It was an historic season for Big Green women's hockey, with the team and many players reaching important milestones. The team was ranked 10th nationally for 10 of its games this season and defeated Providence College 3-2 at Frozen Fenway at Fenway Park, the fourth ever women's hockey game held outdoors and the first featuring an Ivy League team.
Half of the players interviewed by The Dartmouth said that this was their favorite moment of the year.
"As an experience, it was ridiculous," Camille Dumais '13 said. "And the fact that we won there made it even more awesome."
Co-captain Kelly Foley '12 and fellow Boston native Brittany Mills '12 said that the experience was even more significant for them because they were coming home for it.
"I grew up going to Fenway and loving the [Red] Sox," Mills said. "Having that experience and playing so well was great."
The team had two players, Foley and Dumais, record their 100th career points this season, doing so in the penultimate game of the regular season against Yale University and in the first game of the playoffs against St. Lawrence University, respectively.
This season also marked the 100th career game for seniors Foley, Jenna Hobeika '12, Erica Dobos '12 and Moira Scanlon '12.
"They've really made a big effort and a big contribution to this team without necessarily getting the spotlight for it," Dumais said.
The team had a brutal schedule this season, playing seven games against teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation. The Big Green was competitive in all of its games, playing 16 games that were decided by one goal and several others that were only two-goal games thanks to an empty net goal.
"We proved to ourselves and to everyone else that we can hang with the top teams," Lauren Kelly '14 said. "It boosts our confidence to know we can keep up with them."
Co-captain Reagan Fischer '12 also said that Dartmouth's close games helped the team improve.
"You learn a lot from the battles you go through," co-captain Reagan Fischer '12 said. "You know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft '14, who faced many tight games in net, said the league's competitiveness forced the Big Green to prove themselves.
"Playing in one-goal games is just how the league is," Holdcroft said. "There's a group of teams in this league that can beat anyone on any given night. It tests us a lot and proves our character more than if we were rolling over teams."
The team said that its second game against Cornell University a 1-0 home loss in overtime really defined who they were.
"They had their full roster [unlike the first time] and we controlled a lot of the game," she said. "To be able to skate with the No. 2 team in the country showed us that team play trumps individual skill."
The team entered winter break with a 6-6-1 record and came roaring out of the break, posting an 8-1-1 record in the month of January, including a seven-game unbeaten streak to kick off the month.
"At the beginning of the season, we weren't ready to play those teams yet," Hobeika said. "But after Christmas, we really became comfortable with our team identity and everyone realized what they needed to do for the team."
Scanlon said the team faced a tougher schedule in the first half of the season than it did in the second half, but also said that "everyone put in a little more effort and focused their attention more."
"We were able to come in with a clean slate and be at the top of our game," Mills added.
The team also attributed its success to its chemistry and cohesion as a unit. Dobos said the players had meetings over winter break "to get on the same page."
"The close team dynamic made the transition to college easier," Illikainen said. "We're friends first, which helps us build as a team."
Dobos, Fischer, Dumais, Foley, Hobeika and Mills all said that this was one of the closest teams, if not the closest team, that they've been on at Dartmouth.
"The chemistry had to be good this year because we may have not had the skill of other years," Fischer said.
Foley, reflecting on her four years in Hanover, said that this was "definitely the most fun year. It was a special environment where everyone got along."
"I could hang out with anybody on the team and not have to worry about not having fun," Dumais said.
The team had many high points this year, including a dramatic overtime win against Brown University to secure home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs and a 3-2 win at Harvard University early this year. Arguably the biggest highlight came in Ithaca in November. The game against Cornell was decided largely by great goaltending from Holdcroft, a hat trick from Ali Winkel '14 and a superb team effort.
"Going into someone else's arena, you kind of feel like the underdog," Dobos said. "It's always nice to win on someone else's home rink."
The low point for the team came just last weekend, as St. Lawrence University came to Hanover and swept the Big Green out of the playoffs. Although the players admitted that it looms big in their minds now, almost all said that it would not taint the season as a whole.
"Looking back, that's not going to be the defining moment that makes the season bad," Dobos said. "That can't take away from how special this team and year has been to me."
