The women’s hockey team beat Union College 3-1 on Friday to keep the Dutchwomen winless in 31 games. The next day, the team fell to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 2-1 in a tight contest. The Big Green improved to 6-17-3 overall and 6-11-3 in ECAC Hockey play.
“We definitely started slow against Union even though we scored early, but as the game went on we got better and better,” Lindsey Allen ’16 said. “Offensively it was a great game, we had a lot of shots and possession in their end. Defensively, we held them to limited shots but we eliminated them from having a lot of chances.”
On Friday, the Big Green faced Union for a second time this season after Dartmouth’s 2-0 win in a Nov. 14 game and proved themselves the better team again, defeating the Dutchwomen 3-1 thanks to three assists from Allen.
In the first period, the Big Green put netminder Melissa Black under pressure as Allen shot the puck with a rebound coming to Caroline Shaunessy ’19 who put the puck in the back of the net to help the Big Green lead 1-0 just 57 seconds into the game.
Just as Dartmouth was getting settled, Union managed to get a goal back as Jacyn Reeves had her shot tip off Big Green netminder Robyn Chemago ’17 into the back of the net to tie the score 1-1 at 13:19.
Regrouping after the intermission, Kennedy Ottenbreit ’17 opened the scoring in the second period with two goals in just under two minutes following a review of an ultimately overturned Union goal. Ottenbreit scored at 2:13 with Allen added her second assist of the game. Shortly after, Alyssa Baker ’19 and Allen assisted Ottenbreit to tally her 11th goal of the season.
“Honestly my two goals just happened to be me in the right place at the right time,” Ottenbreit said. “Allen did all the work in and made a great play by chipping the puck past the first defenseman and then out battled the second one to make a great pass to me and I deflected it in. The second goal was a great shot from Tess at the point and it bounced over to me.”
Allen credits her teammates for helping her tally three assists versus Union.
“The three assists came from great line mates and defensemen,” Allen says. “Kennedy and I play really well together and tend to know where the other is going to be which is a direct reflection of the second goal. For the third goal, it was hard work from everyone on the ice. It took all five on the ice to score that goal, not just the people on the score sheet.”
The third period was scoreless, with the Big Green unable to add to its lead despite a 15-3 shot advantage in the time frame.
“We did a good job playing our game, not giving many chances and it’s a game which was executed well,” head coach Mark Hudak said. “The first period was pretty even, but in the second and third, we played well as a team defensively and offensively have had more success in recent games.”
Overall, the Green outshot the Dutchwomen 35-20, won 38 of 60 face-offs and neither team scored on power plays, with Dartmouth going 0-1 and Union 0-5.
On Saturday, Dartmouth’s 2-1 loss to RPI was a balanced affair between the Engineers and the Big Green.
“RPI was a tough loss as we backed off a bit in the second period which hurt us a bit leaving Robyn to make some really great saves,” Ottenbreit said. “We battled hard to try and come back but just couldn’t seem to put the puck in the net. The team just needs to play the game and battle hard.”
A few minutes into the opening period, Hailey Noronha ’18 and Ottenbreit had a give and go with Ottenbreit shooting the loose puck and Baker getting the rebound to knock the puck into the net, giving Dartmouth the 1-0 lead. The goal was upheld following a video review.
After a strong first period of play for Dartmouth, the Engineers came back in the second as multiple shots hit Chemago in the net. Chemago was able to block two of the shots, but with 13 seconds left, Brandi Banks shot through Chemago’s legs to tie the score 1-1 entering the third period.
With about five and a half minutes to go in the game, the Engineers Taylor Schwalbe intercepted a pass from a Dartmouth player and shot into the left corner of the net to beat Chemago. This goal would push the Big Green to pull Chemago to try to tie the game in the third period, but the team’s attempts were unsuccessful and the Engineers avenged its 4-0 defeat from a Nov. 13 game.
“It was fairly even as we outshot them, but we did not have a really good second period as we game up some momentum,” Hudak said. “The team tried to fight back, but we gave them a bad turnover on their second goal, a mistake. There were a couple opportunities on the doorstep for the taking, which we could not bury. In the second period, we relieved some pressure on the Engineers.”
Neither team scored on the power play, but despite the loss Dartmouth outshot RPI 30-23 .
The Big Green will play its final games of the regular season away next weekend against Cornell University on Friday and Colgate University on Saturday.
“We want to play and get better as a team as we have been especially these past few games and during the season also,” Hudak said. “Colgate is a good team and we want to as a team see what we can accomplish to improve ourselves and hopefully get a good result.”
