The women’s ice hockey team gained a critical four points this weekend, defeating Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College, both in come-from-behind fashion. The team now enjoys a three-game winning streak, which started with a 4-2 win over Colgate University on Jan. 18. The 2-1 win against Rensselaer (10-13-2, 6-7-1 ECAC) marked the second time that Dartmouth (7-13-1, 6-8-1 ECAC) has beaten the Engineers this season. Union College (8-17-1, 3-11-0 ECAC) won the two teams’ earlier meeting this season, but the Big Green took Saturday’s game 4-3 after surmounting a third period deficit.
The games marked the Big Green’s first weekend sweep of the year. The team now sits in eighth in the ECAC, holding the final playoff spot. The bottom half of the ECAC is tightly packed, with five teams separated by two points. The Big Green women play three of the teams — St. Lawrence University, Princeton University and Yale University — again this season.
“Knowing that we have those games left is a great opportunity for us not only to get two points for ourselves but also take two points away from them,” captain Lindsay Holdcroft ’14 said. “We need to beat the teams below us and the teams above us to make the playoffs.”
The Big Green has been a different team since the calendar turned. The team is 4-2-1 in 2014, with its two losses coming at the hands of then No. 8 Boston University and No. 3 Cornell University. The team’s top two lines have helped turn around a Big Green offense that struggled to score before the break. Holdcroft has continued to be solid between the pipes, providing stability as the last line of defense.
“Having a young team, it takes time for people to develop in the system,” Holdcroft said. “We tweaked lines a little over the break, and I think people are getting comfortable with each other.”
RPI started off fast, scoring a power play goal just 8:50 into the first period on a 5-on-3 power play, but Dartmouth stayed focused and did not allow the Engineers to take control of the game.
“We just pretend the game is zero-zero,” forward Lindsey Allen ’16 said. “We don’t think we’re down a goal because, if you do, sometimes that deflates the team.”
The Big Green quickly evened out the score just 1:28 into the second period with a partial breakaway goal from Laura Stacey ’16 on an assist from Catherine Berghuis ’16. Berghuis drove wide, the cut back to the middle, sliding the puck past the Engineers’ goalie.
The game stayed knotted at one until the third period when Allen knocked in a rebound from Berghuis to notch the game winner with 13:02 left in the game. Berghuis drove wide, lowering her shoulder to get around a defender. While her initial shot was stopped, the Engineers’ goalie could not cover the puck. Allen drove to the front and chipped the puck into the back of the net for the goal.
Dartmouth played an aggressive game, but it was Holdcroft’s stellar goaltending that kept the team ahead. She stopped 29 of Rensselaer’s 30 shots on goal.
While Holdcroft’s save percentage was not as high in Saturday’s match against Union, the offense exploded for 39 shots on goal, converting on four.
The Big Green scored first 14:05 into the opening period on a goal from Karlee Odland ’15, but the Dutchwomen evened the score less than a minute later with a power play goal.
Dartmouth and Union traded off goals in the second period, with the Big Green entering the third down 3-2. Sam Zeiss ’15 scored the lone tally for the Big Green in the second period, stealing the puck and ripping a shot on net from the hashmarks that found its way through the goalie’s five hole for the goal.
The women did not allow the deficit to faze them, and they took advantage on both of their power play opportunities in the final frame. Allen scored twice with the man advantage to send the Big Green a winner.
Almost halfway through the third, Allen buried another rebound to give tie the game. After Emma Korbs ’17 shot from the point, Kennedy Ottenbreit ’17 took a couple cracks at the puck but was turned aside. The puck then found itself on Allen’s stick, and the sophomore chipped it past the Union netminder for the goal.
“We tried to outwork the Union penalty killers, and by doing so, we got them shifted so we could get shots to the net,” Allen said. “We pretty much just kept banging away at the puck and trying to get it in.”
Allen found the net again during a power play, sneaking a rebound from Stacey past the Union goaltender for her third goal of the weekend. Stacey turned around the top of the circle and fired. Her shot was partially stopped by the Union goalie but continued to trickle towards the line. Allen was in the right place at the right time, pushing the puck over the line for the lead.
“It’s a team sport, so I’m not going to take any of the credit,” Allen said. “I only put the goals in, I didn’t set up any of the plays.”
The Big Green suits up again this weekend, facing Quinnipiac University Friday at 7 p.m. in Hamden, Conn., and Princeton University Saturday at 4 p.m. in Princeton, N.J.
