Big Green Suffers Tough Conference Loss to Rensselaer

Friday, January 22

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Rensselaer

Women's Hockey Returns to the Road at Brown and Yale

Big Green Suffers Tough Conference Loss to Rensselaer

1/22/2010 9:00:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

Box Score

HANOVER, N.H. – Despite a dominating 46-18 shot advantage, the Dartmouth women's hockey team was turned away by Rensselaer as the Big Green fell, 2-1, to the Engineers in ECAC Hockey action on Friday night.

Dartmouth (6-11-2, 4-9-3 ECAC) was led by junior Alyssa Boehm (Waterford, Conn.), who scored the lone Big Green goal for her first point of the season. Freshman Sally Komarek (Minneapolis, Minn.) was credited with the only assist on the play for her fifth on the year. Senior Mariel Lacina (London, Ont.) got the start in net and turned aside 16 shots in the loss. It is the sixth time that Dartmouth has dropped a one-goal game this season.

Rensselaer (9-10-3, 6-4-2 ECAC) took the two points from Dartmouth thanks to 46 saves, including 22 in the first period alone, by netminder Sonja van der Bliek. Allison Wright tallied the game-winner in the third, while Allysen Weidner added a goal and an assist in the Engineers first ever win over the Big Green.

In the first period, the story was Rensselaer's netminder van der Bliek. She made 22 saves between the pipes and robbed the Big Green on multiple point blank scoring chances. The teams combined for 12 penalty minutes in the period with each team earning three power play chances, but the game remained scoreless.

Dartmouth came open many times during its power play opportunities. Sophomore Jenna Hobeika (Alpine N.J.) received a cross-ice pass from circle to circle and van der Bliek slid across the crease and a flashed the glove to force the shot wide.

With less a minute to go, senior co-captain Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.) looked to give Dartmouth a 1-0, but once again van der bliek brought out the leather. The Big Green was able to knock down a clearing attempt from the Engineers and Parsons sat all alone at the right circle. She fired a wrist shot and van der Bliek sprawled, knocking the puck out of the air with her glove to keep the game scoreless.

Dartmouth finally broke van der Bliek with 5:50 remaining in the second period. Komarek was able to poke the puck free out of crowd at center ice and Boehm swooped in. She broke into the Rensselaer zone and beat van der Bliek high to the glove side to make it 1-0 Big Green.

The lead didn't last long as four minutes later the Engineers evened the score at 1-1. Weidner skated up the right side and put a wrist shot on goal that slipped between Lacina's glove and her left pad. Dartmouth once again dominated in the shot category with a 16-4 advantage.

The Engineers went up for good in the third on Wright's eight of the year, coming with 11:09 remaining in the game. Weidner and Kendra Dunlop were given assists on the game-winner.

Dartmouth had its opportunities down the stretch with a power play in the final three minutes, but only managed three shots on the man advantage and all three were stopped by van der Bliek.

Each team earned six chances on the power play and both teams failed on each opportunity.

The Big Green will hope to snap this losing skid tomorrow afternoon as Union comes to Hanover for a 4 p.m. start after being blanked tonight at Harvard by a score of 4-0. Rensselaer travels south to Cambridge to take on the sixth-ranked Crimson tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the Bright Hockey Center.