Game Notes

Fri.,  #7 St. Lawrence (4-2-3, 2-1-0 ECAC) at Dartmouth (0-1-1, 0-1-1 ECAC), 7 p.m.
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Sat., #2 Clarkson (9-1-1, 3-0-0 ECAC) at Dartmouth (0-1-1, 0-1-1 ECAC), 4 p.m.
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HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth women's hockey team is still in search of its first win of the 2009-10 campaign and it will not be easy this weekend as seventh-ranked St. Lawrence and second-ranked Clarkson come to Hanover.

LOOKING TO REBOUND
The Dartmouth women’s hockey team will look to get back on track this weekend after a tough road trip to Cornell and Colgate. The Big Green was able to earn just one point in the two games with a 5-5 tie at Colgate. The Big Red shutout Dartmouth in the season opener on Friday night. Senior co-captain Jenna Cunningham recorded her third career hat trick on Saturday against Cornell and three others tallied three points in the tie. Now the Big Green will face back-to-back ranked teams in seventh-ranked St. Lawrence and second-ranked Clarkson this coming weekend, so it doesn’t get easier for Dartmouth. 

LOOKING FOR POSITIVES
After earning just one point over the weekend at Cornell and Colgate, the Big Green have something positive on its side. The last time Dartmouth started a season without a win in the first weekend was back in 2006-07 when the Big Green dropped both games against Mercyhurst on the road. Following that weekend, Dartmouth only lost three games the rest of the season and claimed the ECAC Hockey Regular Season and Tournament title. The Big Green finished tied for most wins in program history with a 27-5-2 overall record and dropped only one conference game all season.

THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM
Senior co-captain Jenna Cunningham netted her third career hat trick in the 5-5 tie with Colgate on Saturday. Prior to that achievement, she posted her first against Princeton (11/29/06) during her freshman campaign. She added three the next season in a 6-4 win over Mercyhurst (12/16/07), but she failed to get one last year. She wasn’t the only player to earn three points. Senior co-captain Sarah Parsons and sophomore Kelly Foley added three assists in the tie, while junior Amanda Trunzo potted two goals and added an assist for three points.

FRESHMAN IN NET 
Rookie netminder Whitney Woodcox got the start in net against Colgate and she was the first freshman goaltender to start a game since senior Sarah Kennedy earned a start back on Feb. 10, 2007. The Big Green ended up victorious against Cornell with a 7-0 win. Kennedy made 12 saves in the win to reach a 4-0-0 record in her first season.

NATIONAL POLLS
Dartmouth fell out of both national polls as the Big Green is 13th in the USCHO.com Poll and 12th in the USA Hockey/ESPN The Magazine Poll. Mercyhurst continues to lead both polls, while Clarkson jumped up to No. 2 this week. Cornell was the lone Ivy League team in the top-10 of the USCHO.com Poll, while Harvard remained ranked in the USA Hockey Poll. St. Lawrence comes to Hanover as the seventh-ranked team.

THOMPSON OPENER
Dartmouth will begin its 29th season in the friendly confines of Thompson Arena. The Big Green began play at Thompson in 1980 and have amassed 274 victories between the boards. Dartmouth is 19-9-1 all-time in home openers at Thompson and has played St. Lawrence twice in home openers and is a perfect 2-0. The Saints were downed by Dartmouth, 7-1, back in 1991 and also fell to the Big Green back in 1999 with a 3-2 loss. Dartmouth has won 10-straight home openers, dating back to 1999. Under Hudak, the Big Green is undefeated in home openers.

PART OF AN ICE HOCKEY FAMILY
Freshman Jessica Gagner of London, Ont., has grown up with nothing but ice hockey around her. Gagner’s brother, Sam, is the starting center for the Edmonton Oilers and he just earned his 100th career point in the NHL. He has 33 goals and 67 assists in two-plus years with the Oilers. Jessica father, Dave, is the director of player development for his son’s rival club, the Vancouver Canucks. In 15 seasons in the NHL, Gagner recorded 719 points (318-401-719) and 1,016 penalty minutes for seven different franchises.

