The team's top line of Kelly Foley '12, Reagan Fischer '12 and Camille Dumais '13 spearheaded the offensive explosion against the Bulldogs, as each tallied four points. Dumais scored a hat trick and added an assist, which put her at 99 points for her career, while Fischer contributed two goals and two assists.
But the spotlight for the night fell on Foley. She came into the game with 97 career points, and her four-assist night catapulted her into the Dartmouth women's hockey pantheon. She became the 33rd player in the history of the program to reach the 100-point mark, ending the weekend with 102 points (48 goals and 54 assists). Her 100th point came seven minutes into the second period on an assist to Dumais.
The Big Green did not score until just under the halfway point in the first, but from that point forward, the rout was on. Sasha Nanji '13 led the charge in the first period, tallying two goals. For her first goal, Nanji weaved through three Yale defenders, deked the goalie and slipped the puck into the net on a Yale delayed penalty.
The Big Green then took advantage of its first power play of the game. After cycling the puck behind the net for about 30 seconds, Jenna Hobeika '12 curled out from behind and slid the puck to Erica Dobos '12, who netted a backhander for her sixth goal of the season.
Just under five minutes later, the Big Green scored again. This time, Ali Winkel '14 got the puck on the half boards and slid it to Nanji, who deked and shot, putting the puck into the Bulldog net. The Bulldogs scored a goal off of a rebound under a minute later, but the Big Green responded a little over two minutes after that.
Foley streaked down the ice and deked a defender to set up a two-on-one with Fischer. She pumped, causing the defender to commit, then slid the puck to Fischer, who cashed in the opportunity and put the Big Green up 4-1 heading into the first intermission.
Dartmouth continued to press, scoring four more times in the second stanza. The first goal came just 43 seconds into the frame. Dumais broke the puck out of the defensive zone and hit a cutting Foley, who once again had a two-on-one opportunity with Fischer. Foley dished the puck and Fischer converted again.
Foley's big moment came just under seven minutes later. Fischer dumped the puck into the zone and Foley went to get it, curling around the side of the net before sliding the puck to a crashing Dumais, who buried it for her first goal of the game. The fans erupted as the women celebrated Foley's 100th point. Dumais grabbed the loose puck and tossed it onto the bench to commemorate her linemate's achievement.
"I've been bugging her this whole time, so being able to share in that moment with her was special," Dumais said. "I was more excited for her than I was about scoring. I'm really happy for her."
Foley said that Dumais "made a bigger deal out of it" than she did.
"It didn't feel any different than any other point," Foley said.
Exactly a minute later, Sally Komarek '13 got on the board with a wrist-shot goal off of assists from Winkel and Moira Scanlon '12.
The Big Green could not keep the momentum, however, as Yale put two power-play goals past goaltender Katie Milligan '15, who played a strong game with 24 saves. Dumais added her second goal of the game off assists from Foley and Fischer just eight seconds after the Bulldogs third goal, but Yale cut the lead in half with less than a minute to go in the period.
The Big Green won the third period as well, scoring two goals to Yale's one. At the five-minute mark in the final frame, Margaux Sharp '13 slid the puck across to her defensive partner Scanlon, who unleashed a slapshot that sailed past the Yale goalie. Soon after this, the Big Green switched goaltenders, putting in Whitney Woodcox '13, who saw her first action of the season and made four saves in the final 9:36 to seal the win for the team.
Dumais capped the night with her hat trick goal off of an assist from Nanji at the 12:26 mark.
The goals would not come as easily in Saturday's game against Brown, a tight affair with playoff implications for the Big Green. Dartmouth entered needing a win, a St. Lawrence University loss and a Clarkson University win or tie to be home next weekend. If not, it would be the last home game for Dartmouth's six seniors.
"Brown definitely played a better defensive game," Hobeika said. "They were desperate because they were battling for the eighth seed in the ECAC. They definitely outplayed us for the first two periods. We really got lucky with how well Lindsay [Holdcroft '14] played."
Holdcroft started in the net for the Big Green on senior day and made 28 saves, including 14 in the second period. She needed to play well and did not shy away from the spotlight, keeping the Big Green in the game at many points with fantastic saves.
The only blip in her stellar performance came just over three and a half minutes into the game, when the Bears capitalized on a rebound to take a 1-0 lead.
The Big Green evened the score on its second power play of the game. Fischer passed the puck to Sharp, who took two strides and let it rip, finding the back of the net through a Foley screen for the goal.
Although neither team could score for the rest of regulation play, both teams had numerous chances. Scanlon put a shot off of the crossbar in the third period and Morgan Illikainen '15 put her only shot of the game off the goaltender's skate and wide.
"We went into the third with a winning attitude, not a not-losing attitude," Hobeika said.
With just under 30 seconds left in regulation play, Dumais took a tripping penalty. Holdcroft and the Big Green held on for the remainder of regulation as the game went into overtime. After the team finished killing the penalty, Dartmouth continued the dominance it had shown in the final few minutes of the third, but the Brown defense continued to hold.
With 1:20 left in the game, Dartmouth coach Mark Hudak decided to pull Holdcroft in favor of the extra attacker because the team needed a win to play at home in the playoffs. The gutsy decision paid off.
The Big Green peppered the Bears' net with shots and finally capitalized with just 22 seconds left in the game. Hobeika dumped the puck behind to Foley, who circled behind the net and passed it back to Hobeika through three Bears defenders. Hobeika slipped, lunging at the puck and getting enough stick on it to lift it over the Brown goalie as she fell to the ice.
"It changed the mood of the weekend," Foley said. "It was a special win. Everyone didn't want this to be our last home game."
The fans in the stands erupted as the team rushed the ice to congratulate Hobeika. The cheering continued as the announcer broke the news that Cornell University defeated St. Lawrence and Clarkson defeated Colgate University to ensure the Big Green would be playing at home this weekend.
After the game, the six seniors on the team Foley, Fischer, Hobeika, Scanlon, Dobos and Brittany Mills '12 were honored for their accomplishments. The emotion was high, especially among the seniors, who had led the Big Green to a home playoff series against St. Lawrence with their stellar performances this weekend.
"We're really, really pumped about playing at home," Dumais said. "We knew what we were fighting for. The playoffs are what it's all about. It's what we've been playing for all season."
Despite being tied with the Saints for fourth in the ECAC, Dartmouth claimed home-ice advantage due to a tiebreaker. The best-of-three series starts Friday, Feb. 25 at 3:30 p.m. in Thompson Arena.
