The Dartmouth women's hockey team started its postseason this weekend with a hard-fought best-of-three series victory over the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers. Katie Weatherston '06 led the way for the Big Green on Friday by tallying four goals in the 6-3 opening game victory. In game two, Dartmouth had trouble finding the net until the Big Green pulled away in the third period for the 3-1 victory to end the series.
Game one of the series did not start encouragingly for Dartmouth (25-4-2 , 22-1-1 ECACHL), as RPI (12-22-1, 8-15-1 ECACHL) found net less than four minutes into the game to give the Engineers a 1-0 lead.
Given a power play opportunity, Dartmouth responded at 8:56 when Shannon Bowman '09 dished the puck to Weatherston at the net side for the short put-away.
Bowman and Weatherston worked together for Dartmouth's next goal as well. Weatherston took a pass from Maggie Kennedy '09 and stormed into the offensive zone on a two-on-one with Bowman. Weatherston slid the puck to Bowman, who then scored on a one-timer to give Dartmouth a 2-1 lead and the game's momentum.
Dartmouth's momentum carried over into the second period. Only one minute into the middle frame, Weatherston put away the rebound from a Bowman shot to extend Dartmouth's lead to two goals.
Midway through the period, the Dartmouth penalty kill unit repeated the success it had in last week's Yale game. Down one player, Meredith Batcheller '07 swiped the puck from a RPI defender and flung it past the keeper to give Dartmouth a commanding 4-1 lead.
Though Dartmouth appeared to be pulling away with the game, the Engineers quickly responded one minute later with a goal to put the lead back at two goals. At the tail end of the period, RPI found net again, and the Big Green's former three-goal lead was now down to only one as the game proceeded to the final period.
Throughout most of the third period, the play was back-and-forth, with chances at both ends of the ice. By the halfway point of the period, RPI's momentum from its two second-period goals had dissipated, and Dartmouth regained its composure.
At 11:40 into the period and with the Big Green on the attack, Sarah Newman '09 came in from the point to get control of a loose puck. Newman then rifled the puck into a crowd in front of the net, where Weatherston deflected the shot into the upper left corner of the net for her third goal of the game, giving the Big Green a more comfortable two-goal lead.
On the power play, Weatherston finished the scoring for Dartmouth at 15:44 into the final period. Receiving the puck beside the goal, Weatherston finessed the puck past Rensselaer keeper Ashley Mayr to seal the victory for the Big Green. Sarah Parsons '10 and Gillian Apps '06 assisted on the play.
The following day, Dartmouth started quickly as the team hopped onto the scoreboard four minutes into the game. Again finding success on the power play, Jenna Cunningham '10 pounded home the puck after a Kennedy shot and Caroline Ethier '07 rebound, giving the Big Green the early lead.
Dartmouth controlled the tempo of the game through the first period, outshooting the Engineers 16-5.
A two-on-one with Weatherston and Kennedy with 20 seconds left almost resulted in a two-goal lead, but Kennedy's shot sailed wide.
The second period opened with chances on both ends of the ice. Rensselaer almost tied the game when an Engineer shot nailed the Dartmouth crossbar six minutes into the period.
Dartmouth tallied many shots but could not generate any quality chances. Midway through the period, Rensselaer got on the board to tie the game 1-1 on a rebound shot. With the game tied, Dartmouth increased its offensive intensity but could not find the net in the middle frame.
Kennedy got the team back on the right track in the third period. Only three minutes into the final 20, Kennedy took control of the puck in the neutral zone and raced down the ice. Open in front of the net, Kennedy rifled a slap shot through the five-hole of Mayr to regain the lead for Dartmouth. The teams exchanged penalties down the stretch, and the Big Green penalty kill unit again shut down any opportunity for RPI to come back.
When Dartmouth went on the power play with three minutes remaining, Nicole Ruta '08 put the game away after receiving a Weatherston center and wristing the puck to the left corner of the net to put Dartmouth ahead 3-1.
"RPI did a great job defensively. They didn't give up second chances," head coach Mark Hudak said. "We kept with our game plan. We didn't do anything different. That wore [Rensselaer] down," he added.
"It's the playoffs. Every team is fighting for survival," Apps said of RPI's tough play. "If you look across the league, all the games are being played close. We need to build on what we've done all season and keep going one game at a time." Dartmouth will play the second round of the ECAC tournament next weekend when it hosts Colgate in a single-elimination showdown.
If Dartmouth wins its game this Friday against Colgate, the Big Green will play in the finals the following day at Thompson Arena. Along with Dartmouth and Colgate, St. Lawrence and Harvard comprise the other half of the tournament bracket. Dartmouth has a combined record of 4-1-1 against the remaining opponents.
