The Dartmouth men's and women's ice hockey teams opened their seasons with a bang, with the women defeating Ivy League foes Brown University, 4-2, and Yale University, 4-1, while the men defeated big rival Princeton University 2-1, though the team fell to Yale University, 7-3.
Headed into this weekend, women's coach Mark Hudak said he was confident about this team's progression in the preseason.
"I really like what I've seen so far and I think we are going to do well," Hudak said.
The Big Green pulled out a 4-2 victory over the visiting Brown Bears Friday thanks in large part to two power play goals, including one by Kelly Foley '12 with less than 10 minutes left in the game to secure the Dartmouth win.
The Big Green took the lead early in the first period, and remained on top until Brown tied the game at the beginning of the second period. Camille Dumais '13 capitalized on a Brown penalty as Dartmouth regained the lead heading into the third period.
Less than six minutes into the third period, Brown tied the game with an unassisted goal by sophomore Erica Kromm. Foley scored what would become the game-winning goal less than five minutes later. Captain Katie Horner '11 secured the Dartmouth victory with the go-ahead goal with less than three minutes left in the game.
The next day the Big Green turned its attention to the Yale Bulldogs. Dartmouth secured the lead early and held on for the rest of the game. The Big Green outshot Yale 38-13 and saw a two-goal performance from Lauren Kelly '14, who scored the first and second goals of the game.
The last time the Big Green opened its season with a 2-0 record was 2008-2009, when it went on to claim its fourth ECAC tournament championship before falling to top-ranked Wisconsin in the NCAA quarterfinals.
The women's team will hope to continue its streak on the road against ECAC rival Colgate University in Hamiliton, N.Y., on Friday and Ivy League rival Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., on Saturday. The men's hockey team finished second in the Ivy League Shoot-out this weekend, beating Princeton University on Friday to earn a spot in the championship game against Yale. The Big Green came up short and fell 7-3 in the final game.
The Big Green started slow in the first period of the game against Princeton, but came to life mid-way through and registered 13 unanswered shots against the Tigers.
Prior to the tournament, captain Scott Fleming '11 said that he and his team focused on fundamentals.
"We need to keep it simple, limit the turnovers, and our opportunities come," Fleming said.
The first of these opportunities came for the Big Green early in the second period, when assistant captain Evan Stephens '11 capitalized on a one-timer from Fleming and Matt Reber '11 to give Dartmouth the 1-0 lead.
The Tigers did not quit, scoring a power-play goal after a Paul Lee '12 penalty to equalize the match with less than two minutes to go in the second period.
Early in the third period, Lee scored what would become the game-winning goal for the Big Green. Lee said he was excited about the opportunity to help out the team after taking a costly penalty.
"After you take a penalty like that, you feel responsible, whether you actually are or not," he said. "I was just glad that I could help the team out and we got the win."
Jason Bourgea '13 took the assist, his first career point for the Big Green.
Goalie Jody O'Neill '12 registered 21 saves and earned the Big Green their first official win of the season. O'Neill said the game was the best defensive game he had seen in the three years he has played with the Big Green.
"I think that was one of our best defensive games ever," O'Neill said. "It makes my job a lot easier when guys backcheck and play as well as they did."
Dartmouth went on to face Yale, who was fresh off a 7-4 victory over Brown, in the championship game in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday.
The Big Green opened with Bourgea giving Dartmouth an early lead less than seven minutes into the game.
Later in the period, Yale sophomore forward Broc Little tied the game with less than six minutes to go in the period.
Dartmouth regained the lead early in the second period off a Fleming goal. Little worked to tie the contest after a penalty shot midway through the second period.
Yale would go on to score five additional unanswered goals to bring the score to 7-2 midway through the third period.
Dartmouth did not give up, as Matthew Lindblad '14 capitalized on a power play opportunity with less than three minutes to go in the game to bring the score to 7-3.
"We looked like we were in pretty good shape and we have a lot of potential to grow and work hard," O'Neill said.
Lee added that he was satisfied with the results and is looking forward to the rest of the season.
"It was a great way to start the season off, and really encouraging," he said. "I think it was a really good weekend for us."
The men will be back in action this weekend in Hanover for their home opener against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Thompson Arena on Friday night at 7 p.m.
