Dartmouth Suffers Tough Setback at Quinnipiac

HAMDEN, Conn. - The Dartmouth women's hockey team took a one-goal advantage into the final period, but Quinnipiac scored two in the frame to hand the Big Green a tough 2-1 loss on Friday afternoon in conference action.

Dartmouth (6-7-2, 4-5-1 ECAC Hockey) got its lone goal from senior co-captain Jenna Cunningham (Medicine Hat, Alta.) with the assists going to freshman Sally Komarek (Minneapolis, Minn.) and senior co-captain Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.). Komarek got her chance to play on the top scoring line and was able to collect her third assist of her first campaign. Senior goaltender Mariel Lacina (London, Ont.) pushed aside 24 shots and took the loss, which was her seventh of the year.

Quinnipiac (8-7-6, 5-3-5 ECAC Hockey) saw two goals in the third period. The game-tying goal came from Kallie Flor for her fifth of the year, while Brittany Lyons netted her third of the year and the game-winner with five minutes left in the game. Victoria Vigilanti was consistent in net and made 20 stops, including 17 in the final two periods of play.

The Big Green had its opportunities in the first period with two chances on the man advantage, but came up empty. Dartmouth was outshot 8-3 in the frame and Lacina made all eight stops. The Big Green did a nice job staying out of the penalty box as Quinnipiac only had one power play. 

After the scoreless period, Cunningham gave Dartmouth a 1-0 lead with 12:31 remaining with her ninth of the season, which tied her for the team lead. Komarek and Parsons assisted on the play as Komarek added her third helper of the year and Parsons also tied for tops on the team with her ninth assist. Cunningham wrapped the puck around the right post and tucked it under the glove of Vigilanti to put the Big Green on the board first.

Prior to the score, Cunningham looked to have put Dartmouth on the board minutes earlier, but it was determined that she kicked the puck into the net with her skate. The Big Green outshot the Bobcats in the second frame by a 9-5 margin. The game was clean as the teams combined to commit only six penalties. One came in the second period alone and the other four happened in the first. Both schools failed on all power play opportunities. Dartmouth did not capitalize on the man advantage for the first time in three games.

The third period belonged to Quinnipiac. The Bobcats outshot the Big Green 13-9, erased a one-goal deficit and came out with a 2-1 win. The Dartmouth downfall began with Flor's game-tying tally with 7:27 remaining in the period with the assist credited to Janine Duffy. Quinnipiac didn't waste any time taking the lead as Lyons tucked one home 2:51 after Flor's score to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead. Assisting on the play were Chelsea Illchuk and Stacey Kmill.

The Big Green will look to put this loss behind them tomorrow afternoon as Dartmouth travels to Princeton for a 1 p.m. face-off with the Tigers. The Big Green has yet to drop two in a row this season.