Dartmouth entered the Clarkson game seeking revenge after taking a 5-0 shellacking against the Golden Knights (26-8, 18-4 ECAC) the last time the two teams met. Although the Big Green played far better this game, they still could not gain the win.
"Last time we played Clarkson, we were coming off of a loss to St. Lawrence," forward Lindsey Allen '16 said. "We really just came out flat last time, every time we got scored on, we got down on ourselves. This time we stayed positive and upbeat and stayed in the game."
The scoring came early in Dartmouth's matchup with Clarkson as the two squads combined for four goals in the opening period. Less than three minutes into the game, the Golden Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead after a goal by freshman Olivia Howe. A wrist shot from the right of the net bounced off the glove of Dartmouth goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft '14 and trickled into the net.
After a brief calm, the scoring began again as the first period approached its close. Clarkson notched another goal with four and a half minutes to go in the first, this one coming on a power play. Golden Knight junior Jamie Lee Rattay's goal was her 18th of the season, a team high.
Dartmouth answered back with a power play goal 90 seconds later when forward Laura Stacey '16 cut the deficit to one. Her goal was unassisted.
"We were moving it around and I grabbed the puck in the corner," Stacey said. "I went around the back of the net and made a really tight turn. I had a nice path to the net, went through and shot it, and it deflected off of a bunch of their players and it went in."
Clarkson tallied their final goal of the game with less than a minute to go in the first period. A Big Green turnover gave sophomore forward Carly Mercer all the time she needed to give the Golden Knights a two-goal lead. Though Dartmouth had the majority of the chances for the final two periods, neither team scored another goal, leaving the Big Green on the wrong side of a 3-1 final score.
On Saturday night, Dartmouth played their final home game of the regular season against the Saints (17-12-5, 12-6-4 ECAC). The Big Green dominated on senior night, blowing the Saints out by five goals. Dartmouth's final position in the standings had already been determined, but St. Lawrence could have attained home-ice advantage in the playoffs with a win.
"We were playing for pride and our seniors," Holdcroft said. "They were playing for home-ice, but this was the last game our seniors will ever play at Thompson and we wanted to win it for them."
Dartmouth's Reagan Fischer '12 opened the scoring 11 minutes into the first period with her team-leading 15th goal of the season. To close the first period, defenseman Sasha Nanji '13 also scored, giving Dartmouth a 2-0 lead. Three more Big Green goals in the second period put the game out of reach for St. Lawrence.
"We came out firing," Stacey said. "It was senior night and we wanted to end the season on a big note. There were lots of contributors and everyone got involved. We also didn't let one goal satisfy us: even when we were up 5-0, we were still talking about keeping up the intensity and getting more."
Each team notched two goals in the final period, giving Dartmouth an impressive 7-2 blowout victory. Perhaps the most successful part of the victory was Dartmouth's effective power play, which led to four goals out of seven opportunities.
"We've been working on the power play a lot," Allen said. "It's been a little flat in past games, but we've been focusing on slowing it down and making the puck do the work."
Dartmouth finishes the regular season in sixth place in the ECAC with 26 points. The Big Green will take on Harvard University in a best two-of-three series this weekend in Cambridge, Mass. The winner will advance to the ECAC semifinals.
"We're pumped," Stacey said. "We're underdogs from here on out, but we like where we're at. They're a great team, but we know we can play with them and we can beat them."
