The women’s ice hockey team tore up the ice this weekend with a fierce 5-4 win over Yale University and a 3-3 tie with Brown University. Both games were very physical, with 19 combined penalties. The chippy play led to two back-and-forth contests with a total of six lead changes. The games were crucial for the Big Green women (4-12-1, 3-7-1 ECAC), who vaulted to ninth in the ECAC standings, just two points behind the Bulldogs (6-10-1, 4-5-1 ECAC) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (8-11-12, 4-5-1 ECAC), now just on place from playoff position.
“It was definitely a huge weekend,” captain Lindsay Holdcroft ’14 said. “Obviously, two wins would have been great, but three points is still good.”
Friday’s contest against the Bulldogs gave Dartmouth its first Ivy win of the season. Forward and captain Ali Winkel ’14 scored the winning goal with just 48 seconds left on the board. The senior captain followed up an odd-man rush by Karlee Odland ’15 and Katy Ratty ’17, burying the puck into the empty net after shots by Odland and Ratty drew the Yale netminder out of position.
The team was motivated by the four strong periods it had played in games against Providence College and No. 7 Boston University, which helped give the team momentum going back into conference play.
In the last two Big Green victories, Winkel has scored the game winners.
“I can’t really explain how it felt to score the final goal,” Winkel said. “It just felt really great to be able to help my team win.”
Defenseman Lauren Kelly ’14 opened the scoring early in the first period. Kelly’s goal was her first of the season. Odland tore down the wing before hitting the brakes and circling back. The move drew the Yale defense down, opening her cross-slot pass to Kelly. The senior defender ripped a wrist shot over the goalie’s shoulder.
“Everyone contributing gets everyone excited because it’s not like we’re relying on one person and we see that everyone has the ability to score,” Winkel said.
Two goals from the Bulldogs gave Yale a lead that looked like would last into intermission. However, forward Lindsey Allen ’16 put in the Big Green’s second goal off a feed from forward Catherine Berghuis ’16 with 22 seconds left in the first period with a shot that rang off the post.
“Sometimes it’s really confusing when you have a 50/50 chance for the puck, but it makes it way easier when we’re communicating,” Berghuis said. “I trust my teammates so if they say they have a better shot then I’ll pass it.”
Halfway through the second period, defenseman Olivia Whitford ’16 ripped a slapshot from the point on the power play that sailed over the shoulder of the Brown goalie. The goal was a career first for Whitford and brought gave Dartmouth a 3-2 lead. However, the Bulldogs tied the game back up with just under two minutes left.
Yale regained the lead halfway through the third, but Allen soon delivered the equalizer just over a minute and a half later. The game remained tied until Winkel delivered the decisive blow in the final minute.
Winkel said that in addition to taking shots, the ability to bounce back in the game was also key to Dartmouth’s victory. Winkel said Dartmouth’s win over Providence after a two-goal deficit shaped the way the Big Green played this weekend.
Holdcroft made 20 saves in the contest against Yale and earned her fourth victory of the season for Dartmouth.
Saturday’s tie against the Bears (1-12-4, 0-8-2 ECAC) was Dartmouth’s first of the season. The Big Green dominated the first period but could not put the puck in the net.
For the eighth time this season, Dartmouth was the first on the board thanks to a power-play goal by forward Kennedy Ottenbreit ’17 about seven minutes into the second period.
“This weekend, we really exploded for some goals,” Holdcroft said. “We were kind of in a funk on offense, but when we got those first couple goals it sort of opened the floodgates for us.”
The Bears tied the game two and a half minutes later, so the third started in a 1-1 tie.
Both offenses were on fire in the third period. Brown’s Sarah Robson opened up the scoring for the period 39 seconds in with a goal. Three minutes later, forward Mackenzie St. Onge ’17 tied up the score with her second career goal, flicking a rebound over the goalie’s shoulder.
Halfway through the period, Allen put the Big Green back in the lead 3-2. Forward Samantha Zeiss ’15 began the play with an outlet pass to Allen who put the puck in the net, pounding home her own rebound on a two-on-one with Laura Stacey ’16. Less than a minute later, Brown tied up the contest with Janice Yang’s second goal of the night. Each team had a few more chances, but the goalies stood strong to preserve the tie.
The Big Green returns to the ice next weekend in New York to face Cornell University and Colgate University. The game with the Big Red (13-1-3, 8-0-2 ECAC) will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday and the tilt with the Raiders (5-14-2, 2-8-0 ECAC) begins Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Big Green’s last matches against Cornell and Colgate were close, Holdcroft said, adding the game against the Big Red earlier this season was one of the team’s best of the year. Colgate falls close to Dartmouth in the standings, currently two places behind, and plays gritty, she said.
“It’s one of those years where every game is tough,” Holdcroft said. “Whether you play the 12th team or the first team, every game is going to be close.”