The Dartmouth women's hockey team fell 7-0 to the top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in the first round of the NCAA women's ice hockey tournament at Wisconsin's Kohl Center on March 14. The Big Green outshot Wisconsin 32-28 in the contest, but Dartmouth could not keep up with the bigger and stronger Wisconsin squad.
"Wisconsin was by far the most talented team we played all season so it was definitely a tough game," Sarah Parsons '10 said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
After beating Dartmouth (20-10-4, 13-5-4 ECAC), Wisconsin (34-2-5, 21-2-5 WCHA) later went on to beat Mercyhurst 5-0 to win the NCAA women's ice hockey title. The championship was the Badger women's third in the past four years.
In both games, Wisconsin netminder Jessie Vetter proved to be the key difference, allowing only one goal over the course of the NCAA tournament. Vetter received the 2009 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which is awarded annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey.
Facing off in the quarterfinals, the Big Green fought hard against Wisconsin, but the Badgers beat Dartmouth with a powerful offense and defense.
Particularly deadly for the Badgers was Wisconsin's Hilary Knight, a Hanover resident, who tallied two goals and four assists. Pairing up with Knight to punish the Big Green was linemate Angie Keseley, who recorded a hat trick and two assists.
Defensively, the Badgers employed their size advantage to shut down the normally potent Dartmouth offense. The tenacious Wisconsin defense also forced the Big Green to commit a number of uncharacteristic turnovers, several of which resulted in scores.
Facing an offense that averaged five goals per game, Dartmouth goalie Carli Clemis '09 put up a strong effort to keep the Big Green in the game for as long as possible, making 21 saves in the loss.
The Badgers scored twice in the first period to jump to a quick 2-0 lead. In the first ten minutes of the game, the Big Green seemed overwhelmed by a ferocious Wisconsin attack that forced Dartmouth on its heels. It was only as the first intermission approached that Dartmouth finally found its footing.
Dartmouth did get in a few shots from the point, but Vetter met each challenge, shutting down any Big Green opportunities in the opening frame. Dartmouth's best chance to claw itself back into the game came on a 2-on-1, when Amanda Trunzo '11 broke past the Wisconsin blue line before passing the puck over to Jenna Cunningham '10. Cunningham lost the puck in her skates, however, and Dartmouth could not capitalize on the opportunity.
The lost opportunity proved costly, as Wisconsin broke the game wide open in the second period, scoring three more goals to make the score 5-0, and putting the game all but out of reach.
The Badgers used the middle frame to pick apart the Dartmouth defense, capitalizing on the Big Green's mistakes. Taking advantage of a Dartmouth miscue on a power play, Knight intercepted the puck at the blue line and took it the length of the ice before putting the puck past Clemis for the Badgers' fourth goal.
The Big Green also struggled with penalties, at one point giving the Badgers a 5-on-3 advantage when Sarah Newnam '09 and Geneva Kliman '12 both received penalties at 15:39 in the second period. As the nation's best power-play team, Wisconsin quickly capitalized once again on Dartmouth's error, scoring to make the game 5-0.
Looking forward to next season, Dartmouth will lose seven very talented skaters, with Clemis, Newnam, Shannon Bowman '09, Julia Bronson '09, Katie Gray '09, Maggie Kennedy '09 and Marley MacMillan '09 all set to graduate this spring.
Parsons said that the remaining members of the team are looking forward to next year's action.
"I think everyone on the team is really excited for next season, even though this one just ended," she said.
