Women's Hockey Begins 2008-09 Season at Princeton and Quinnipiac

Game Notes

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth women's hockey team will kick off its 32nd varsity season this weekend as the Big Green hit the road for two ECAC Hockey games at Princeton and Quinnipiac.

Dartmouth travels to face the Tigers on Friday night to open the season at 7 p.m. at Hobey Baker Rink, followed by a matchup with the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. from the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

Dartmouth returns 17 letterwinners from a year ago after losing just three to graduation. The Big Green has also added seven newcomers to the mix and Dartmouth will have its largest squad in quite some time as the team will feature 24 skaters. Head coach Mark Hudak returns to the bench for his sixth season, while seniors Shannon Bowman and Sarah Newnam, last year's assistant captains, will wear the C for the Big Green in 2008-09.

QUANTITY AND QUALITY: The Dartmouth Big Green enter the 2008-09 season with a squad of 24 skaters after the addition of seven newcomers and the loss of three to graduation. It is the first time under coach Hudak that Dartmouth has had a roster greater than 21. Two seasons ago, Hudak had his largest squad with 21 team members.

OPENING NIGHT SUCCESS: Under head coach Mark Hudak, the Big Green has had great success in season openers as Dartmouth has posted a 4-1 record in kickoffs. Last season Vermont was taken down by the Big Green 4-3 in overtime. The lone loss came in 2006-07 when Dartmouth opened up at Mercyhurst and actually dropped its first two contests.

PICKED THIRD: The Big Green were chosen to finish third in ECAC Hockey this season according to the coaches in the league in the annual preseason coaches' poll. Harvard was selected to repear as champions, while St. Lawrence was picked to finish above Dartmouth in second.

PRESEASON ALL-ECAC: For the second-consecutive season, junior Sarah Parsons was selected to the ECAC Preseason All-League Team. She was joined by Christina Kessler and Sarah Vaillancourt of Harvard, Sasha Sherry of Princeton, Yale's Helen Resor and Rebecca Johnston of Cornell.

MOVIN' ON UP: In the first USCHO National Poll, Dartmouth was selected eighth, but in the last two weeks the Big Green sneaked up to fifth, before falling to sixth this week. Dartmouth has gotten help from Mercyhurst and Minnesota-Duluth, that has allowed the Big Green to move the up the poll.

CAPTAINS OF THE SHIP: Seniors Shannon Bowman and Sarah Newnam were chosen by the team to be the leaders during the 2008-09 season. It will be the 20th time that the Big Green has selected two members to be captains. Dartmouth has also selected three captains five times in its history.

UPCOMING MILESTONES: Dartmouth will have six of its seniors reach 100 games played early on in the season as most have played between 93-96 games in three years. Maggie Kennedy and Sarah Parsons are just 16 points away from becoming a 100-point scorer in their career. Shannon Bowman could also reach the mileston with a 23-point season. Goaltender Carli Clemis will also look to move up the wins ladder as she has 41, which is fourth among netminders. She is 11 wins away from moving into third and 15 away from second. Amy Ferguson '03 holds the record with 62 wins.

A BAKER'S DOZEN OF EXPEREINCE: This season, Dartmouth will have 13 skaters that are juniors or seniors. These 13 players have played in at least 50 games together, including two NCAA Tournament appearances and an ECAC Hockey regular-season and tournament championship.

SEVEN NEWCOMERS: The Dartmouth women's hockey program has welcomed seven new faces to its history. The group includes two skaters from north of the border. Reagan Fischer and Geneva Kliman are the two with Fischer coming from Irma, Alta., and Kliman from Toronto. Dartmouth also has a midwest presence with Moira Scanlon from Chicago and Erica Dobos from Bethel Park, Pa. Newcomer Jenna Hobeika is from Alpine, N.J., while two have local ties in Massachusetts. Kelly Foley came to Hanover from Boston and Brittany Mills is from Winchester, Mass.

ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED: Freshman Kelly Foley came to the Big Green after a stellar career at Tabor Academy. Last season she was awarded the Boston Bruins John Carlton Award as the ice hockey athlete that shows excellence on the playing surface and in the classroom. Freshman Reagan Fischer was also recognized by the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League with three postseason awards. She won the MVP, was the scoring champion and was named the Player's Player.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Princeton began its season last weekend with two non-conference games with Connecticut. The Huskies took game one, but the Tigers fought back and skated them out of the rink for a 4-1 win.
    Princeton had a balanced attack that second game of the season with four different goal scorers, while Sasha Sherry posted a goal and an assist. Sherry was selected at the beginning of the season as a Preseason All-League member.
    In net, Kristen Young returns and she has a 1-1-0 record with a 2.00 goals against average with a .939 save percentage. She has allowed four goals on 66 shots.

SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 67th meeting between the Big Green and the Tigers with Princeton holding a 36-25-5 advantage. The teams first met back in 1978 with Princeton coming away with a 9-2 victory. Last season, Dartmouth took game one on Nov. 2 with a 4-3 win and the teams settled for a 2-2 tie in game two.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS: Quinnipiac comes to Hanover with a 1-7-0 mark so far this season.
    Junior Janine Duffy leads the Bobcats with six points this season, including three goals and three assists. Senior Elyse Cole has posted three goals with two on the power play, which is tops on the team. Juinor Kallie Flor is the team leader in assists with four on the season.
    In goal, junior Nanna Holm-Glaas is seeing the first action of her career and has posted a 1-6-0 record. She has recorded a .851 save percentage and a 5.30 goals against average.

SERIES HISTORY: Quinnipiac and Dartmouth will be hooking up for the seventh time and the Big Green have never lost to the Bobcats with a 5-0-1 record. Last season Dartmouth outscored Quinnipiac 14-1 over two games, including an 8-1 win at Thompson Arena.

Schedules