Team Notes: Dartmouth Prepares for Princeton and Quinnipiac

HANOVER, N.H. — After two home games, the Dartmouth women's hockey team went on the road for the first time on November 5. Playing at Colgate, the offense continued to run on all cylinders, scoring six goals in a 6-2 win. It was a showcase of how spread the offense can be with six players scoring goals. The high-scoring offense came to a halt when Dartmouth traveled to second-ranked Cornell on November 6. The game was closer than the final score, but the Big Red defended home ice with a 6-1 victory.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Early on, the Dartmouth women's hockey team is exceeding preseason expectations. The team was picked to finish eighth in the preseason ECAC poll, but is currently tied for second with Princeton, trailing defending champion Cornell. Dartmouth is 3-1-0 overall and 3-1-0 in the conference. The team won both of its home contests, and split its two games on the road.

On the season, Amanda Trunzo (Andover, Minn.) is tied for the team lead in points with five and is only three away from 100 career points. She will become the 32nd player in the history of the program to reach the milestone. This year, she has three goals and two assists. Three other players also have five points through four games. Kelly Foley (Boston, Mass.) has two goals and three assists, Camille Dumais (Beaconsfield, Que.) has two goals and three assists and Sally Komarek (Minneapolis, Minn.) has one goal and four assists. The top-scoring defenseman for the squad is Sasha Nanji (Markham, Ont.). She has two goals and two assists for four points.

Freshman Lindsay Holdcroft (Pittsburgh, Pa.) has played the most in net with three starts. In 180 minutes, she's made 46 saves, has a .836 save percentage, has a 2-1-0 record and a 3.00 goals against average.

Besides the game at Cornell, the offense is running smoothly, scoring 3.75 goals per game. On the defensive side, the Big Green have given up two or fewer goals in three of four contests. Dartmouth is making opposing goaltenders work with the team outshooting opponents in every contest at 32.5 shots per game. On the power play, the squad has converted three of 17 chances for 17.6 percent. Conversely, the Big Green have stopped the power play 81.2 percent (13 of 16) of the time.

REPRESENTING THE DEFENSE
Nanji continues to draw attention to the Big Green’s defensive lines. The sophomore is once againleading all Dartmouth defenders in scoring. She did the same this last season, when she scored 19 points. So far this season, she’s exceeding her past performance.  Not only is she leading the team, but she is tied for fourth in the nation in points per game by a defenseman. She is averaging 1.00 ppg. after scoring two goals and recording two assists in four contests. Tara Watchorn of Boston University leads the nation with a 1.50 ppg.

MISSING ON THE BENCH
A certain figure has been missing in the last two Big Green games. Head Coach Mark Hudak left the team on October 31, because he was selected to be an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s Select team that is competing at the Four Nations Cup. He will be with the U.S. team until the tournament ends on November 14, and then will return to coach the Big Green. Assistant coach Holley Tyng is filling in for Hudak, while he is away.

SHARING THE PUCK
The Big Green have been spreading around the scoring this season in both goals and assists. Ten different players have scored a goal in just four games and 12 players have recorded a point. The variety of scorers was on display against Colgate when six different players scored a goal in the 6-2 win.
 
TYING CAREER HIGHS
Six different Big Green players tied a career high in some form at Colgate last week. Senior Katie Horner (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) tied her career high in assists (one) and points (one). Junior Erica Dobos (Bethel Park, Pa.) tied her mark for goals (one), Foley equaled her mark in points (three), junior Jenna Hobeika (Alpine, N.J.) matched her mark in assists (two) and Komarek tied her mark for goals (one). Holdcroft set a career high in saves against the Raiders with 17 and then made 17 saves the next night at Cornell.
 
