Women's Hockey Slated to Finish Third by ECAC Hockey Coaches

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth women's hockey team has been selected to finish third this season by the coaches in the ECAC Hockey Coaches Preseason Poll.

The Big Green earned five first-place votes, which was the most of any school, but received only 93 overall points to be picked to finish third. St. Lawrence was chosen to win the league this year with 107 points and earned three first-place votes.

Harvard claimed three first-place votes in finishing second in the poll. The Crimson, who are led by the head coach Katey Stone, who enters her 16th season behind the Harvard bench in 2009-10 and is ranked second all-time and first among active Division I women's coaches with 319 victories, amassed 103 total points. Harvard is the two-time defending regular-season champion.

Dartmouth, which garnered five first place votes, is slotted to finish third in regular-season play according to the voting by the coaches. Head coach Mark Hudak's Big Green compiled 93 points in the poll. Princeton, which advanced to the League quarterfinals a year ago, ranks fourth in the preseason poll with 89 points; Clarkson occupies the fifth slot with 85 points, earning one first-place vote, followed by ECAC Hockey Championship runner-up Rensselaer, with 74 points.

Cornell and Colgate garner slot Nos. 7 and 8, respectively, while Quinnipiac which begins its second campaign under head coach Rick Seeley was selected in the No. 9 position in the preseason coaches' poll.

Yale led by head coach Hilary Witt is the No. 10 team in the poll. Brown and Union are the Nos. 11 and 12 teams in the poll.

In addition to the presason poll, preseason all-league selections were voted on as well. Senior captain Jenna Cunningham (Medicine Hat, Alta.) was selected as the only Big Green skater to make it onto the all-league team.

Cunningham played in all of Dartmouth's contests and registered 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. She set a career-high in assists and was named first team All-Ivy and ECAC Hockey Second Team. Cunningham was third on the team with 15 points on the power play with three goals and 12 assists.

The 2009-10 coaches' preseason all-league team is made up of five positional student-athletes which ranked near the top of scoring leaders among their teams last season and a goaltender that was at the top of nearly ever league statistical category last season. As voted on by the league's 12 head coaches, players from six different teams - St. Lawrence, Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton and Clarkson make-up the preseason all-league team.

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