Dartmouth defenseman Olivia Whitford ?16 drives the puck away from the goal in Tuesday?s win against Yale University.
By Jake Bayer, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Thursday, February 14, 2013
In the twice-delayed matchup between Dartmouth and Yale University, The Big Green women?s hockey team (14-7-4, 9-6-3 ECAC) defeated the Bulldogs (4-18-2, 3-12-2 ECAC) 4-2. The conference contest pitted a Dartmouth team with its eyes on climbing the standings into the ECAC elite against a Yale team trying to show it can withstand any opponent.
The first period was marked by Dartmouth?s intense offensive effort, during which the team took 14 shots on goal. But as the conference leader in saves, Yale sophomore Jaimie Leonoff was able to fight off the Big Green?s best efforts.
After forcing Leonoff into two tough saves, Dartmouth?s defense let in a Yale goal. Yale sophomore forward Lynn Kennedy scored off of a counter-attack.
Big Green goalie Lindsay Holdcroft ?14 nearly made the save, but the shot bounced off her leg pad up and off the crossbar into the net behind her.
Trying to rally from the early goal, the Big Green made a power play only minutes later. However, the Yale penalty kill managed to survive the two minutes, owing in part to two off-side shots and a missed pass that disrupted the offensive attack.
?We couldn?t stop doing the good things we were doing: possessing the puck, getting shots, really preventing them from getting scoring opportunities, we had to make sure we weren?t getting frustrated by not scoring,? coach Mark Hudak said. ?We had to get to the net and not just settle for outside shots.?
Only one minute into the second period, the Big Green came out ready to regain control of the scoreboard, nearly netting a breakaway goal during a penalty kill.
?[Ailish Forfar ?16] scored a really big goal 10 seconds after the end of the penalty and 54 seconds into the second period,? captain Jenna Hobeika ?12 said.
With nine minutes left in the second, Dartmouth was on their second penalty attack, but the team was still unable to convert on the opportunity. At the five-and-a-half minute mark, the Big Green had the goal surrounded by three attackers, all trying to push the puck through a hole they failed to find.
?After a shift, we made a big offensive play and got a goal,? Hobeika said. ?That gave us confidence that we could win the game.?
However, a minute after that, Lindsey Allen ?16 found the back of the net, on a breakaway with a shot that again whizzed by the goalie?s head into the top shelf off of a pass by Zoe Brennan ?16, making the score 2-1 for the Big Green.
In a moment reminiscent of the first period, a Yale skater slapped a shot toward Holdcroft?s leg pad, deflecting it up and behind the net. The second period ended with a 30-10 shot differential between Dartmouth and Yale.
?They really collapsed their defense,? Holdcroft said.
Coming out strong into the third period and holding the ice ahead 2-1, the Big Green nearly got a goal, with the puck just missing the bottom corner of the net, but the play on the puck afterwards resulted in a Bulldog penalty.
Improving again on the quality of their power play, Dartmouth generated a couple of good shots, but were still unable again to convert on the power play ?? their seventh straight attempt without a goal.
Winning the faceoff 5:37 into the third, Reagan Fischer ?12 sent the puck to Camille Dumais ?13, who shot right past the goalie.
The Bulldogs had mounted a two-goal comeback after an early third period goal in the last matchup between the two teams in November. This time, the Big Green did not let them back in the game at all, maintaining their gargantuan shot advantage and keeping Yale out of the net.
?We made a poor decision on a pass out of our zone which ended up getting a penalty,? Hudak said.
After the penalty on Fischer, the Bulldogs were given an opportunity to spark their offense again after a 3-0 drought. Yale pulled their goalie with less than four minutes to go in the game, creating a six-on-four advantage.
?I personally was extremely nervous after that,? Hobeika said.
Crowding the box with the extra players, Yale freshman Kate Martini whipped a slapshot into the top right corner of the net off a pass from another defenseman.
?They made a nice play and to get a shot on net, our goalie really struggled to see the puck until it was on its way,? Hudak said.
The Bulldog?s extra skater after the power play came back to hurt them.
?The empty net goal was a really big goal for us and set up the win,? Hobeika said.
With just 45 seconds left to play, any potential Yale comeback was silenced by Jessica Gagner ?13 with an open net goal. The goal was Gagner?s first of the season.
The Big Green now try to ride their three-game winning streak to New York to face off against Colgate University and Cornell University this weekend.
?We have some tough games coming up,? Hudak said.
Source: http://thedartmouth.com/2013/02/14/sports/hockey/
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