In its home opener at Thompson Arena on Nov. 1, Dartmouth women’s hockey fell to No. 15 Brown University in a tight 2-1 game. The Big Green was left 0-6 after a second loss the next day at Yale University and a tough series of earlier road losses to No. 12 Penn State and ECAC opponents Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College. Six-hundred-eighty fans packed into the stands at Thompson Arena to spectate the game against Brown, according to Dartmouth Sports.
The game started with a roar, as forward and team captain Lauren Messier ’25 claimed the puck during the face-off against Brown’s forward Jade Igina.
Dartmouth’s offense found their stride just five minutes into the second period, breaking through Brown’s defense during a power play with a goal shot by forward Meredith Jensen ’26. Forward Hamilton Doster ’27 converted the rebound into a 1-0 lead.
“[The goal] was definitely a good team effort,” Doster said. “We’d worked on that play a lot in practice. … Our power play did a really good job of throwing the puck and having bodies there to crash.”
The success of the power play was a testament to the team’s practice efforts and strategy, according to head coach Maura Crowell.
“Scoring on the power play is always fun,” Crowell said. “And for me [it was all about] just seeing some gutsy plays and possessing the puck more.”
The Bears responded moments later on a power play of their own, which ended in a goal by forward Ava Decoste. The game remained closely contested, with Dartmouth holding Brown at 1-1 through much of the second period. The prolonged tie was “not a great feeling,” Messier said.
“You want to be up,” she said.
Brown followed up in the third period, edging out the Big Green with a final score of 2-1 despite the efforts of Dartmouth’s offensive lineup.
“You work to climb out of those situations, and … we weren’t able to do that today,” Messier said. “But the good news is there’s lots to build off of.”
The Dartmouth squad remains optimistic despite the rough start to their season.
“I think we have a lot of fight in us and a lot of pride in the program,” Crowell said. “You can get bogged down in what our record is, but if you actually look at the product on the ice from game to game, they’re clearly playing a better team game and their compete level is high.”
Similar to her coach, Messier emphasized her pride in the team’s progress, even though the outcome was less than what the team had hoped for.
“We saw a lot of things come together that we’d been working on throughout the weekend practice,” she said. “…I think that we all just need to expect a little more from ourselves and give 110% in order to get the outcome that we want.”
Messier also praised freshman goalie Michaela Hesová ’28 for her role as a defensive anchor in the net.
“Our goalie Michaela … has been standing on her head the whole season for us,” Messier said. “She’s awesome, calm, cool and collected. She knows what to do in a high-pressure situation.”
In the Big Green’s 2-1 loss against Yale on Saturday night, Hesová made 36 additional saves, bringing her weekend and season totals to 61 and 188, respectively.
Reflecting on the weekend, Doster said the team has “been in a lot of close games.”
“We know exactly what it feels like to lose, so we can use that sort of motivation for [the future],” she said.
