"We had a good weekend, and are hoping to build on these games looking toward St. Lawrence and Clarkson next weekend," captain Gillian Apps '06 said. "We had a bit of a rough start with our two losses to Mercyhurst, but we're back on track now, and we hope to continue playing good hockey one game at a time."
Against the Dutchwomen, (2-4-0, 0-2-0 ECACHL), the Big Green poured on 41 shots on goal as Sarah Parsons '10 and Cherie Piper '06 each enjoyed seven-point days, with Parsons recording her first collegiate four-goal performance. With three assists in Sunday's game against RPI, Parsons finished the weekend with an incredible 10 points.
With Dartmouth up 3-0 late in the first period of Saturday's game, Parsons notched her first goal after she stole the puck from a Union defender and fired it past Union starting netminder Alex Zirbel.
When asked how it felt to notch her first collegiate goal, Parsons said, "My teammates set me up perfectly every time, I just got lucky and happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was a good feeling. It was also a little relieving to get that first goal out of the way."
Parsons then connected for a pair of tallies on power play opportunities in the second period. Working with captain Apps and Piper on the power play unit, Parsons helped move the puck around to spread out the Dutchwomen penalty killers and then shot the puck at new Union goalie Amanda Hanson. Hanson was able to get a pad on the attempt, but the puck sneaked past her across the goal line to give Dartmouth a 5-0 advantage with 15:57 to play in the stanza.
Another power play goal was scored about ten minutes later, this time off a one-timer to Hanson's stick side, and an even strength tally assisted by Marley McMillan '09 and Katie Gray '09, gave Parsons four straight goals in less than 20 minutes.
"Parsons played well on Saturday. It was nice to see her get her first goal of the season at home," Apps said.
Parsons' teammates did plenty to help the Big Green's cause, as five Dartmouth players recorded at least one goal during the contest. Canadian 2006 Winter Olympians Apps and Piper each notched two tallies on the afternoon and Shannon Bowman '09, Carrie Thompson '08 and Jenna Cunningham '10 chipped in with one goal apiece. Cunningham, whose goal rounded out the scoring with one minute remaining in the third period, earned her first collegiate point.
The Big Green went an impressive four for six on the power play, and Dartmouth's penalty killing line held the Dutchwomen to only two shots on its power play opportunities. Sarah Kennedy '10 earned her first shutout with her nine-save performance.
On Sunday afternoon, the offense continued to click and the Big Green coasted past RPI (1-8-0, 0-2-0 ECACHL) behind a hat trick from Apps. The Big Green dominated in RPI's defensive zone, shelling RPI goalie Ashley Mayer with 41 shots. On the flip side, RPI mustered only 15 shots on Carli Clemis '09, who improved to 1-2-0 on the season.
Apps netted her last two goals in strikingly similar fashion. Late in the second period, she took a feed from the point from Julia Bronson '09 in the right corner and curled up toward the top of the circle. Holding the defense, she fired the puck high past Mayer. In the third, she picked up a puck in traffic in the corner, curled up the boards, and delivered a laser shot top shelf, giving Dartmouth a 4-1 lead. Parsons earned assists on the first two of Apps' tallies.
Bowman capped the game with an unusual own goal on RPI's part, when she put a centering pass on the skate of an RPI defender, which deflected the puck into the net. Sarah Toupal '10 opened the scoring for Dartmouth with her first goal of the season with 7:17 elapsed in the first period.
RPI broke Dartmouth's shutout streak when Emily Donowick connected for a goal off an assist from Whitney Naslund in the waning seconds of the opening stanza.
The Big Green returns to conference action when it travels to New York for a pair of road games, taking on St. Lawrence in Canton, N.Y., at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3, and then battling Clarkson in Potsdam, N.Y., at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4. Both games will be broadcast on WDCR-1340 AM.
