November 28, 2008

Big Green Falls Short Against Minnesota-Duluth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - The third-ranked Dartmouth women's hockey team took a slim lead into the third period, but Minnesota-Duluth netted a pair of goals in the third period to defeat the Big Green, 2-1, in a battle of top 10 teams.

For Dartmouth (7-2-1), senior co-captain Sarah Newnam (Clifton, Va.) continued her success with her fifth goal of the season, coming on the power play. It was her fourth in the last three games and she is currently on a three-game goal scoring streak. Classmate Carli Clemis (Taber, Alta.) did her part with 30 saves, including 13 in the final period to go along with 12 in the opening frame.

For the Bulldogs (8-5-2), Haley Irwin and Saara Tuominen did the scoring with Tuominen adding the game-winner in the final minutes of the third period. Laura Fridfinnson contributed on both goals as she had two assists on the night. Duluth netminder Kim Martin posted 23 saves to earn her fifth win of the season.

The Big Green broke the ice late in the first frame on their third power play chance of the evening. Newnam tallied her team-leading fourth goal on the man advantage to make it 1-0 in favor of Dartmouth. Junior Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.) and senior Maggie Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn.) were credited with the assists on the play.

In an uneventful second period, Minnesota-Duluth had three power play chances to Dartmouth's one. However, the penalty kill was able to shutdown the Bulldog offense allowing just nine shots. The Big Green couldn't get anything going either as Dartmouth only fired five shots on net.

Minnesota-Duluth evened the score eight minutes into the third period on Irwin's fifth of the year with the assists going to Fridfinnson and Elin Holmlov.

The stunning blow to the Big Green came with less than two minutes to play in the final period. With 15 seconds left on a Dartmouth penalty, Tuominen netted the game-winner with 1:46 remaining in the game. Fridfinnson earned her second assist of the night, while Sara O'Toole recorded her only point of the evening.

Dartmouth was out shot for the first time this season as the Bulldogs held a 32-24 advantage in shots. Both teams had opportunities on the power play as each had one power play goal. The Big Green went 1-for-6 on the man advantage, while Duluth ended the night with one goal in eight chances.

The two teams will be facing off again tomorrow afternoon at 4:37 p.m. (EST) as the Big Green will look to take the final game of the two-game set.