Under intense pressure from expectations by fans, coaches, and themselves, the players of the Dartmouth women's hockey team must continue to shovel away opponents as it prepares for the ECAC tournament. This weekend, the team will travel south to Connecticut to play Yale (8-14-3, 2-9-1 ECAC North), and then continue on to New Jersey to take on Princeton (14-6-3, 9-3-0 ECAC North). Dartmouth still has a sour taste in its mouth from the time that Princeton spoiled the Big Green's near-perfect season and spotless conference record on Jan. 5.
The first Princeton game marked a small turn for the worse for what had been an untouchable Dartmouth squad. After three straight games of physical battles in international competition at the Lake Placid Tournament, the Big Green succumbed to the Tigers at home, 3-1. Princeton's forwards were quick and efficient, while Megan Van Beusekom stopped 34 of 35 Big Green shots. Dartmouth was plagued by penalties, as the infractions put the Big Green behind early and kept it there.
While the third Princeton goal was a relatively meaningless empty-netter, the team outplayed the previously-undefeated Big Green and really rocket-launched its season. Now, Dartmouth (18-4-2, 10-2-0 ECAC North) seeks its vengeance as the Ivy League title (and less directly, the ECAC North championship) is on the line.
Sophomore Gretchen Anderson is the main offensive threat that Princeton can boast, with her 19 goals and 11 assists on the season good for tops on the squad. The Princeton power play is perhaps the best in the ECAC North, sporting a 25-percent efficiency and the two top scorers (Anderson and linemate Nikola Holmes) in conference play. The Big Green must stay out of the box to prevent Princeton from capitalizing on such opportunities.
At least one freshman on each team has something to prove in the Dartmouth-Yale game on Friday night. Standout Nicole Symington will try to carry her Bulldogs as she had succeeded in doing earlier this year before being surpassed in scoring by two teammates, including fellow first-year Erin Duggan.
For the Big Green, Meagan Walton '05 will try to get her scoring rolling again. Overshadowed by national superstar Carly Haggard '03 early in the season despite her remarkable performance, her (along with her famed all-freshman line's) production has tailed off noticeably. Walton has not found the back of the net since opening up the 11-1 slaughter of Mercyhurst back on Jan. 25.
Dartmouth will do its best to take advantage of Yale's atrocious penalty kill and to get its recently miserable power play back on track. Yale has killed only 77.2 percent of its penalties, while Dartmouth is currently converting power plays with 16.5 percent efficiency.
Sophomore goaltender Nicolette Franck allowed the puck into her net eight times when she got the start opposite Amy Ferguson '03 at Thompson Arena, which contributed significantly to her inflated 4.32 GAA. It wouldn't be surprising to see senior Katie Hirte and her .901 save percentage and .500 record stand up slightly better against Dartmouth's attack.
Starting out easy with Yale on Friday night may not prove to be much of an advantage come the critical match-up with Princeton on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Big Green, the Tigers face the lowly Vermont Catamounts as a warm-up the night before, something that helped Brown overcome a beleaguered Dartmouth team two weeks ago.
Dartmouth faces off against Yale on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then looks to tie up an old loose end against the Princeton Tigers on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
