Dartmouth (6-1, 5-1 ECAC) has been victorious in its last seven meetings with the Friars (8-4-1, 1-1-1 HE).
With 14:33 remaining in the third period, Amanda Trunzo '11 potted the game-winning goal from the near side. Camille Dumais '13, who started with the puck during the two-on-one assault, and Sally Komarek '13 assisted Trunzo.
The Big Green entered the match-up riding a two-game streak of overtime victories.
"We had great momentum coming in," captain Katie Horner '11 said. "We kind of were joking before the game to get this one done in regulation and not to take this into OT today. This is the first game we played only with a two-day break, so we didn't know what to expect, conditioning-wise."
With help from two extra-time goals from Sasha Nanji '13 last weekend, the Big Green stole a 3-2 victory from Princeton University on Friday before beating Quinnipiac University, 4-3, on Saturday. Nanji notched her first career hat trick against the Tigers.
Nanji, who scored Dartmouth's first goal of the game against Providence, leads the Big Green in overall scoring with 10 points and goal-scoring with seven goals. Trunzo now boasts 101 career points, and is just trailing Nanji with nine points and five goals.
Trunzo led Dartmouth against the Friars with six shots, helping the Big Green outshoot Providence 40-28. The Friars' top scorer junior forward Kate Bacon posted eight shots but was held to zero points.
"We're definitely really confident," Trunzo said. "We have four lines that can play very well."
Despite killing off five of six penalties, Dartmouth struggled on the power play.
"Killing some of the penalties that we killed, I think that creates a lot of momentum for you," head coach Mark Hudak said. "I felt that every time Providence would start to get going, we were able to find a way to get back."
Hudak said that Providence's physical play was a major reason the Big Green failed to capitalize on its six power play opportunities including three in the third period.
Both teams drilled the puck into the net in both the first and second period, while Providence could not match Dartmouth's third-period goal.
Providence's junior forward Abby Gauthier was the first to score, giving the Friars a 1-0 lead while on the power play at 10:17 in the first period. Just over four minutes later, Nanji quickly responded with a goal to knot the game at 1-1. The Big Green and the Friars put equal pressure on the other's defense during the first period, posting 15 shots each.
Lindsay Holdcroft '14 started in net for the Big Green, pushing aside 26 shots. She has earned just over two-thirds of the total playing time so far this season, sharing the net with Whitney Woodcox '13. Holdcroft posts a .877 save percentage and a .800 winning percentage, while Woodcox has a .848 save percentage.
Kelly Foley '12 propelled the Big Green to an early 2-1 lead 2:19 into the second period, earning Reagan Fischer '12 and Lauren Kelly '14 assists.
Less than five minutes later, however, the Friars caught up with the Big Green as sophomore forward Jessica Cohen drilled a short-handed goal.
The Friar's junior goaltender Genevieve Lacasse recorded 37 saves in the match. Lacasse has started all 13 games for the Friars so far this season, posting a .899 save percentage at the start of Tuesday's game.
The Dartmouth women are back in action this weekend with two games against Harvard University.
"I think we played great," Horner said. "We were playing a really strong and aggressive, physical team. It is great that we can carry this momentum into two huge games against Harvard this weekend."
Friday's game will take place at 7 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass., before the Big Green returns home for a rematch against the Crimson (2-2-2, 2-2-2 ECAC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"There is always something you can get better at particularly our power play and just outworking the other team to get possession on the puck," Horner said. "Overall, we did a lot of the little things right tonight, so that is something we are taking pride in. If we do those little things right, I think we will be really successful throughout the remainder of the year."
