take it one game at a time, and, God willing, things will work out," Howald said.
In other quarterfinal games, number one seed Brown takes on eighth seeded Colby, while number two seeded UNH plays number seven seeded Princeton. Four-time defending ECAC champion, Providence, seeded fourth, faces number five seeded Cornell.
