The players called it their best game of the season. And yet somehow, the women's hockey team (6-5) still found itself on the wrong side of a close 3-2 score against the number-one-ranked UNH Wildcats yesterday.
"I think it was our best game so far this season," Little said. "They stepped onto the ice as the defending national champions and I think we put up a good fight."
The Wildcats opened the scoring at the 2:43 mark as sophomore Carisa Zaban socked one up the middle and dented the Dartmouth net.
Junior Michelyne Pinard set up the Big Green's first scoring play ten minutes later. From behind the Wildcat net, Pinard flipped the puck to Erin Rath '98. Rath one-touched the pass across the crease and let Malaika Little '97 do the honors.
In the second period both teams struggled to find the net as they battled for the puck between the blue lines. After 40 minutes of play, the score remained locked at 1-1.
With seven minutes down in the third, UNH took a one-goal lead off of a Melisa Heitzman '99 to Zaban power-play goal.
The Wildcats bumped their lead to two as Heitzman launched one from close range three minutes later. But the Big Green refused to call it quits.
Dartmouth put on the pressure as the forwards played up and the defensemen planted their skates at the redline. "Our backline did a great job pinning the puck in the UNH zone and our forwards were flying," Amy Coelho '97 said.
With 2:45 to go, Kathleen O'Keefe '99 slammed a hard shot on goal and soon, Dartmouth found itself one goal shy of a tie.
In the closing minutes, Dartmouth pulled its goalie and tried to reach overtime with their six-player attack. But the clock wouldn't allow it.
"Our level of play is definitely up from our fall matches," Little said. "Everyone came back really excited and ready to play some solid hockey."
"I'm really happy that we stepped up our play and intensity," Amy Coelho '97 said.
On Saturday, the team came through with a 4-2 win over Colby. Sarah Hood '98 sank two goals in that game, including an empty-netter in the closing seconds. Jaime Arndt '00 and Pinard each added a goal apiece.
Over the break, the Big Green fared well against local teams during the Dartmouth Round Robin Tournament.
On December 28th, Dartmouth fell to Northeastern 2-1, but came back to beat Boston College later that same afternoon by a score of 4-2. On day two of the tourney, the Big Green topped Middlebury 2-1.
The squad will travel south next weekend to face-off against Ivy rivals Princeton and Yale.
