The Dartmouth women's hockey team fell to the University of New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon in overtime, marking the third game this season in which the Big Green (1-2-1 1-0-1 ECAC) has failed to hold an early lead. The team led by two goals late in the second period but ultimately lost to UNH (4-4-2 0-2-1 Hockey East), 5-4.
UNH kicked off scoring in the back-and-forth contest, with a goal from freshman Jenna Lascelle giving the team a 1-0 edge about midway through the first period. Dartmouth came back with goals by Sasha Nanji '13 and Kelly Foley '12 late in the frame to close the period with a 2-1 lead.
"It was good, we had the momentum at the end of the period," Nanji said.
The Big Green added to its lead when Sally Komarek '13 netted a power-play goal at 13:30 in the second period. After a slashing penalty by Reagan Fischer '12, however, UNH responded with a powerplay goal by freshman Heather Kashman.
Goals by UNH senior Emma Clark and Foley brought the score to 4-3 midway through the third period. Then, with under five minutes to go, the Wildcats tied the game on a tally by UNH freshman Kayla Mork.
The teams entered overtime with the score tied at four. UNH controlled the period from the start.
"Most of the overtime was in our zone," Nanji said. "They were all over us. We needed to play better and smarter defensively."
UNH clinched the win three minutes into overtime on Clark's second goal of the game. Foley said the Big Green was disappointed with the result, especially since many of the team's losses this season have come after it has jumped out to an early lead.
"It's frustrating because we'll work hard to get a goal and then defensive lapses and not focusing is making us give up the puck when we shouldn't," she said. "It's happened in a few games now where we've gained a lead and then lost it and ended up not winning."
Scoring has not been a problem for Dartmouth this season, but the team has displayed a pattern of playing overaggressively and failing to protect the defensive zone, allowing other squads to come back and take the game.
"Our main focus needs to be maintaining our lead, so we need to stay more composed and follow our system," Nanji said. "We can't take as many risks."
Foley added that the relative parity between Dartmouth and its opponents makes shoring up its defensive play even more important.
"We'll play 15 minutes of good hockey and five minutes of bad hockey and that's what's killing us," she said. "All the teams are so even now so we can't afford to make those mistakes."
Nanji said that once the team addresses the small details that are failing, the team will be much better equipped to close out games with wins.
"We still have a lot to learn," Nanji said. "We need to focus on little things and focus on our defensive zone and play a full game 100 percent. Then we're going to do really good things this year."
The Big Green's lack of defensive focus has put extra pressure on the team's goalies. Katie Milligan '15 made her first start for Dartmouth, showing promise throughout the UNH matchup despite taking the loss.
"She did really well, she was definitely stepping into some big shoes," Foley said. "She made big saves that kept us in the game."
Foley said the Big Green will need to do a better job of protecting the goal if it is to succeed this season.
"It taught us all that it's going to be a long season and that we need to work with what we have to win games," Foley said.
Dartmouth must address its issues soon to avoid falling behind early in the Eastern College Athletic Conference standings. The team plays a pair of key ECAC games this weekend, facing off against Cornell University on Friday night and Colgate University on Saturday. Cornell (4-0-0, 3-0-0 ECAC) is ranked second in the country, while Colgate (4-5-1, 1-1-1 ECAC) is tied with the Big Green in the conference standings.
