Dartmouth (19-9-0, 15-7-0 ECAC) followed up the victory with a 4-3 win against Colgate University on senior night. The two wins secured the ECAC's third seed and home-ice advantage in the first round of the ECAC playoffs for the Big Green.
Playing with a nothing-to-lose attitude, Dartmouth jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Cornell midway through the opening period with two power play goals by Kelly Foley '12. The first score came after a scramble in front of the Cornell net, during which three Big Green skaters had their shots stopped before Foley was able to poke the puck into a wide open net.
Just over six minutes later, Camille Dumais '13 fed a quick pass to Foley, who was stationed on the right side of the net. Foley beat Cornell freshman goalie Lauren Slebodnick for her second goal of the game.
"It was a beautiful play by Dumais," Foley said. "She actually had a pretty good shot herself, but she saw me wide open and passed it to me instead."
Still holding a 2-0 lead late in the second period, the Dartmouth offense came alive once again. Geneva Kliman '12 tallied the Big Green's third power play goal of the game with a slap shot just inside the blue line that found the back of the net.
Less than two minutes later, Dumais took a pass from Amanda Trunzo '11 and fired it into the top-left corner of the net to give Dartmouth a 4-0 lead.
"The team came out with a ton of energy to start the game," head coach Mark Hudak said. "We executed the game plan and caught Cornell by surprise in the first two periods."
The Big Red made a furious comeback attempt in the final period. Senior forward Karlee Overguard put Cornell on the board and senior Hayley Hughes cut the lead down to two with six minutes remaining in the contest.
"When the score was 4-0, it seemed surreal for a while," Foley said. "Once [Cornell] scored a couple goals, everyone got a bit nervous."
The Big Green defense and goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft '14 were able to withstand Cornell's offensive pressure. The Big Red outshot Dartmouth 16-5 in the third period, but Dartmouth was able to hold on for a 4-2 win.
The Big Green special teams were stellar in the game, as they have been all season. The Big Green scored three times on the power play against a stingy Cornell penalty kill unit. The Big Red power play, on the other hand, was shut out in five opportunities.
Dartmouth has converted 27 of 112 or 24.1 percent of its power play chances in conference play this season. The penalty kill has stopped its opponents at a 90.1 percent rate.
"Coach [Hudak] stresses discipline on the power play and that's really what it's all about," Foley said. "We should never get outworked by the penalty kill."
The upset win sent the home crowd of over 1,000 fans into a frenzy and the Dartmouth players erupted off the bench and onto the ice to celebrate the victory.
"It felt like we just won a championship," Foley said. "[Hudak] told us we had 10 minutes to celebrate however we wanted, but reminded us that we still had a game to play the next day."
Dartmouth's next game was not easy either, as Colgate (11-19-3, 8-12-2 ECAC) desperately needed a win to keep its playoff hopes alive. Coming off the emotional and physical game against Cornell, the Big Green was careful to not lose focus against a lesser opponent.
If the Dartmouth players were tired from the previous night, it did not show in the box score. The Big Green outshot the Raiders 14-6 in the opening period, with Erica Dobos '12 scoring the game's first goal.
The Dartmouth offense went to work early in the second period, when Jenna Hobeika '12 and Foley scored two additional goals to extend the lead to 3-0. After Colgate freshman Shannon Doyle and sophomore Jenny Klynstra both scored and cut the lead to one, Dumais responded with a goal just before the second intermission.
As in the previous game, Dartmouth had to bunker down in the third period to protect the lead. Raiders freshman Rachel Walsh scored with under six minutes left in the game to make the score 4-3, but the Dartmouth defense was able to hold on.
"Coming off a big win [against Cornell] like that can be a little tough, as it's hard to get excited and focused," Hudak said. "We were able to do just enough to get the win."
The four seniors on the team Trunzo, captain Katie Horner '11, Larissa Roche '11 and Alyssa Boehm '11 were honored at the game in front of a season-high crowd of 1,438 fans.
"The greatest contribution you can ask for from the seniors is their leadership," Hudak said. "A lot of our success comes from not only what they do on the ice, but also their leadership off the ice."
Fans were requested to wear pink for the Colgate game as part of the Pink at the Rink campaign a collaborative effort between the team and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center aimed at promoting breast cancer awareness and research.
Due to the two victories this weekend, the Big Green will have at least two more home games this season. Dartmouth will face Clarkson University as the number three seed in the first round of the ECAC playoffs next weekend at Thompson Arena.
Clarkson and Dartmouth have split their season series at one apiece. Clarkson (13-15-6, 10-8-4 ECAC) defeated the Big Green in overtime on Jan. 14, while Dartmouth rebounded to beat the Golden Knights, 3-1, on Feb. 12.
"Clarkson is a strong and physical team," Hudak said. "They have a couple of skilled skaters and a good goalie. They are a dangerous opponent."
The first round of the ECAC playoffs is a best-of-three series played on the higher seed's home ice. The opening game of the series is at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and the second game is at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The third game, if necessary, will be played on Sunday.
