Hopes run high that the incoming freshman class will help the women's team improve on its 16-10-5 (11-7-4 ECAC) record and advance past the ECAC quarterfinals, where the Big Green was swept by Harvard University.
"I'm really excited about them," head coach Mark Hudak said. "We've had a couple strong recruiting classes the past couple years. There's some good depth and I think there's a couple kids who may have flown under other peoples' radars."
The incoming freshmen for the women's team are Emma Korbs, from Toronto, Eleni Tebano, from Glastonbury, Conn., Devon Moir, from Toronto, Kennedy Ottenbreit, from Grayson, Saskatchewan, Kathleen Ratty, from Northfield, Ill., Mackenzie St. Onge, from Stowe and Robyn Chemago, from Slave Lake, Alberta.
Forwards Moir, Ottenbreit, Ratty and St. Onge hope to help the Dartmouth offense light the lamp more after Dartmouth averaged 2.71 goals per game last season, ranking fifth in the ECAC. They replace five outgoing forwards who scored 48 of Dartmouth's 84 goals last season.
"We're trying to create a culture and environment that shows the expectations for when they arrive on the first day and get ready to sync up with the group," assistant coach Joshua Liegl said.
Moir played for the Toronto Aeros of the provincial women's hockey league, winning a regular season title and silver medals in the Provincial Championship and the PWHL League Championship.
Ottenbreit represented team Saskatchewan at both the Canadian U18 Nationals and the Canada Winter Games and was a member of the 2011 Canadian U18 National Team.
Ratty served as an assistant captain for the Chicago Mission U19 team and was a two-time runner-up at the USA Hockey National Championship.
St. Onge played for the North American Hockey Academy and participated at the USA Hockey National Development Camps in 2011 and 2012.
Korbs and Tebano bring their defensive skills to a team that allowed 71 goals last season for fourth in the Ivy League and lost three senior defenders. Korbs represented Team Ontario at the U18 National Championships in 2011 and 2012, while Tebano played for the Mid-Fairfield Connecticut Stars and the Westminster School, where she was a three-sport captain.
Chemago comes to Hanover after representing Team Alberta at the U18 National Championships in 2011 and 2012.
She will likely back up Lindsay Holdcroft '14, who was named co-captain last week, along with Ali Winkel '14.
"I really think the incoming group of '17s has as much personality as the '16s," Leigl said. "I think putting them together, along with our upperclassmen, will be a really great experience."
The freshmen will jump right into the action due the current roster's limited size.
"Our roster going into next year is 21, which is the amount that you're allowed to have dressed for a game," Hudak said. "We try to spend the first part of the year trying to figure out what we have and giving them opportunities to play so that we can see what they do. And then we start making adjustments and deciding who's going to be on which line."
Hopes are similarly high that the incoming freshmen will help the men's team improve on its record (15-14-5, 9-9-4 ECAC) and advance beyond the ECAC quarterfinals, where the Big Green was swept by Union College.
"Typically, our freshmen are able to make a big impact," Eric Robinson '14 said. "Just about every freshman this year was given an opportunity to compete. Expectations are high."
Robinson will be an alternate captain for the second straight season. Last season, he was fourth on the team in scoring with 11 goals and nine assists despite suffering an injury that sidelined him for a portion of the year.
The men's hockey team will be joined by Troy Crema, from Toronto, Grant Opperman, from Wayzata, Minn., Kyle Nickerson, from Weston, Mass., Brandon Kirk, from La Verne, Cal. and Josh Hartley, from Coquitlam, British Columbia. Robinson and Taylor Boldt '14 will assist captain Tyler Sikura '15 in helping the freshmen transition.
"Everyone by this point knows the game pretty well," Robinson said. "Our main goal is to keep everyone level headed and act as a liaison to the coaches."
