Holdcroft was the storyline for much of the weekend. The freshman goalie stopped 51 of 52 shots she faced in the two games and improved her season record to 10-5. She has not allowed more than one goal in her last five games, all Dartmouth victories.
"[Holdcroft] played really solid all weekend long," head coach Mark Hudak said. "She made some big saves at important junctures to keep us in the game."
In a penalty-ridden game against Yale (5-14-2, 4-9-1 ECAC), the Big Green jumped off to a quick start when Kelly Foley '12 put Dartmouth on the board with her tenth goal of the season 6:30 into the opening period.
After numerous penalties and power play chances for both teams, the Big Green was finally able to capitalize with under four minutes remaining in the second period. Erica Dobos '12 doubled the Dartmouth lead off assists from Geneva Kliman '12 and Margaux Sharp '13.
The Bulldogs made the game interesting when junior Aleca Hughes cut the lead to one with her fifth goal of the season. The goal brought the relatively small crowd of approximately 350 people back to life.
With just under a minute to play, Yale pulled its senior goaltender Jackee Snikeris to bring on an extra attacker. The Big Green, however, was able to weather the storm and hold on to the 2-1 victory.
"In the Yale game, I don't think we played our best," Hudak said. "They got a late goal, but we were able to contain them at the end."
In all, the two teams combined for 16 penalties and 14 power plays. Dartmouth capitalized on one of five power play chances, while the Bulldogs were shut out in nine opportunities.
"It was a sloppy game with not much of a flow to it," Hudak said. "There were a lot of penalties on both sides, and we did a good job of killing off all the penalties."
On Saturday, the Big Green traveled to Brown (2-16-3, 1-10-3 ECAC) to take on the struggling Bears. Brown has not won a game since its Nov. 13 defeat of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1-0.
Dumais started off her terrific performance only a minute into the contest, scoring the game's opening goal off an assist from defenseman Lisa Berreman '13.
After the first intermission, Brown intensified its pressure in the offensive zone and created several good scoring opportunities. Holdcroft, however, denied the Bears time and time again.
"[Holdcroft] stood on her head in the whole second period and kept us in the game," Dumais said.
Dartmouth was finally able to create some breathing room when Amanda Trunzo '11 put the puck in the net off an assist by Dumais.
After regrouping during the second intermission, the Big Green came picked up its offense. Dumais scored again 1:05 into the third period to increase the lead to 3-0.
Just six minutes later, Dumais struck for a third time to register her first career hat trick. Dumais now leads the team with 14 assists, totalling 25 points.
Dumais' linemates Trunzo and Sally Komarek '13 added two more goals late in the contest to send a small Brown crowd home early. In all, the second-line trio of Dumais, Trunzo and Komarek combined for six goals and four assists, and each had a plus-five rating for the game.
"Our line definitely works well together," Dumais said. "We can see the ice really well and each one of us can create scoring opportunities."
Holdcroft saved all 26 shots that came her way. The shutout was Holdcroft's third of the season and second in three games.
The experience of playing in high-pressured games has helped Holdcroft improve as the season has progressed, she said.
"Practice is a good way to simulate real games, but there's nothing like playing in a real game," Holdcroft said.
With six games remaining on its schedule, Dartmouth is in position to make the ECAC playoffs. The Big Green is six points ahead of St. Lawrence University, which holds the eighth and final playoff spot.
Next weekend, Dartmouth will play two important games against Quinnipiac University and Princeton University. Both teams are within three points of the Big Green in the conference standings.
