Dartmouth women's hockey split its weekend at home as the Big Green conjured up two goals in the final period to rout No.7 St. Lawrence University 4-2 on Friday, but could not carry the momentum over to its contest against No. 2 Clarkson University on Saturday.
Head coach Mark Hudak said that, over the weekend, the players had a tendency to start out flat in the first period and then play more aggressively later on in the game, especially against Clarkson (11-1-1, 5-0-0 ECAC Hockey). The team, especially the rookies, gained invaluable perspective from the weekend's games, he said.
"They're seeing quite a bit of playing time," Hudak said. "They are making freshman mistakes, but I think each one of them is getting better."
Despite a rough start to Friday's match, Dartmouth (1-2-1, 1-2-1 ECAC Hockey) followed up with four unanswered goals against the Saints to clinch its home opener.
The Big Green quickly pulled away from St. Lawrence (4-4-3, 2-3-0 ECAC Hockey) in the third period when Sarah Parsons '10 nabbed the eventual game-winning goal. Camille Dumais '13 ensured the win two minutes later with her second goal of the game, bringing the final score to 4-2.
The Saints opened the scoring less than three minutes into the first period, quickening the pace of play with two short-handed goals notched only 25 seconds apart.
"Two things happened: St. Lawrence scored a couple of quick goals on us, and there were some mental errors that we made, and everyone saw and understood them," Hudak said. "Right after that, one of our players picked up the puck, worked real hard and scored quickly to come back. It was then that we thought, OK, we can do this.'"
Breaking away from the flat pace, Dartmouth responded quickly as Parsons handed Amanda Trunzo '11 the puck in the defensive zone. Trunzo thundered down the length of the rink to fire a shot that slashed Dartmouth's deficit in half, making the score 2-1 with 42 seconds remaining in the first period.
The goal capped the first-period scoring and quickly swung the momentum in favor of the Big Green, Hudak said.
Dartmouth was able to penetrate the zone and got plenty of offensive chances, even though the team went only 2-10 in power play situations. The Saints were 0-4 on the power play.
Mariel Lacina '10 earned her first win of the season with 20 saves.
On the following day, however, Dartmouth could not contain the Knights, who were in the midst of six-game winning streak.
Dartmouth again came out slow in the opening period, in which the team failed to capitalize on four extra-skater opportunities.
"The first period was just flat," Hudak said. "And both teams were flat, so it wasn't just that Clarkson was playing unbelievably well."
Consistent errors plagued the Big Green's play, Hudak said.
"After our game against St. Lawrence, I thought we had figured out some of those things, and we really didn't," he said.
One of the errors came early in the second period, as Daris Tendler slipped through Dartmouth's defense. The junior broke out from the box after serving her two-minute penalty, found the puck at the offensive blue line and beat Lacina for the game's first goal.
"That's a little bit of a mental error," Hudak said. "We knew that she was coming out of the penalty box, and nobody took responsibility for her."
The Big Green recovered within four minutes, as Trunzo's power play goal equalized the score, 1-1.
The Knights capitalized on a five-onthree advantage to claim the lead and take a one-point advantage going into the final period. Clarkson cemented its hold on the victory within the first 30 seconds of the last period, increasing the margin to 3-1.
"It's early in the season, and the individuals on the team have to figure out how to get out for two games in a row," Hudak said. "We have to figure out what's the internal motivation, what's the intrinsic spark that we have."
Dartmouth will stay at home for another round of weekend matches as the team faces Princeton on Friday and Quinnipiac University on Saturday.
Looking to next weekend's games, Hudak that Princeton has an experienced and deep roster, yet if the Big Green plays up to its potential, the game can easily turn into a heated one-goal match.
"We have to look at the weekend again," said Hudak. "If we can come out and play our game, then there's no one that we can't compete against."
