The Big Green, ranked third nationally, completed a two-week home stand in impressive form this weekend. Dartmouth earned a convincing 4-1 win over Clarkson on Friday and followed that performance with a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory after a rousing comeback over No. 6 St. Lawrence. The victories were crucial in separating the Big Green from its conference rivals. With these two conference victories, Dartmouth now takes a commanding four-point lead in the ECACHL.
Although the final score does not suggest it, Friday's game against Clarkson started slowly for Dartmouth. Both defenses held the opposing offenses in check in the first period, and the teams combined for a total of only nine shots in the first twenty minutes. Neither team capitalized on power play opportunities, and the game was scoreless going into the second period.
The first ten minutes of the second period looked a great deal like the first period, but as the game crossed its halfway point, Katie Weatherston '06 went on a two-goal tear. Weatherston's scores gave Dartmouth a 2-0 lead that set the tone for the remainder of the game.
At 10:12 into the second period, Weatherston caught the Clarkson keeper off-guard by redirecting a wrister from Sarah Newnam '09 into the left corner of the net, breaking the 0-0 tie and giving the Big Green a lead that they would not relinquish.
Twenty seconds later, Dartmouth went on a power play after a Clarkson interference penalty. Placing pressure on the Clarkson penalty kill unit, Cherie Piper '06, faked a slap shot to get past a flinching Golden Knight defender and then played the puck on net. Behind a crowd of players, Weatherston came up with the rebound and slammed it home at 11:13, just one minute after her first goal.
After taking a 2-0 lead, a last-second error ended the middle period on a sour note for the Big Green. After killing two penalties in the final five minutes, Dartmouth could not get the puck out of its zone to close out the period. A Clarkson player smacked a flying puck into the Dartmouth net with one second remaining in the period to narrow the lead to 2-1.
The Dartmouth women did not let this last second slip get to their heads, as the team bounced back and controlled the game's tempo throughout the third period. The defense completely snuffed out the Clarkson attack, allowing only three shots in the period. The team played disciplined hockey, stayed out of the penalty box, and did not give Clarkson any power play chances.
The Big Green then stretched its lead to two goals after a score by Maggie Kennedy '09 with 10:45 to play into the final period. Weatherston initiated the score by playing the puck from behind Clarkson's net to Shannon Bowman '09, who took a quick shot on net. Weatherston gathered the rebound and passed the puck to Kennedy, who one-timed it for Dartmouth's third goal.
Captain Gillian Apps '06 extended the lead to 4-1 at 14:34 with a wrist shot to the left corner of the net, assisted by Sarah Parsons '10 and Piper. This lead held out for the remainder of the game, as the Big Green netted its sixteenth victory of the season.
Saturday's match against St. Lawrence was an up-and-down battle that ended with an amazing finish. After falling behind 1-0 early in the first period, the Big Green responded at 9:53 when Caroline Ethier '07 fired a laser to the far upper corner of the net, over the shoulder of the Saints' keeper.
Less than a minute later, Weatherston took the puck into the offensive zone on a two-on-one opportunity alongside Bowman. After drawing the defender, Weatherston then passed the puck to an open Bowman, who one-timed it for the score to give Dartmouth a 2-1 lead. The first period concluded with Dartmouth in control, outshooting St. Lawrence 14-7.
Dartmouth carried its momentum into the beginning of the second period. The Big Green appeared to be putting the game away when Ethier scored her second goal of the contest to create a 3-1 lead with 16 minutes left to play. Taking the puck down the left side of the ice, Ethier cut towards the center and wristed the puck through the keeper's five-hole for an unassisted goal.
The game would soon change tone, however, as the flow of the game was thrown off when penalties amassed over the remainder of the second period. Dartmouth squandered an opportunity to put the game away when it played five-on-three for a two-minute stretch midway through the second period. A flurry of Dartmouth penalties ensued, resulting in a Saint Lawrence power play goal with one minute remaining, narrowing the Big Green's lead to 3-2.
"Us not scoring on the five versus three gave [St. Lawrence] momentum," head coach Mark Hudak said. "The team lost composure [in the second period]."
The tone of the game suggested that the game was slipping away from the Big Green throughout the third period. Saint Lawrence tied the game in the first minute, and at 10:54, the Saints retook the lead on a power play goal. The Big Green was finding scoring opportunities -- the team had 14 shots in the period -- but was unable to capitalize.
As the clock wound down, it appeared that Dartmouth would fall to its ECACHL rival.
With a little more than a minute remaining in the game, Dartmouth pulled keeper Carli Clemis '09. With the extra attacker, the Big Green was able to put more offensive pressure on the Saints.
After a thwarted scoring chance, St. Lawrence cleared the puck down the ice, missing Dartmouth's empty net by only a few feet. With thirty seconds remaining, Dartmouth took the puck down for its last chance to tie the game.
A clock stoppage with twenty-five seconds left resulted in a face-off in Saint Lawrence's zone. Dartmouth won control of the puck, and Weatherston fed it to Apps near the goal. The shot was blocked, but Apps collected her own rebound and scored to tie the game 4-4 with 18 seconds remaining. The home crowd was ecstatic with the improbable change of events.
The overtime period opened with chances on both sides, but ultimately Dartmouth did not squander the opportunity to pull a victory from a game in which the team was seconds away from defeat.
Piper found Apps at about the midway point in the five-minute period, and Apps was able to break through the Saints' defense and take the keeper one-on-one. Like her earlier game-tying goal, Apps shot, collected her own rebound, and successfully pounded the puck home, this time for the win.
With this weekend's two victories, Dartmouth improves to a league-leading 14-1-1 in the ECACHL and 17-4-2 overall. The Big Green improved to 3-0 over its two-weekend home stand.
For the next four games of the season, the team will be on the road, next weekend playing Rensselaer at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2nd, and at Union the following afternoon at 4 p.m.