Women's Hockey Opens 2007-08 Season Against Vermont and Boston University

Women's Hockey Opens 2007-08 Season Against Vermont and Boston University

10/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. ? The Dartmouth women's hockey team will open the 2007-08 season this weekend as the Big Green hosts Vermont on Friday at 7 p.m. and travels to Boston University on Sunday for a 3 p.m. face-off.

SCOUTING VERMONT
The Catamounts come to Hanover with a 4-2-0 record this season. The former ECAC-foe began their season with two-game sweeps of Sacred Heart and Union, outscoring their opponents 21-4. In Vermont's last series they were defeated by Cornell, 3-0, in the opening game and 4-2 in the finale.
Vermont is led by senior Kate Lesniak, who is second in Hockey East in scoring with eight points. Her four goals and four assists are good enough for third in the league in both categories.
First years for the Catamounts have really stepped up. Molly Morrison, Saleah Morrison and Teddy Fortin are all second on the team in points with five. Molly Morrison leads the group with three goals, while Fortin is tied with Lesniak as the team-leader in assists with four.
Sophomore Kristen Olychuck is in her second season between the pipes. In five games this season, Olychuck is 4-1-0 with a 1.40 goals against average. She has stopped 93-of-100 shots for a .930 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
This is the 33rd meeting between the Catamounts and the Big Green. Dartmouth leads the all-time series 29-3-0. The Big Green has taken 27 straight from Vermont, dating back to 1982. The streak is ranked third in Dartmouth history behind Middlebury (35 straight) and Yale (41 straight).

SCOUTING BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Boston University remains winless this season after playing four top ten teams. The Terriers are 0-4-1 with the lone tie coming in the season opener against North Dakota at the Nike Bauer Women's Classic at Minnesota.
Junior Erin Seman holds the team lead in points with five and is sharing the team lead in goals with two. Senior defensman Julie Poulin is tops for the Terriers with four assists, while fellow blue liner, sophomore Sarah Appleton is tied with Seman with a pair of scores.
Boston University has shared duties in net as sophomore Melissa Haber has played in three games and junior Allyse Wilcox was in goal for two. Haber has been challenged in every game this season. In three games this year, she posted 35 or more saves, including 38 against Minnesota in her first game of the year. Wilcox earned a season opening tie vs. North Dakota, making 19 stops. In her second game, she pushed aside 38 shots from third-ranked New Hampshire in a 3-1 defeat.
The power play for the Terriers has been a bright spot as the unit leads Hockey East with six power play goals and a 21.4 power play percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
The Terriers and Big Green will hook up for the fifth time in the history of the two schools. The teams have split the series with Boston University taking the first two contests in 1979 and 1980. Dartmouth evened the series with a 9-0 shutout in 1985 and a 4-3 win in 2005.

FRESH FACES
Dartmouth head coach Hudak has brought four newcomers to the Big Green program this season. With the losses up front from a year ago, Dartmouth added three forwards to the squad. Alyssa Boehm, Larissa Roche and Amanda Trunzo will look to contribute early and often. On defense, Katie Horner will be the lone freshman defender as the blue line has the most depth for the Big Green.

QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY
For the fourth consecutive season, Dartmouth will be faced with a shorter bench. The Big Green has 17 skaters and three goalies.

PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE
Junior goaltender Carli Clemis and sophomore Sarah Parsons were named to the preseason ECAC Hockey All-League team. Parson and Clemis were two-of-the-six selected for the team. Dartmouth, Harvard and St. Lawrence each had two members named to the team.

FORWARD AT FOUR NATIONS
Forward Sarah Parsons was recently selected to represent Dartmouth at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden from November 7-11. Parsons is making her third appearance for the U.S. at the Cup. Gillian Apps '06 and Katie Weatherston '06 will be competing for Canada, while Correne Bredin '02 will join Parsons on the U.S. Parsons will miss one game due to the tournament - Nov. 11 at Providence.

100 CAREER WINS
Hudak begins the 2007-08 season ten wins away from 100 in his career. Hudak is 90-34-8 in four seasons with the Big Green.

PROGRAM MILESTONE
The Big Green enters its 31st season only six wins shy of 500 in program history. Dartmouth enters Friday night's contest with a 494-263-41 record in 30 seasons.

CAPTAINS
This year, senior Nicole Ruta will wear the "C" for the Big Green. Ruta was an assistant captain last season. Shannon Bowman and Sarah Newnam will join Ruta as assistant captains.

RADIO
Once again this season the Big Green women's hockey team will be on the radio. The broadcast can be heard locally on WDCR 1340 AM/WFRD 99 ROCK and live online at DartmouthSportsRadio.net.