Dartmouth (7-2, 2-1 Ivy) is looking to redeem itself after last year's 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats (9-3, 1-0 conf). UNH, however, enters the game riding a three-game winning streak and is 5-0 at home so far this season.
"We definitely want to do better than last year," co-captain Virginia Peisch '11 said. "[The game against UNH] last year was one of our weakest games so we are really focused on doing really well this Wednesday."
The Wildcats have an overall 65 percent of shots-on-goal, compared to Dartmouth's 49 percent. UNH averages 14.4 shots per game while the Big Green posts an average of 29.8 shots per game.
"Our strengths are our corner execution overall and just putting ourselves into scoring chances," head coach Amy Fowler said. "We have a nice low passing game for our midfield when everyone is playing well together. [Sunday] we got a little disconnected so my perception of where we have been the entire season is better than where we were [Sunday]. "
Thus far, the Big Green has looked to its star players to provide offensive firepower when the team needs a spark. Kelly Hood '12, the top scorer on the Dartmouth squad, has already registered 28 points and 13 goals this season. This past weekend, Peisch matched her single-season record of 16 assists.
Wildcat junior forward Whitney Frates leads the UNH team in overall scoring with 18 points and has a team high seven goals this season. Senior Kara Connolly is right behind Frates with 17 points and six goals.
"[The Wildcats] just beat Maine on Friday," Fowler said. "They may take us a bit lightly because we didn't have a great result against Maine. They beat Maine within the last 10 seconds of the final whistle and they scored off a corner, so I know that their corners have been a strength."
Goaltender Katherine Nagengast receives the majority of the playing time in net for UNH, boasting a .701 save percentage and 54 saves so far this season.
On the Big Green side, goalie Meagan Vakiener '12 averages 3.85 goals allowed per game and has compiled a .662 save percentage.
The Wildcats beat Dartmouth last year, 4-0, breaking the game open with two early goals and snapped a Big Green four-game winning streak. UNH outshot the Big Green in that game by a margin of 22-9.
After starting out last season 1-4, Dartmouth opened this season with an improved 4-1 run.
"We just clicked very well on and off the field, particularly this year," Peisch said. "It has been a good transition from last spring into this season. The freshmen came in very well and had the same understanding of what they want."
In Sunday's loss to the Blackbears (8-3, 0-1 America East), Dartmouth outshot Maine, 20-19, but failed to capitalize on all but one of those scoring opportunities. Kelly McHenry '11 notched Dartmouth's lone goal after 16 minutes in the first period.
"It is kind of nice that we have an opportunity on Wednesday," Peisch said. "Having a loss lingers with you, so I'm sure at practice we will be working on things that didn't go well on Sunday. It is nice to have an opportunity to redeem ourselves."
Though the Big Green posted 10 shots in the second period, the team could not fight back from a 3-1 deficit. Dartmouth was stopped by Blackbear goaltender Brittany Fleck, who had an impressive game with 10 saves.
Maine junior Kelly Newton dominated the Big Green defense, notching four goals and one assist.
"Our individual defense yesterday wasn't working that well, so our practice [this week] will be aimed at that," Peisch said.
Before falling to the Blackbears on Sunday, Dartmouth beat the University of Pennsylvania, 7-1, on Saturday. Hood scored four goals while Peisch earned four assists.
"I am hoping we can regroup," Fowler said. "I'm hoping we can take a little bit of confidence coming off a weekend where we split and hopefully we can get back to our basics and our style of play."
After facing the Wildcats, the Big Green will then face Boston University on Sunday in Boston, Mass., before taking on the University of Massachusetts on Tuesday, in Hanover.
"We have a few tough regional games coming up in a short period of time so we have to make sure our bodies are in good shape and that we recover well from this weekend," Peisch said.
