Women's Hockey Knocks Off Rival Harvard, 4-1

Friday, December 15

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Harvard

Dartmouth Women's Hockey Travels to Brown and Yale

12/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. – A career-high 38 saves by Carli Clemis (Taber, Alta.) along with a pair of goals by Caroline Ethier (Matagami, Que.) gave the Big Green women's hockey team a crucial, 4-1, win over Ivy League rival Harvard Friday night at Thompson Arena.

The Crimson, who are currently ranked No. 6 in the nation, one spot behind Dartmouth, came out ready to skip over the Big Green in the polls. Whichever team won the contest would take sole possession of the first place spot in the ECAC, as both teams were tied for first, with 9-1-0 records.

The Big Green had other plans, as they were eager to, not only keep their national ranking, but move higher with a dominating win over a worthy opponent.

Ethier took charge on her first shift of the game, as line mate Maggie Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn.) moved the puck in from the right side and found a streaking Ethier with a crisp pass. Ethier beat Crimson goalie Christina Kessler with a shot to the lower left hand side to give the Big Green an early, 1-0, lead.

Ten minutes of intense action occurred before the next Big Green tally, when Gillian Apps (Unionville, Ont.) held the puck on the Crimson blue line, as the Big Green set up their power-play unit. Apps slid a short pass to sophomore Shannon Bowman (Leamington, Ont.) who blasted a shot toward the Harvard net. In a stroke of bad luck for the Crimson, the puck deflected off a defender's skate on its way to the back of the Harvard cage, increasing the Big Green's lead to 2-0.

Harvard wasn't without its chances in the first frame though, as the squad combined for 15 shots on net, but not one could squeak by Clemis, as the Big Green went into the first intermission up, 2-0.

Harvard came within one mid-way through the second period, taking advantage of a power-play situation of their own. Julie Chu made a nice backdoor pass to Caitlin Cahow, who one-timed a shot on net, but Clemis put the pad on it, shooting the puck in front of the net. Sophomore Jenny Brine picked up the loose puck and beat Clemis for the goal.

Just two minutes later though, Ethier again lit the lamp as she was left alone in front of the Harvard cage. Kennedy, who drew two defenders to her, made the calm pass to the tape of Ethier, who buried it high to the right side, putting the Big Green up, 3-1, with one period remaining.

The third period was offensively controlled by the Crimson, who was in desperation being behind two goals. The Harvard squad put 14 shots on Clemis in the final period, but couldn't faze the sophomore who stayed cool recording a career-high 39 saves.

Dartmouth's fourth, and final, goal came at 18:46 of the third when Amy Cobb (Edina, Minn.) passed the puck up the boards to Katie Weatherston (Thunder Bay, Ont.) who skated into the Harvard zone. Weatherston made a hurried pass to a streaking Apps, who went in one-on-one with Kessler, beating the freshman goalie between the legs. With the two points tonight, Apps extends her point streak to seven games, while the assist is Cobb's first point of the season.

The win puts Dartmouth (10-1-0) alone at the top of the ECAC standings with 20 points. Harvard (9-2-0) will move slightly to a second place ranking in the league.

The Big Green will be taking a much-needed break from Hanover, N.H., heading home for the holidays. The squad will be back in action again on December 31, as they host Boston College at Thompson Arena. The puck will drop a 2:00 p.m.