It will seem like a deja vu when Colgate visits Thompson Arena this weekend to start Dartmouth's annual trip into the ECAC tournament. The Raiders have the unfortunate task of facing the Big Green in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row, and there is no reason to doubt a repeated fate.
Merely one year ago, the Big Green carried its 13-3-0 conference record into the postseason, good for first seed in the ECAC. Colgate came to Hanover to test their luck, but quickly departed after a pair of embarrassing defeats. The analogy at the time compared the women icers to the Duke basketball squad while labeling their opponents as lowly Siena.
Things have changed in a year, but not so much.
The Big Green will boast its 12-4-0 ECAC mark as the second seed in this year's tournament. On their way to the post season, the icers thoroughly destroyed Colgate in both contests, outscoring the Raiders 15-1 in the process. This year, there is no need for an analogy. The women's hockey program has well established themselves as a dominant force in the nation, and just the name Dartmouth generates a factor of intimidation in most opponents.
Currently fourth in the USCHO poll and the pairwise rankings, the Big Green is in search for a bid to the elite Frozen Four tournament in Duluth, Minn. Dartmouth has held the number four spot for the entire season, but they will need to perform well in the conference tournament in order to receive an invitation.
The icers will take center stage in Thompson's Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday at 7 p.m. if necessary. The winner of the best of three series will earn a spot in the ECAC semi-final game next weekend in Brown.
Barring a major collapse, that spot belongs to Dartmouth, who has never lost to Colgate in school history. However, the last meeting between the two teams -- an 8-0 victory for the Big Green -- turned ugly when a physical contest escalated into two ejections from the game.
"We have to focus to keep away from the ugly parts of the game, especially if we face them again in the playoffs," said defenseman Correne Bredin '02 earlier in the season when she was asked about the prospects of facing the Raiders in March.
"But beating them by such wide margins every time undoubtedly gives us a lot of confidence."
If history repeats itself again, two lob-sided contests are in order this weekend. On March 8 and 9 of last year, a team led by Kristin King '02, Kim McCullough '02, and Carly Haggard '03 tallied 17 goals in two games, out-shot the Raiders 130-22, and easily dismissed Colgate almost before the first face off.
Again, things have changed this year. King and McCullough are no longer with the team, but team captain Haggard, who captured last year's NCAA scoring title, will make her last bid at the elusive national championship with a terrific supporting cast.
Dartmouth's netminder is one of the best in school history. Amy Ferguson '03 holds the record for career victories with 63, and ranks in the top five in saves, shutouts, and minutes played. In the past ten games, she has posted a stingy 1.00 GAA and has helped Dartmouth to five shutouts in that span.
"Playoffs are going to be exciting. They always are." said Ferguson, who will partake in her fourth ECAC tournament. She helped Dartmouth capture the ECAC title two years ago but suffered an overtime loss to Brown last year in the championship game.
"If we stick to our game plan, we will come out on top and hopefully come home with some titles."
To aid Ferguson in the Big Green's quest for more illustrious titles will be a defensive core that has been solid down the stretch. Led by Bredin and Krista Dornfried '05, the penalty killing unit has put up amazing numbers in the past month. The special team has allowed only two goals in the opponents' last 50 chances. During that same span, they managed to score three short-handed goals.
Defense wins championships, and the Big Green's defensive unit is peaking at the right time for the tournament. At the same time, the pressure on them to keep goals off the scoreboard is less when Dartmouth brings one of the most potent offensive lineups into every contest.
Scoring over 4.5 goals per game, the Big Green will skate four solid lines of forwards for the playoffs. The emergence of Katie Weatherston '06 has helped the first line of Haggard and Sarah Clark '04 tremendously. The three of them lead the team in scoring, each tallying over 30 points in a 29-game season. Weatherston recently secured the fourth spot on the Dartmouth charts for freshman scoring with 20 goals and 17 assists. She is looking for more in her first trip into the postseason.
"I'm excited for the playoffs," said the outstanding freshman.
"I'm really glad to be playing with such a talented team."
Her fellow '06 classmates aren't far behind in terms of performance. The H-A-P line of Tiffany Hagge '06, Gillian Apps '06 and Cherie Piper '06 has also contributed to a large portion of the scoring. Their speed and quickness often means trouble for the opponents, and the fact that they are all freshmen bodes well for the future of Dartmouth hockey.
"We have four solid lines," said Piper earlier in the season.
"I think that's where we're better than a lot of the other top teams in the country. They only have one or two great lines. We have four."
The team will have to rely on its solid lines to get past some of the best teams in the country. After Colgate, Princeton looms in the near future. The Tigers handed the Big Green its seventh L of the season last weekend in New Jersey, but revenge is in order for a Dartmouth squad that understands the significance of each playoff game.
"We can't take anything for granted," said Haggard.
"Every game is so important now. We know what we have to do to make it to the Frozen Four, so now we just have to go and do it."
Given that Dartmouth will get past Colgate and Princeton unscathed, and barring a miracle collapse of the Harvard squad, the ECAC championship game this year will be a highly contested affair. The Crimson, who is currently the number one team in the country, has stolen the regular season Ivy League title away from the Big Green. The first meeting between the two squads resulted in a 9-2 Harvard victory, but the second game, which ended 2-1 in favor of the Crimson, was a legitimate preview of a possible ECAC championship game as well as a first round contest in the Frozen Four.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If the Big Green wants to make it across the country to Minnesota to contest for a national championship, it must defend its own ice this weekend in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. After that, the team will take it one game at a time and hope to add a few more banners in the rafters of Thompson Arena.
Ferguson has the right take on the playoffs, "It's good teams. It's good games. Anything can happen."
