The No. 8 Dartmouth women's hockey team mounted two comebacks this weekend, scoring four goals in the final period for a thrilling tie against Clarkson University before falling to St. Lawrence University 4-3 in another hard fought game.
With the weekend's conference results including wins by both Harvard and Princeton, the Big Green women's hockey team (16-8-4, 13-5-4 ECAC Hockey) finishes the regular season as the No. 4 seed entering the ECAC postseason tournament. Dartmouth begins postseason play this Friday at Thompson Arena, hosting No. 5 seed Colgate University in a best-of-three series.
Taking on Clarkson (16-11-4, 10-7-4 ECAC Hockey) Friday night, the Big Green was caught flat-footed in the first two periods, allowing two goals in each frame to fall behind 4-0 with just 20 minutes left in the game. A four-goal effort in the final period, however, tied the game up for the Big Green, with the 4-4 final score tasting of victory as a dejected Clarkson team skated off the ice.
Clarkson went up 1-0 over the Big Green just 32 seconds into game, when a Golden Knights player behind the net found an opening and put the puck past goalie Carli Clemis '09. Clarkson used virtually the same play just five minutes later to score again, making it a 2-0 game.
Despite outshooting Clarkson 10-8 in the first period, Dartmouth could not find the back of the net, and seemed to be misfiring on both offense and defense. Clarkson was threatening to score even when they were a skater down due to a penalty.
The Big Green continued to struggle in the second period, with Clarkson outshooting Dartmouth 17-8, ultimately resulting in two more goals for the Golden Knights to make it a 4-0 game. The Big Green looked disjointed as the squad desperately struggled to gain some momentum.
One of the few bright spots for Dartmouth in the second period, though, was the intense physicality displayed the Big Green. A number of first-year skaters laid down some big hits on the Golden Knights, and the 1,280 fans in attendance were reenergized by the passion exhibited on the ice.
This energy finally paid off in the final period, with the Big Green channeling some aggression toward demolishing the Clarkson lead.
Goals by Amanda Trunzo '11, Jenna Cunningham '10, and two by Kelly Foley '12 brought Dartmouth to the brink of an incredible comeback.
In the end, Dartmouth had lifted itself out of a 4-0 abyss, with the winning goal just eluding the Big Green offense. The tie, however, was enough for the Big Green to clinch the No. 4 seed and home ice advantage in the first round of the upcoming ECAC postseason tournament.
Co-captain Sarah Newnam '09 said that, although the team did not win, the tie gave Dartmouth what it needed going into the tournament.
"We knew we had to get at least one point to secure home ice advantage for playoffs, and we went out there and captured that goal," she said. "Although we would have liked to come out of the weekend with a couple of 'W's, we still took care of business and showed a lot of heart in each battle."
Newnam also praised the supporters that came out for both games.
"The fans were unbelievable this weekend," she said. They fired us up to come from behind against Clarkson and continued their support in our attempt at a comeback against St. Lawrence."
Saturday night's game featured the women's hockey team against No. 7 St. Lawrence (22-9-3, 15-5-1 ECAC Hockey) in the last regular season home game for the Big Green. The evening also doubled as Senior Night, when the seven seniors on the squad were recognized for their contributions to the squad over the last four seasons.
Newnam said the game was emotional for herself and the six other senior on the squad.
"As seniors, we did everything we could this weekend to make sure that it was not our last games that we play in Thompson Arena," she said.
Following a scoreless opening period, St. Lawrence and Dartmouth combined for four goals in the middle frame, with St. Lawrence tallying three. Moira Scanlon '12 scored the sole Dartmouth goal of the second period, with Julia Bronson '09 and Shannon Bowman '09 recording the assists on the play.
Entering the third period down 3-1, Dartmouth again attempted to mount an incredible comeback. The team's efforts came tantalizingly close to fruition.
Following a St. Lawrence goal that brought the score to 4-1, Dartmouth scored twice to bring the squad back to within a point.
Reagan Fischer '12, assisted by Newnam and Cunningham, scored with just under six minutes left to make it a two-point game. A little over two minutes later, Bowman, assisted by Sarah Parsons '10, brought the score to 4-3.
With the goal, Bowman recorded her 100th career point for the Big Green, a fitting milestone for the co-captain to achieve on Senior Night.
Dartmouth spent the closing minutes of the game piling the pressure on the St. Lawrence defense, with the Big Green again running out of time for a thrilling comeback.
Dartmouth threatened to score all the way until the final buzzer sounded, and the last Dartmouth shot on goal came in the closing seconds of the game.
Jenna Cunningham '10 said she was optimistic about the tema's postseason chances after the games this weekend.
"We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend and what we are capable of," she said. "Unfortunately, the results were not what we were hoping for, but I think we came out of the weekend with two hard fought games, and we proved that we are capable of playing with the top teams in our league."
