To cap off an exciting winter break and start the new year, the Dartmouth women's hockey team dropped a perfect 10-spot against visiting Providence College on Sunday afternoon at Thompson Arena en route to a 10-2 victory.
After collecting three weeks of restful dust over Christmas and New Year's, the second-ranked Big Green (12-1-0) was quick to shake it off on the second day of the year against the Friars (8-5-3). Dartmouth scored three times in the first nine minutes of the game, led by Cherie Piper '06, who had four goals and one assist in the game. Dartmouth caught a few lucky bounces, chased Providence starting goalie Amy Thomas, and never looked back.
"It's always tough to play from behind," said Providence coach Bob Deraney, whose team had been off since Dec. 4. "The first goal was a gift and that's the last thing we want to do," she said. "They're free wheeling and hard playing, and you can't give them any gifts."
The Big Green extended its lead to 5-1 by the end of the second period on goals by Piper and classmate Katie Weatherston '06. "It's a great way to get back into the swing of things," said Weatherston, who maintained her national lead in goals per game with two on the day. "We had five days before this game to get back as a team again after the break, and we just have to keep playing the way we've been playing," she said.
Dartmouth outshot Providence 51-23 in the contest and reached double digits in scoring for the first time this season. Junior Kate Lane made 21 saves for the Big Green. Thomas and Providence's backup goalie Lauren Florio combined for 41 stops.
"We got stronger as the game went on," said Dartmouth coach Mark Hudak. "I think the rust was out there for both teams after being off for a while. The first couple of goals weren't very pretty. Our timing was back halfway through the game. Lane made some great saves, the defense blocked out, and the offense went to the net. That made for a great third period."
With the win, the Big Green will visit No. 6 New Hampshire on Wednesday for its last non-conference match up of the season before beginning a string of 14 consecutive ECACHL contests.
"It's a great sign to bounce back and start fresh in the New Year after that heartbreaking loss to Minnesota," Piper said. "With a lot of conference and Ivy games coming up, we have to be mentally prepared."
Dartmouth (12-1-0) split a pair of contests against No. 1 Minnesota (15-1-2) in mid December. The first game saw the Big Green end the Gopher's 27-game unbeaten streak, but the heartbreaking overtime loss in the second game ended Dartmouth's program-best 11 game winning streak to start the season.
"It was a great atmosphere out there on both days," said Weatherston, who had a hat-trick in the first game and another goal in the second contest. "We played great and battled to the end in both games, but we're obviously disappointed in the loss."
"It was great hockey and we played well," said Piper in agreement. She had three goals and five assists in the two games. "I think we played our guts out and left everything on the ice."
The split kept Dartmouth from jumping to the number one spot in the national rankings, but players and coaches agree that the polls are not of any concern.
"No, they don't matter so much to us," said Coach Hudak. "The rankings are based off of the opinions of the coaches. I think any of the top four, five teams in the country can win on any given night, and we've seen that."
Last year the Big Green was ranked number one in the nation briefly and made the Frozen Four tournament for the third time in four years. This year, the tournament has expanded to eight teams, and Dartmouth is on track to make another appearance. As for the goals for the team in 2005, the coach simply wanted the team to keep on getting better so they can compete at the end of the year.
