The Big Green women's hockey
team fared well over the weekend,
earning a solid 6-0 victory over
Quinnipiac and a come-frombehind
2-2 tie against rival Princeton.
Dar tmouth (14-7-6, 11-5-3
ECAC) came out strong Friday
against the Bobcats (5-21-4, 11-5-3
ECAC) and simply never let up,
netting five goals in a single period
during the win.
While the first quar ter was
a defensive battle during which
neither team scored, Dartmouth
found its rhythm early into the
second period. Carrie Thompson
'08 dominated in the second period.
Thompson pounded in the 19th,
20th and 21st goals of her career as
well as an assist, all in the second
period.
In between Thompson's scores,
Maggie Kennedy '09 and Sarah
Toupal '10 added to the Big
Green lead with goals of their
own. The goal was Toupal's first
of the season. Also tallying points
Friday were Marley McMillan '09
and Sarah Parsons '10, who each
contributed two assists.
Early into the final period,
Shannon Bowman '09 locked up
Dartmouth's lead with another
goal to make it 6-0.
"During the first period we
played down to Quinnipiac a little
bit," McMillan said. "But after
some discussion in the locker
room during the break we started
to capitalize on our offensive opportunities...
after that the goals
just started going in."
"The scoring opportunities in
both periods were about the same,"
coach Mark Hudak said. "It's just
that in the second period, we had
a little more determination and
made sure to finish."
Big Green goalie Mariel Lacina
'10 stopped each of 22 Bobcat attempts
that came her way, improving
her save percentage to almost
95 percent for the season. The victory
was her fifth of the year, three
of which have been shutouts.
Dartmouth continued to perform
well on the power play,
marking its fifth game in a row
with at least one power play goal.
Quinnipiac had four power play
opportunities but failed to capitalize.
Saturday's game against Princeton
(12-9-6, 11-5-4 ECAC) was not
as one-sided. Dartmouth fought
hard to recover from a two-score
deficit that lasted until the final
minutes.
The game had serious postseason
implications as Princeton is
chasing down Dartmouth for the
final home-ice advantage spot in
the playoffs. The Tigers needed
to defeat the Big Green in order
to take the lead heading into the
final week of the regular season.
Princeton started strong, opening
up an offensive barrage early
into the game. The Tigers earned
three power play opportunities
and converted in the final minute
of the period to take a 1-0 lead.
Dartmouth was outshot 3-12 and
struggled to find momentum in the
opening period.
The Big Green played better
in the second period, but could
not capitalize on its opportunities.
Dartmouth outshot Princeton
11-4 in the period, but it was the
Tigers who scored the lone goal
in the period, courtesy of an Annie
Greenwood goal on a 5-on-3 power
play.
In the third period, the Big
Green came out with a sense of
urgency. Kennedy scored just
three minutes into the period to
cut the deficit to one. Both teams
then struggled to put the other
away until the final minute.
"We were definitely outplayed in
the first two periods," Hudak said.
"Princeton played very well and
we couldn't seem to get our game
going. The third period, however,
was one of the best periods of
gritty, determined, tough hockey
I have ever seen. It was a great
comeback."
With one minute remaining,
the Big Green pulled goalie
Carli Clemis '09 and went all-out
on offense while leaving the goal
untended. The gamble paid off
when Parsons hammered home
a blocked shot to knot the score
before time ran out.
Both teams kept up their offensive
pressure throughout the
overtime period but both goalies
held strong and the game ended
in Dartmouth's seventh tie in eight
overtimes for the season, setting
an all-time school record.
The Big Green is now on a
six-game streak with at least one
power play goal.
"Although we hoped for a win
and never want to settle for ties,
in this instance the tie felt great,"
McMillan said. "It felt great to
come back from being down two
goals in the third period and shows
the competitiveness and character
that we will need for the rest of the
season to be successful."
On Friday, Feb. 22, Dartmouth
will travel to Cornell and on Saturday,
Feb. 23 the squad will travel
to Colgate.