INCHING CLOSER
Jenna Cunningham is now three points away from becoming the 31st Big Green skater to reach 100 points in a career and the fourth in the past two seasons. She also is on the verge of tallying 50 goals and 50 assists. Cunningham currently has 48 goals and 49 helpers in 87 games. She missed 16 games in her sophomore season, but still managed 37 points.

MOVING ON UP
Sarah Parsons was one of those three skaters to reach 100  points last season and has added to her total with her three helpers last week. She now has 119 points in 95 total games with 46 goals and 73 assists. She is tied with Maggie Kennedy ’09 on the all-time list. Parsons also jumped into the top-10 in career assists with her 73rd on Saturday.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
The Big Green shot itself in the foot all weekend as Dartmouth visited the penalty box 15 times for 30 minutes on the penalty kill. Luckily, only three power play goals were scored, but two came in the 5-5 tie against Colgate to get the Raiders back in the game. Sophomore Geneva Kliman leads the team with three penalties for six minutes.

NEW ASSISTANT COACH
The Dartmouth women’s hockey program welcomed a new member this off season as Sara Simard joined the staff as the second assistant coach. Simard comes to Hanover after a stint at the University of Maine. She was a four-year player at St. Lawrence and amassed 63 points in 135 career games as a forward. She made two NCAA Frozen Four appearances with the Saints (2001, 2004). She beat Dartmouth in both of those frozen fours with a 3-1 win in the semis in 2001 and a 2-1 win in the third place game in 2004.

YOUNG DEFENSE
Dartmouth will be sporting one of its youngest back lines in recent memory as the unit has one senior and one junior. The rest of the blueline is comprised of two sophomores and three freshmen. Also when Whitney Woodcox is in net, the Big Green could be relying on all freshmen on its defensive end of the ice.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS
The nationally-ranked Saints march into Thompson Arena with a 4-2-3 overall record and a 2-1-0 mark in ECAC Hockey play. St. Lawrence is coming off a weekend sweep of Brown and Yale, which the Saints defeated by a combined score of 7-1. Prior to the weekend, they were on a three-game winless streak with a 4-1 loss to Clarkson and ties with Boston University and New Hampshire.
   
Sophomore Vanessa Emond leads St. Lawrence with 13 points with a team high seven goals and six assists. The Saints have spread out their scoring as 10 players have scored at least one goal. The next three top scorers are all rookies. Kelly Sabatine leads the first-years with eight points on two goals and six assists, while Kayla Sullivan and Michelle Ng have contributed six points apiece.
   
In goal, senior Brittony Chartier has started eight games and has posted a 1.83 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. She has a 3-2-3 record this season with one shutout, which came last weekend against Yale.

SERIES HISTORY
Dartmouth and St. Lawrence will be hooking up for the 49th time in this ECAC Hockey rivalry. The Big Green holds a slim 26-20-2 advantage, but has only one win in the last six matchups. That lone win came last season in the ECAC Hockey semifinal round of the tournament as Dartmouth came away with a 5-2 win and went on their way to win the title.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Clarkson enters this weekend as the fourth-ranked team in the nation. The Golden Knights are the highest ranked ECAC Hockey school with a 9-1-1 record overall and a perfect 3-0-0 mark in conference action. They are on a five-game winning streak and swept Yale and Brown at home last weekend with consecutive shutouts.
   
Clarkson has four players with double-digit points, led by senior Dominique Thibault, who has seven goals and eight assists for 15 points. Thibault is followed closely by classmate Britney Selina as the forward has five goals and a team high nine assists for 14 points. Junior Melissa Waldie and sophomore Juana Baribeau have contributed as well. Waldie has seven goals and six assists for 13 points, while Baribeau leads the team with eight goals.
   
In net, junior Lauren Dahm has been great for the Golden Knights with an impressive 1.08 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. She posted back-to-back shutouts versus Yale and Brown and now has blanked four opponents this season.
   
SERIES HISTORY
Dartmouth and Clarkson will be facing off for the 15th time since the two schools first met back in 1979. Neither team has come away with a victory in the last three matchups as they have all gone to overtime with each team failing to score. The Big Green holds an 8-3-3 advantage over the Golden Knights and is unbeaten in the last seven games.