The women’s ice hockey team split two matches this weekend, coming away with a win against Brown University before falling to Yale University the following day. The Big Green moved to 11-11-2 overall and 7-9-2 in Ivy League play.
The Big Green struck first against Brown on Friday night. Kennedy Ottenbreit ’17 picked up an errant pass from the Bears and sent the puck to Samantha Zeiss ’15, who settled the pass, deked a defender and slotted the puck in the back of the net eight minutes into the first period.
“[Zeiss] got herself a breakaway and put it in,” Lindsey Allen ’16 said. “That definitely switched our momentum a little bit and got us going a little harder.”
Dartmouth continued their offensive dominance over Brown into the second period. Brooke Ahbe ’18 and Emma Korbs ’17 both scored early in the period, stretching the lead to three goals.
Devon Moir ’17 picked the puck up off a rebound and sent a pass to Ahbe, who was wide open behind the goalie. Ahbe threw the puck in off the back of the goalie’s skates for Dartmouth’s second goal of the game. Korbs, on a power play and with plenty of space up top, blasted a high shot from the blue line that beat the Brown goalie top shelf on her glove side, giving the Big Green a comfortable three-point lead over the their opponents.
Down by three points halfway through the second, the Bears fought hard to get on the scoreboard and managed to break through with less than two minutes left in the period. Brown scored twice in the waning moments of the period, cutting Dartmouth’s lead to just one goal.
“They work really hard. They’re really gritty,” Ottenbreit said. “When they’re gritty like that they tend to put a lot of people on the puck. They might have gotten some goals that might have been lucky bounces, but that’s what happens when you work hard.”
Heading into the third period, the Big Green took to the ice aiming to widen its lead. Five minutes into the third, second-line wings Karlee Odland ’15 and Laura Stacey ’16 advanced the puck up the ice with good passing. Charging up the wing, Odland found Stacey in the crease with a middling pass. Stacey collected the pass as she was streaking toward the net and froze the goalie with her speed, ending the play with a simple backhand into the back of the net.
Three minutes later on the power play, Dartmouth goalie Robyn Chemago ’17 moved behind the net to play a puck but tripped on the pole as she was trying to get back in position. Brown wing Sarah Robson found herself with the puck in the slot and threw it into the empty net, cutting Dartmouth’s lead back to one.
Up by one, the Big Green was able to keep the Bears at bay until the close of the third period, sealing the win.
Less than 24 hours later, Dartmouth squared off against Yale. A late four-goal explosion by Yale stole the game, giving the Bulldogs a 6-2 win.
The first period opened with high energy from both teams, as the puck flew between offensive zones and was worked well in each direction. The shot count rarely fluctuated more than a couple in favor of either side. Despite the loss, the game ended with a shot count of 30-29, with Dartmouth narrowly out-shooting Yale.
Seven minutes into the game, Yale got on the scoreboard first off a power play goal. Yale right wing Phoebe Staenz carried the puck over to the left side of the rink, and as she was moving behind the net, she threw a puck at the net that slipped between Chemago’s stick and the pole.
Playing on a power play with three minutes left in the first, Allen tied things up with a hard shot to the right side of the goal, just beating Yale goalie Jaimie Leonoff. Eleni Tebano ’17 and Stacey both received assists on Allen’s shot.
“We know this goalie is pretty good,” Stacey said. “Our game plan was to try and get as many pucks to the net with her not being able to see as much, and we got a few but I think that was one of the parts where we struggled a bit.”
The second period maintained the intensity between the two teams. Six minutes into the second, Yale center Jackie Raines moved the puck into the middle of the ice with some fancy stick-handling and lobbed a knuckeball backhand at Chemago. The puck squeaked through the five hole to give Yale the 2-1 lead.
The first half of the third period saw the Big Green tie the game off a power-play goal, but the Yale offense exploded late in the third. Ottenbreit evened the score seven minutes into the third for her 10th goal of the season. Ottenbreit, playing with space up top, found the Yale goalie moving the right way and slammed the puck into the net after passes from Stacey and Allen.
The momentum of the game changed quickly, and Yale scored three goals in under two minutes in an inexplicable lapse by the Dartmouth team.
“I’m not too sure what happened,” Stacey said. “I think we were focused on getting that next goal, and then we kind of forgot a little bit about our defensive zone.”
Yale tacked on a short-handed empty-netter that ended the game 6-2. The Big Green will leave hanover for one of the final weekends of its regular season facing Colgate University on Friday at 7 p.m. and Cornell University on Saturday at 4 p.m.
“It’s a huge weekend for us,” Stacey said. “We need to come out really hard next weekend and prove to the league that we are better than our standings say.”
