The women's hockey team travels to the wilds of far upstate New York to play a two game series against the Niagara University Purple Eagles this Saturday and Sunday at Dwyer Arena. Niagara currently stands eighth in the ECAC with a 16-12-4 (8-10-4 ECAC), while the top-ranked Big Green has a 20-2-1 record, 17-2-1 in the league.
Last weekend, Dartmouth had its nine game winning streak snapped against Harvard, who was ranked fifth at the time, losing 3-2 on Saturday. However, the Big Green bounced back for a 3-2 win over Brown on Sunday.
With this win, Dartmouth clinched the 2001 Ivy League title, with an Ivy record of 9-1. This is Dartmouth's first title since 1998 and the team's fifth overall.
The win moved Dartmouth to a 20-2-1 record overall, and this is Dartmouth's fourth time reaching 20 wins in a season in school history. Last year, the Big Green had 21 wins in the regular season.
Last weekend, Niagara finished won and tied in its series with Princeton. The Purple Eagles defeated the Tigers on Friday by a score of 3-1 and tied on Saturday, 3-3. The loss and the tie dropped Princeton to 11-11-3 (6-11-3 ECAC).
Niagara goalie Tania Pinelli was named the ECAC Goalie of the Week for her efforts in the net against the Tigers. She made 26 saves in Niagara's 3-1 victory over Princeton, and stopped 35 of 38 shots in Saturday's 3-3 tie game, for a weekend save percentage of .939.
Though this is the final series of the season for Niagara, Dartmouth will close out its season again Providence and Northeastern next weekend. Providence is currently seventh in the ECAC, while Northeastern is ranked fifth. When Dartmouth and Northeastern met earlier in the season, the Huskies handed Dartmouth their first loss of the season. Both games will be home at Thompson Arena March 3rd and 4th.
Beyond the regular season, the Big Green is also looking ahead to the playoffs, specifically to the team that handed them their other loss, Harvard. With the win over Dartmouth, Harvard improved to 16-3-0 in ECAC play, and is only one point behind the Big Green. The potential post season match up will prove to be interesting for the Big Green.