CONFERENCE LEADERS
Multiple Big Green skaters are still among the conference leaders after four games. Four different players (Trunzo, Foley, Dumais & Komarek) are tied for fifth in points with five. Trunzo is also tied for the lead in goals with three. Komarek is tied for the assists’ lead with four.  The offense is second in the ECAC in scoring at 3.75 goals per game.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Princeton enters the weekend with a 3-4-0 overall record and a 3-2-0 record in the ECAC. The Tigers are currently tied for second in the conference with the Big Green. Princeton has only played two home games on the year and earned a split in the contests.

Last weekend, the team played at Rensselaer and at Union. The Tigers earned one-goal victories in both contests. Against RPI, freshmen Denna Laing and Sally Butler each scored their second goals of the season to lead the squad to the victory. Princeton jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held on for a 2-1 victory.

Against Union, it took overtime, but again the Tigers came away the victors. Butler provided the game winner in the 3-2 comeback win. Princeton trailed 2-0 five minutes into the game, but were able to fight its way back into the contest. Corey Stearns scored her first and second goal of the season to tie the game, before Butler’s heroics in the extra frame.

Three players are tied for the team lead in points with four. Butler has four on three goals and one assist,  Stearns has scored two goals and recorded two assists and Sasha Sherry has one goal and three assists.

Cassie Seguin has been the primary netminder for the Tigers. She’s started all seven games and played 393:11 of the 421:13 total minutes. Seguin has allowed 17 goals, made 187 saves and has a 2.59 goals against average.

Princeton is averaging 1.57 goals per game, but is giving up 2.71 gpg. The Tigers haven’t converted their chances on the power play. They have scored 9.7 percent (3-of-31) of the time with a man advantage. Princeton is killing the power play 81.8 percent (27-of-33) of the time. The offense is taking 28.9 shots per game, but allowing 30.4.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday’s contest marks the 71st time that Dartmouth and Princeton have competed on the ice. The Tigers lead the all-time series, 38-27-5. The teams first met on January 24, 1978 at Thompson Arena. Princeton won handily over the Big Green, 9-2. The Tigers dominated the series early on, winning 20 of the first 22 games. Dartmouth earned its first win in the series on February 10, 1985. The squads have gone back and forth recently with the teams going 2-2-1 in their last five games. The teams split their games last year with each team winning on home ice. The Big Green last won at Princeton on October 31, 2008.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Quinnipiac enters the weekend with a 7-4-1 record overall, but only a 2-3-0 mark in conference play. The Bobcats are in a three-way tie for fifth in the ECAC.

Last weekend, the team earned a split in road games at Union and Rensselaer. At Union, Quinnipiac took the lead early and held on for a 3-2 victory. The Bobcats scored all three goals in the first period highlighted by freshman Lindsay Burman’s first career goal 30 seconds into the game.

Against RPI, the Bobcats couldn’t find their offense, losing, 2-0. Goaltender Victoria Vigilanti tried her best, making 24 saves in the loss.

Kelly Babstock leads the team with 21 points on seven goals and 14 assists. Erica Uden Johansson is second on the team with six goals and six assists for 12 points. Regan Boulton is third with 10 points on six goals and four assists.

Vigilanti has started every game for the Bobcats, and has earned a 7-4-1 record. She’s played 724:54 minutes, made 280 saves, has a 1.82 goals against average and a .927 save percentage.

Quinnipiac is scoring 2.83 goals per game and only allowing 1.92. On the power play, the Bobcats are 13 of 63 for a 20.6 percent conversion rate. The team is killing the power play 85.1 percent (40-of-47) of the time. The offense is taking 29.2 shots per game, while only allowing 25.2.

SERIES HISTORY
When Dartmouth and Quinnipiac play on Saturday it will be for only the 11th time. The Big Green lead the all-time series, 6-2-2. The squads first met on January 5, 2005 at Thompson Arena. Dartmouth won the game easily, 5-2. The Bobcats earned a tie in the next game, but didn’t garner a victory in the series until last year on November 14, 2009. Quinnipiac swept the two games last season, winning both, 2-1. The Big Green have not won at Quinnipiac since November 1, 2008.