They came to Hanover to settle the score. No such luck.
The Northeastern Huskies traveled to Dartmouth this past weekend for the ECAC quarterfinals in hopes of showing themselves the dominant team and putting to rest an even 1-1-1 season record against the Big Green women's hockey team.
Even without Dartmouth's first-line wing Malaika Little '97, who left during the first shift of the game with a broken wrist, the two teams again proved their equal talent.
But it was the Big Green, not the Huskies, who came out on top, taking a 3-2 double overtime win off a goal from Sarah Hood '98. The win advances Dartmouth to the ECAC semifinals next weekend.
"It was nice because it wasn't an individual effort," Little said. "It was really a team effort."
It looked like a Northeastern game with less than a minute to go on the clock. Northeastern was up 2-1. In the true spirit of Dartmouth women's hockey, however, the team pulled together in this final minute.
Coach George Crowe, in a last attempt to even up the game, pulled goalie Sarah Tueting '98, giving the Big Green a man-up opportunity. With just seconds remaining on the clock, Amy Coelho '97 fired at Northeastern goalie Shannon Meyers. Meyers could not get a hold on the puck and, with :21 left in the final period, Hood collected the puck and used her backhand shot to tie up the competition, 2-2.
Hence, the first overtime.
"After scoring that goal, there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to win," Little said.
Goalies in both ends of the ice helped hold their opponents in check throughout the first overtime. Both teams racked up the most shots per period for the entire game, letting rip shot after shot to connect with the net. Meyers tallied 12 saves for her team, while Tueting denied 10 Northeastern attempts.
The 2-2 tie still intact by the end of the first overtime, the game moved into another overtime.
It was Hood, with her second goal of the game, who put away the game-winner at 11:01 into the second sudden-death overtime.
Having played for almost 89 minutes, longer than any other game this season, Emilie Schnitman '98 flew down the right side and took a slap shot at the Northeastern goal. Meyers was unable to grab the puck, and Hood was in position again to pick up the rebound.
Hood sent a hard waist-level shot from the left circle that beat Meyers and gave the 3-2 win to Dartmouth.
"Everyone really pulled together well in the overtimes," Jen Lane '98 said.
Dartmouth took control from the start despite losing Little right at the beginning of the game. "People definitely adjusted well to that," Little said. "People did a great job of stepping up."
Sara Vogler '96 put Dartmouth on the boards early in the first period after refs sent Northeastern's Jaime Totten to the penalty box for checking. The penalty proved damaging for the Huskies as Vogler, at 3:11 in the first, swept the loose puck past Meyers for a Dartmouth goal.
Dartmouth managed to hold all three of Northeastern's top scorers, namely Danyel Howard, Jessica Wagner and Kathryn Waldo, to no points. It was Courtney King, instead, who picked up the slack for Northeastern.
King tallied both of Northeastern's netters. Her first goal came at 9:46 in the second period, tying the score at 1-1. Missi Werner intercepted a Dartmouth pass and went one-on-one with Tueting only to have her shot denied. King grabbed the rebound and sent the puck into the Dartmouth cage.
King attacked the Dartmouth goal again in the third. Cleaning up a mess in front of the net, King connected with the goal at 6:13, giving her team a one-point advantage.
Strong play from Hood for the remainder of the game left the Big Green victorious.
The game may have gone much differently had Dartmouth been able to capitalize on the many Northeastern penalties. Dartmouth spent 14 minutes of the three regular periods on power plays but only finished on one.
Tueting's stability in goal helped secure the win for Dartmouth. Over the course of the 89 minute game, Tueting chalked up 37 saves for the Big Green, including 14 overtime shots.
Meyers showed her strengths in a losing effort, tallying 50 stops for her team.
In the three other ECAC quarterfinal games, all favored teams, predicted by seedings, took wins. Number one Brown defeated bottom-ranked Colby, 7-2, while fourth-seeded Providence triumphed over number five and Ivy Champ Cornell, 5-2. Brown and Providence will meet next weekend for the semifinals.
The most important game in Dartmouth's mind, however, was the UNH-Princeton match-up. Seventh-seeded Princeton fell to second-seeded UNH on Saturday, 7-2. Dartmouth, therefore, will battle UNH next Saturday in the ECAC semifinals at Durham.
Dartmouth has been unsuccessful in its two ventures against UNH this season, losing 3-2 back in November and 6-2 earlier this month.
"This is something we can definitely do," Little said. The Northeastern game "showed it. We were still going hard after two overtimes. And this is it for the seniors. They've all had great careers here. They definitely deserve it."
