No. 8 Women's Hockey Falls to No. 1 Harvard in NCAA Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 15

Cambridge, Mass.

2:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Harvard

No. 8 Women's Hockey Falls to No. 6 St. Lawrence in ECAC Hockey Semifinals

No. 8 Women's Hockey Falls to No. 1 Harvard in NCAA Quarterfinals

3/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The eighth-ranked Dartmouth women's hockey team saw its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Big Green fell to the top-seeded Crimson, 5-1, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament.

Sophomore Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.) netted the lone goal for the Big Green, which was her 15th of the season and it extended her career-long point streak to 12 games. Junior netminder Carli Clemis (Taber, Atla.) pushed aside 40 shots in the defeat, which was two off of her career high. Clemis made double-digit stops in each period, including 16 in the first stanza. She also stopped 30-plus shots for the fourth consecutive postseason game.

Both Teams came out relaxed and ready to play. Dartmouth had the first true opportunity as junior Sarah Newnam (Clifton, Va.) fired a shot on net that got by Harvard goaltender Christina Kessler, but clanged off the post.

Harvard's Jenny Brine got the Crimson on the board first with 33 seconds remaining in the first period. Sarah Vaillancourt brought the puck to the back boards and found Brine infront of the crease and she slipped a shot that beat Clemis five-hole.

At the end of the first period, Harvard had a 17-5 advantage in shots, while both teams came up empty on the man advantage with the Crimson earning two chances to Dartmouth's one.

Harvard (32-1-0) increased the lead to 2-0 with 10:26 remaining in the second period. Kate Buesser netted her sixth of the season on the power play, which was Harvard's third chance of the afternoon.

About four minutes later, Vaillancourt gave the Crimson a commanding 3-0 lead with her 25th of the season and one of two in the game. Sarah Wilson and Brine were credited with the assists. For Brine, it was her 23rd of the season, while Wilson posted her 13th.

Parsons put the Big Green on the board with her 15th of the season with 3:24 left in the second stanza. Parsons carried the puck into the zone, where she beat a defender and fired a shot that deflected off of the glove of Kessler and into the back of the net.

Dartmouth (18-9-6) was outshot by the Crimson in the second period, 15-11. The Big Green earned two power play chances, but came up empty, while the Crimson netted goal on the man advantage on its only chance of the period.

In the third period, it was all about the power play for the Crimson. Harvard collected two power play goals in the period to put its total to three on the afternoon.

The first came from Vaillancourt, who tallied her second of the game with 14:40 left in the final period to push the lead up to 4-1 in favor of Harvard. Brine added her second of the night with 6:24 remaining as she skated behind the net and beat Clemis to the near post to stuff it home.

Vaillancourt finished with four points, including two goals and two assists, while Brine tallied three points, to lead the Crimson to the Frozen Four.

Harvard posted a 45-30 advantage in shots and Dartmouth finished the night without a power play goal in four chances. The Crimson netted three power play goals in six chances.