Women's icers dump BC, 9-2
In their final game before the Thanksgiving break, the Dartmouth women's ice hockey team played host to the ECAC cellar-dwelling Boston College Eagles. The Big Green went into the game trying to improve their record to 5-2; while the 0-6 Eagles were trying to find something to be thankful for. Unfortunately for Boston College, last night's game at Thompson Arena was nothing short of a cornucopia of goals for the Big Green, who trounced the Eagles 9-2.
The opening minutes of the first period showed the beginnings of what would be Dartmouth's night. From the first faceoff, The Big Green had little trouble moving into the Eagles' offensive zone. As if that weren't enough, Boston College starting goalie Christy Nentwig was letting up rebound after rebound off of Dartmouth shots.
Thus it was hardly a surprise when Jennifer Wiehn '01 opened the scoring up for Dartmouth 6:27 into the game.
Wiehn wristed a shot past Nentwig's stick side to give the Big Green a 1-0 lead.
The goal was set up by Lauren Trottier '01, who wrestled the puck away from a BC defender and passed the puck to Kristina Guarino '01.
Guarino fed the puck to Wiehn for the goal.
Liz Macri '01 give Dartmouth a 2-0 lead six minutes later when she fired a slapshot from the slot after receiving a pass from Kim McCullough '02 from behind the net.
At 15:47 of the first period, Boston College's Michelle Snyder went to the penalty box for hooking Dartmouth's Carly Haggard '03.
The power play apparently caused the Eagles to buckle down a bit, and they forced Dartmouth to setup along the boards.
But, Boston College's defensive effort was fated to be short lived. At 17:25, Wiehn scored her second goal of the game as she snuck one in from just behind the net.
On the point, Kristin Romberg '02 passed to Macri who saw Wiehn sneaking up around the point.
Wiehn got the pass and put the puck into the upper corner of the net. The teams would head into the locker rooms at the end of the period with Dartmouth harboring a 3-0 lead.
After falling behind in the first period, the Eagles were hungry to make something happen. With only five first period shots to Dartmouth's seventeen, Boston College knew they had to come back quickly.
At the start of the second period, the Eagles looked decidedly better; Nentwig was not letting up huge rebounds and Dartmouth was forced to the boards a little more.
Boston College was even penetrating the Big Green zone a little more.
With 14:25 left to go in the period, a scoring chance for the Eagles turned into a nightmare.
Boston College's Heather Lombardo had received the puck at neutral ice and had only Romberg to beat.
But, Romberg deftly knocked the puck out of the forward's control. But, Lombardo kept charging towards the net. She got too close for freshman goaltender Amy Ferguson's liking, so Ferguson protected herself and checked Lombardo.
The junior from Barrington, R.I., went to the ice hard. Lombardo was carried off the ice by teammates and taken to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to be treated.
"Those things happen [in hockey]," Dartmouth head coach Judy Parish Oberting would say later. "I know Amy. She's a nice girl and I don't think there was anything [malicious] about the play."
Ferguson and Carolyn Steele '03 would go to the penalty box for five minutes for the check to Lombardo.
Thankfully, Dartmouth killed off the five shorthanded minutes with only four shots on replacement goaltender Meghan Cahill '01.
Dartmouth would make their lead 4-0 at 12:38 when Guarino redirected a rebound up and into the net.
As if enough hadn't gone wrong for the Eagles already, Jen Buckley took a cross-checking penalty at 14:19 to give the Big Green a one-woman advantage. Romberg made Buckley pay for her aggression a minute later when she scored to bring the score to 5-0.
Lauren Trottier '01 recovered the loose puck for Dartmouth and then passed to Wiehn who was moving towards the net.
Wiehn passed back to the point where Romberg ripped a shot past Nentwig.
Kristin King '01 scored at 18:19 on a beautiful display of talent.
King received a pass from co-Captain Carrie Sekela '01 maneuvered between two Eagles defenders to get to the net. King easily faked out Nentwig to tally the Big Green's sixth goal of the night. Romberg added a another goal at 18:45 to cap second period scoring and at that point, the score stood at 7-0.
The third period saw a change in net for both teams as Dartmouth went with Kate Cochrane '02 and Boston College chose Sharin Van Tuyl for its newest player between the pipes.
After receiving a penalty for coming out of the locker room late, Boston College scored a surprising shorthanded goal.
Jen Buckley scored on a quick shot through Cochrane's five-hole to break up the shutout with eighteen minutes to go.
Buckley was not done, however, as she scored again by pushing a puck in during a scramble in front of the Dartmouth goal at 3:26.
Dartmouth would answer back with two goals of its own however.
A streaking Sekela scored after receiving a pass from Haggard, who was also charging the net.
Trottier finished the game's scoring at 15:44 when she stickhandled to the net and double faked before shooting past a frozen Van Tuyl.
The win moved the Big Green to 5-2 overall on the season.
"[You have to be satisfied] with a 5-2 record," Parish Oberting said. "The losses were disappointing but two wins in overtime showed a lot of character."
Dartmouth is probably right where it wants to be right now.
A 5-2 record is more than respectable; especially with a win over Harvard.
Although a 7-0 record was "lingering out there" as Parish Oberting said after the game, Dartmouth has played extremely well and are still getting better with each period they play.
The Big Green have shown that they are for real in their first seven games.
Their next five contests are outside of the ECAC as they will travel to Minnesota and host the Dartmouth Invitational.
In addition, they will welcome the United States National Team to Thompson Arena on December 18.
With their two-game set at the University of Minnesota on Dec. 11 and 12, and plenty of time to rest and prepare, Dartmouth women's ice hockey certainly has a lot to be thankful for.
