The Dartmouth women's hockey team vanquished two ECAC Hockey foes this weekend, out-muscling Princeton, 3-2, in New Jersey before smashing Quinnipiac University, 3-0, in Connecticuit.
Friday night was the season opener for the Big Green (2-0-0, 2-0-0 ECAC Hockey), and Sarah Parsons '10 potted what turned out to be the game-winning goal late in the second period as the Big Green jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on as the Tigers (1-3-0, 0-2-0 ECAC Hockey) clawed back into the game.
Early on in the game, the Big Green dominated play, as Dartmouth out-shot the Tigers, 18-7, in the first period. Halfway through the stanza, Reagan Fischer '12 notched her first collegiate goal, scoring on the power play to open up the 1-0 lead for Dartmouth.
Fischer scored on the Big Green's third power play of the game, as Dartmouth was unable to convert on its first two extra-skater opportunities. Princeton's Monica Brennan was called for hooking at 9:48, and 35 seconds into the power play, Sarah Parsons and Kelly Foley '12 got the puck to Fischer, who controlled the pass and slipped her shot past the Tiger goalie for the game's first goal.
Jenna Cunningham '10 would extend that lead to 2-0 with just under two minutes remaining in the first period, recording her first goal of the season. Last year Cunningham tallied 37 points in just 17 games, including 17 goals, before she was sidelined with an injury. Maggie Kennedy '09 and Amanda Trunzo '11 got the assists to give Dartmouth a comfortable lead heading into the first intermission.
The second period would see the Big Green again out-shoot the Tigers, 14-9, as Princeton began to settle into the game and fight back against the Big Green's first period onslaught.
Dartmouth would extend its lead to 3-0 over the Tigers when Parsons scored with just under four minutes left in the second session. Foley racked up her second assist on that score, a strong start for a promising freshman skater, who is currently playing on the first line with captain Shannon Bowman '09 and Parsons.
Coming out of the second intermission, the game looked like it was comfortably in the bag for the Big Green. Princeton, however, would not let Dartmouth leave the dreary realm of New Jersey without one final challenge. The Tigers out-shot the Big Green 20-9 in the third period as Dartmouth seemed lethargic and content to rest on its three-goal advantage.
Princeton's resiliency paid off as the Tigers finally got on the board 7:26 into the third period when freshman Heather Landry took advantage of a Dartmouth penalty to put one in for the Tigers, cutting Dartmouth's advantage to two goals.
Landry would strike again on the power play, beating goalie Carli Clemis '09 to bring the score to 3-2 with just 4:10 left in the game with Stephanie Denino and Sasha Sherry getting the assists.
While it looked like Princeton might grab the equalizer before the end of regulation, Christine Foster was called for a hooking penalty with less than two minutes to go. This penalty prevented the Tigers from pulling their goalie in hopes of tying the score, and Dartmouth hung on for the win.
Clemis turned away 18 shots in the final frame to earn the win for the Big Green. For the game, Clemis stopped 34 of 36 shots including 18 of 20 in the third period for a .944 save percentage overall.
All and all, the team was happy with its performance Friday.
"We had a great game against Princeton. We came out hard and never let up," captain Sarah Newnam '09 said. "As a team, we worked well together and played as if we already had a few games under our belts."
The game was marked by many penalties as the Big Green found itself a skater down 10 times in Friday, and Princeton had eight minor penalties assessed over the course of the game. The many penalties may have been a surprise to some but Big Green defenseman Sue Schmitz '10 said that it was a good opportunity for the team to practice its special teams.
"A lot of penalties were called on both teams, so we had some really good opportunities to practice our power play and penalty kill strategies," Schmitz said.
The disjointed and chippy play slowed the game and made it more difficult for the Big Green, but its big early lead allowed the team to play with the lead and withstand the late Princeton surge.
"We got off to a great start against Princeton with a quick lead, but the flow of the game got disrupted due to all the penalties that were called," Amanda Trunzo '11 said. "It was a good test for our special teams though, and we managed to hold them off and come out with a victory."
Saturday afternoon found the Dartmouth women's hockey team in Hamden, Conn. to take on Quinnipiac University, where the Big Green convincingly dismantled the Bobcats, 3-0.
Trunzo led the way with two goals and an assist on the day, scoring five minutes into the game and again in the second period as the Big Green held the Bobcats scoreless.
The first of Trunzo's goals was set up by Maggie Kennedy '09 as Dartmouth dominated Quinnipiac in the opening frame, out-shooting the Bobcats 15-6.
Trunzo continued her stellar night in the second period, as she scored again, this time on the power play for Dartmouth. Jenna Cunningham '10 was credited with the assist on the score to give the Big Green a comfortable, 2-0 lead.
Again the Big Green out-shot the Bobcats by a significant margin, taking nine shots and only allowing two.
Dartmouth then proceeded to wrap things up nicely in the game's final period, when Kennedy tallied her first goal of the season. Julia Bronson '09 took a shot on goal that rebounded off of Quinnipiac goalie Tia Wishart, who replaced starter Nanna Holm-Glass. Kennedy was in the right spot and managed to put it away to stretch the lead to 3-0. Bronson and Trunzo shared credit for the assist.
For the night, Trunzo wound up with 2 goals and an assist, as all of the points came from her line.
"We got off to another quick start and got the early lead at the beginning of the first period," Trunzo said. "We then continued to work hard and actually got better each period and managed to put two more in the net before the end of the game. We kept them off the board and came away with the win for a good weekend for the start of the season."
Clemis had another strong night in goal, making 14 saves to earn her first shutout of the season and the seventh of her career.
Bowman was happy with the team's performance this weekend and hopes it can continue with strong performance this week.
"It was great to start off the season with two wins, including a huge Ivy League win over Princeton," Bowman said. "I think overall we played well, and we hope to keep getting better every game."
This upcoming Wednesday, Nov. 5, Dartmouth hosts Boston College (6-0-2, 3-0-1 Hockey East) in an important match up pitting the No. 6 Big Green against the No. 4 Eagles. Wednesday's game is also the start of a three-game home stand for the Big Green, who will face Union College (0-9-1, 0-2-0 ECAC Hockey) on Friday night and Rensselaer Polytechnic University (5-4-0, 2-0-0 ECAC Hockey) on Saturday night.
The Eagles come to Hanover on a five game winning streak, having beat the University of Vermont on Friday, 4-1 and No. 11 Northeastern University 5-0 on Saturday. Union lost to Brown and Yale over the weekend, conceding eight goals in the process while only scoring one. Rensselaer on the other hand took down both Brown and Yale, beating the Bears, 5-1 and the Bulldogs, 2-1.
"The team is very excited about all of the potential that we have this season, and we look forward to our rematch with Boston College Wednesday night at Thompson Arena for our home opener," Bowman said.
Two seasons ago, Boston College knocked Dartmouth out of NCAA postseason competition in a heartbreaking overtime win. Since then, meetings between the two teams have made for raucous exciting affairs. The Big Green faces off against the Eagles at 7 p.m. in Thompson Arena.