"We came into this game as the underdogs and Harvard had the mentality that this was going to be an easy game," captain Katie Horner '11 said. "We were not going to let that happen and we left everything we had out there on the ice."
Coming off a grueling three-game series against Clarkson University last weekend, the Big Green did not show any signs of fatigue in the opening period. Dartmouth outshot the Crimson (17-11-4, 14-5-3 ECAC) in the first period, 12-7, and opened the scoring. Trunzo received a pass from Dumais and fired the puck past Harvard sophomore goaltender Laura Bellamy, giving the Big Green a one-goal lead.
"The girls were ready and excited for the game tonight, mentally and emotionally," head coach Mark Hudak said. "We started the game really well and got the first goal, which gave us a lot of confidence."
Harvard sophomore defenseman Josephine Pucci ripped a slap shot from the point approximately five minutes later, scoring when the goal ricocheted off Dartmouth goalie Lindsay Holdcroft '14.
The score remained even until four minutes into the second period, when the Big Green was able to take advantage of a four-on-three power play opportunity. Trunzo received the puck off a faceoff win by Sasha Nanji '13, scoring her second goal of the game to put Dartmouth ahead.
Dartmouth's next goal came from an unexpected source Lisa Berreman '13 tallied her first collegiate goal on a shot from the left faceoff circle, giving the Big Green a two-goal cushion.
"The team was playing really well in the second period," Hudak said. "The second goal deflated [Harvard] a little bit and the third goal was a backbreaker for them."
Dumais added to the scoring just over a minute later, tallying a goal after a shot by Erica Dobos '12 rebounded off Bellamy.
With a three-goal lead, Dartmouth began to play more defensively in the third period. The Crimson outshot the Big Green, 17-5, after the second intermission. Holdcroft stopped all 17 shots, however, preserving the win.
"In the third period, we blocked 15 shots," Horner said. "It just showed how much we wanted to win that game by sacrificing our bodies and blocking those shots."
Holdcroft was strong in goal once again, making 32 saves on 33 shots in the game, and earning her 18th win of the season.
Trunzo's two goals gave her 17 for the season, and tied her for eighth on the all-time scoring list with 68 goals.
As Trunzo's linemate, Dumais recorded two assists in the game in addition to her goal. Trunzo leads the team with 37 points and 20 assists, and is tied with Dumais for the scoring-lead with 17 goals.
"[Trunzo's and Dumais'] defensive play was even better than their offense," Hudak said. "That's why they created so many opportunities on the offensive end."
Dartmouth's special teams continue to be an important part of the team's winning streaks. The Big Green converted on two of its three power-play opportunities, while Harvard failed to score on its four power-play attempts.
Dartmouth's victory brought the Big Green's history full-circle for the team's senior players, who lost to Harvard in the playoffs' first round as rookies in 2008. Big Green seniors said they were conscious of the result and did not want to repeat history.
"I remember how sad the seniors on that team were after Harvard had ended our season," Horner said. "Harvard is the last place we wanted to end our season and we didn't let that happen. Our goal is to end our season in [Hershey, Penn.]."
Dartmouth will likely need to beat Cornell (29-2-1, 20-1-1 ECAC) to reach the NCAA tournament. The ECAC tournament winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
"We've always had Cornell in our sights," assistant coach Holley Tyng said.
The championships game will be played on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y., and will be broadcast live on the NHL Network.
