Women's Hockey Enters Postseason At Home Against Rensselaer

HANOVER, N.H. – The No. 1 seeded Big Green women's hockey team kicks off their post season campaign this afternoon as they host the No. 8 seeded Rensselaer Engineers in ECACHL Quarterfinal action with a best-of-three series in Thompson Arena.

The Big Green, who carry a nine-game unbeaten streak into today, enter the ECAC Hockey League tournament for their 17th time in program history. The team has seen post season action every year since 1991.

After knocking off Cornell and Colgate two weeks ago on the road, the Big Green assured themselves the No. 1 seed in the tournament, giving them home ice throughout the playoffs. The following weekend, in their final regular season games, Dartmouth captured their ninth Ivy League title after beating Brown and Yale.

Leading the way for the Big Green is freshman Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.) who has a team-high 46 points with 13 goals and 33 assists. Just behind Parsons, is senior Gillian Apps (Unionville, Ont.). The captain has recorded 42 points in 27 games, including a team-high 29 goals.

In net for the Green is sophomore Carli Clemis (Taber, Alta.) who will start just the second post season game in her young collegiate career. Clemis has backed the team with a 19-4-2 overall record on the season, and a 1.63 goals against average.

Rensselaer enters their first ever postseason weekend looking to snap a six-game winless streak. The Engineers have lost eight of their last 10 contests with their last victory coming on January 27, at Cornell.

To break their losing skid, Rensselaer will look to two freshman, which have led the team in points in their rookie seasons. Whitney Naslund and Allysen Weidner have combined for 46 points on 18 goals and 28 assists.

Along with Dartmouth's Clemis, guarding the net for the Engineers is another second year goalie. Ashley Mayr comes into the playoffs with an 11-18-1 record and a 2.51 goals against average. Mayr also has two shutout performances this season.

Head coach John Burke, who coached the Rensselaer women in the Independent league before moving up to the ECACHL, holds a 70-37-6 record at the helm of the Engineers heading into the post season.

The series opens today at 4:00 p.m. Game Two will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, and then if necessary another 2:00 p.m. start on Sunday in the final game of the first round.

Schedules