The pair of losses left Dartmouth (12-13-4) with the program's first losing season since the 1985-86 campaign. While it was a disappointment, the team played the second most difficult schedule in the country this year, taking on several highly ranked non-conference opponents, lost four players to Olympic teams and three more to season ending injuries, including captain Tiffany Hagge '06.
"We had a good year considering where we started and all we had to deal with," head coach Mark Hudak said. "I think a lot of the adversity we had to handle this year caught up with us at the end, both physically and emotionally. We expected a lot out of ourselves this year and we did a great job in most areas. I am very proud of this team."
Brown (14-12-5) took game one of the series 4-2 on Friday night before finishing Dartmouth's season with a 3-0 win on Saturday evening.
The Big Green had trouble at the outset. The Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead in just over a single period in the first game, a deficit from which Dartmouth was not able to recover. The Big Green spotted Brown a lead in the second game as well, falling behind 1-0 just over three minutes in.
"After the first period on Friday we played some very solid hockey. We did a lot of the little things right," Hudak said.
While the scores don't seem to reflect particularly close games, in many ways the final scores were deceiving. Dartmouth played very well for stretches, and the final statistics for categories other than number of goals scored reflected that.
Dartmouth actually put more shots on goal than Brown in both of the games, but met stiff resistance from Brown's goaltending tandem of O'Hara Shipe and Nicole Stock. Additionally, Dartmouth dominated the faceoff circle over the weekend, and tallied three times on the power play.
While Dartmouth's solid performance in those categories might have portended a more successful weekend for the team, Dartmouth could not overcome a number of frustrating obstacles.
Brown's goalie pair held Dartmouth to only a pair of goals on 41 shots over the weekend. Shipe has been a rock for Brown all year, and Stock, a right catch, had the Big Green in fits in their last regular season meeting on Feb. 4. In that contest, she subbed in for Shipe early in the second with Brown down three goals and proceeded to make 24 saves on 24 shots on goal as the Bears rallied to tie.
Dartmouth had no more success against Stock this time around, leaving a goose egg on the Jumbotron despite 18 shots on goal.
"[We] struggled to really put serious, sustained pressure on their goalies," Hudak said.
Dartmouth goaltender Kate Lane '06 spent the season etching her name more deeply into the College record books, but was unable to extend her career past Saturday, closing her career with a 16-save performance.
"Kate Lane played very well this weekend," Hudak said.
Freshman sensation Carli Clemis '09 had an off weekend and was replaced by Lane early in the second period of Friday's game. After recovering from an early-season injury, Clemis had seriously challenged Lane for playing time during much of the year.
The bounces just didn't seem to go Dartmouth's way this weekend. The Big Green drew seven penalties in game one of the series, finishing with a pair of power play goals. However, Dartmouth also gave up an unassisted shorthanded tally early in the second that stretched Brown's lead to two.
Dartmouth didn't give up a shorthanded goal on any of its three power play tries in game two, but the team also failed to fire even a single shot on goal during those stretches.
While the finish was a tough one for the few seniors on the squad, they looked back on their time with the program fondly and were confident that the heavy playing time this year's crop of freshmen earned will help the team return to its traditional place near the top of the nation women's hockey scene.
"I will never forget all the accomplishments we have achieved in the past," Danielle Grundy '05 said. "I am so proud of our team and will miss them next year, but I have no doubt they will continue the Dartmouth tradition of a strong women's hockey team."
"I will miss playing hockey here so much and have made some great memories and have been fortunate to be a part of some very successful and record-setting teams at Dartmouth," Hagge said. "I am sad to see my time as an athlete at Dartmouth come to a close, but I have had a great time and been to three Frozen Fours."
