The No. 7 Dartmouth women's hockey team showed why it came into the season nationally ranked in the top 10 over the weekend, upsetting No. 5 St. Lawrence 3-2 in Canton, N.Y. Saturday evening and blanking Clarkson 2-0 in Potsdam, N.Y. on Sunday afternoon.
Sarah Parsons '10 extended her scoring streak to four games with two goals during the Empire State road trip.
The Big Green did not have the same offensive performance as it did in its wins over Union and Rensselaer, but efficiency on both five-on-five and power play situations proved to be the keys to Dartmouth's success.
Against St. Lawrence (8-2-0, 4-2-0 ECACHL), a contingent of the Big Green's (4-2-0, 4-0-0 ECACHL) corps of Olympic veterans helped spark a victory over a ranked opponent.
Down 1-0 after St. Lawrence's Marianna Locke deflected a shot on the power play past goalkeeper Carli Clemis '09, Dartmouth used a pair of power play tallies to give the Big Green a decisive edge.
With under two minutes to play in the first period, Julia Bronson '09 connected on a shot from the point that Saints netminder Meghan Guckian initially stopped, but Katie Weatherston '06 stuffed the rebound home to knot the score.
In the second stanza, Cherie Piper '06 connected on a pass to Parsons on a two-man advantage for Dartmouth, who connected on a wrist shot over Guckian's pad, giving the Big Green a 2-1 advantage. Captain Gillian Apps '06 scored and gave Dartmouth a pivotal two-goal cushion with 52 seconds remaining in the frame.
St. Lawrence managed to cut the deficit to one when a Big Green defender dragged the puck into the net when she slid into Clemis in an attempt to block a St. Lawrence pass. However, several penalties against the Saints put a damper on any comeback chances.
On the evening, Dartmouth peppered Guckian with 39 shots, including 11 shots on the power play. St. Lawrence posted 25 shots on the night.
On Sunday, the Big Green kept the Golden Knights of Clarkson (3-5-2. 1-4-1 ECACHL) at bay to maintain a four-game unbeaten steak in the ECACHL. Clarkson had a 28-15 shot advantage, but a defense anchored by Clemis stymied the Golden Knight offense and earned its second shutout of the season.
"I felt like my performance this week was a huge reflection of the help I had in front of the net from my defense," Clemis said. "Most shots came from the perimeter and the opposition rarely got a second chance off of a rebound I let out thanks to them tying up their man and clearing the puck."
Dartmouth wasted little time getting on the board in the first period. With just 18 seconds elapsed, Parsons potted her sixth goal of the season with a wrist shot to the glove side of Clarkson goalie Kira Hurley, giving the talented freshman her team-leading 12th point of the season.
Late in the third period, Shannon Bowman '09 connected for a goal when her shot attempt careened off Saint defender Stephanie Hansen's skate into the net. Weatherston earned the assist and recorded her second point of the weekend. Coincidently, Bowman scored in a similar fashion in the contest against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute last weekend.
The Big Green returns to Hanover next weekend for a pair of home games at Thompson Arena, hosting Cornell at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 and Colgate at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11.
