Big Green Continues Home Cooking with BC and Harvard at Thompson

Wed., Boston College (5-12-9, 4-8-4 HE) at Dartmouth (7-11-2, 5-9-1 ECAC), 7 p.m.
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Fri., No. 7 Harvard (10-5-4, 8-5-2, 3-2-2 Ivy) at Dartmouth (7-11-2, 5-9-1 ECAC, 3-4-0 Ivy), 3:30 p.m.
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HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth women's hockey team hopes to build on its 8-1 win over Union as Boston College comes to Hanover for a Wednesday contest, followed by a classic Ivy League matchup with No. 7 Harvard on Friday afternoon.

Fans will receive free admission to the Harvard game on Friday afternoon with the purchase of a men's hockey vs. Quinnipiac ticket. The Big Green men take on the Bobcats following the women's game at 7 p.m. at Thompson Arena.

SNAPPING A LOSING STREAK
Dartmouth entered Saturday's game against Union on a five-game losing streak, which was tied for the team's longest in history. The Big Green answered the bell with eight unanswered goals to cruise to an 8-1 win to end the streak at five. Senior co-captain Jenna Cunningham led the way with four goals and 11 players scored at least one point in the team effort.

GETTING A WIN
It took seven games, but Dartmouth finally left the ice victorious on Saturday for the first time in 2010. The Big Green had gone winless in its last seven games, which is a Dartmouth record. The previous record was six games. That record was held by the 2007-08 team. This year's squad went 0-7-1 during the streak, while two years ago the Big Green went 0-3-3.

CUNNINGHAM NETS FOUR
Jenna Cunningham scored four goals for the first time in her career and became the first skater since junior Amanda Trunzo achieved the same output on Jan. 30, 2009 at Rensselaer. She is the third member of the team to reach four goals in a game as classmate Sarah Parsons scored four times back in 2006 against Union as a rookie. Dartmouth has had three hat tricks or more this season with two from Cunningham and one from Parsons. Cunningham's first came against Colgate in a 5-5 tie on Halloween. Parsons netted her hat trick in a 6-4 loss to Colgate on Jan. 15.

MOVING ON UP
Sarah Parsons was one of three skaters to reach 100 points last season and has added to her total in the past few weeks. She now has 144 points in 113 total games with 61 goals and 83 assists. Parsons is currently tied with Kim Cohen '94 for 10th all time in points. She is seven assists away from Carly Haggard '03 for seventh all time and sits in eighth. With six more points she will become the eighth player to reach 150 points. Cunningham also is moving up the list with 115 points for 22nd all-time. She has 59 goals and 56 assists and is four points away from former teammate Maggie Kennedy '09.

ROOKIES STEPPING UP
This year the Big Green has had to rely on a group of freshmen and even with the lack of experience they have met expectations. Two freshmen are in the top five in scoring on the team and top 10 in the league. Nanji is the top scoring defenseman on the squad with 11 points, while Dumais has a rookie-best 17 points with five goals and 12 helpers. Each rookie (except goalie Whitney Woodcox) has recorded a point this season and most recently, Jessica Gagner and Margaux Sharp earned their first collegiate points.

TOP BLUELINE DUO
Freshman Sasha Nanji and sophomore Geneva Kliman have been paired on the blueline more than any other defensive duo. They have played together for 17 of the 20 games so far this season. The pair is an amazing +25 together, with Kliman leading the way with a +13 rating, which is also tops on the Big Green and Nanji is second at a +12.

DARTMOUTH'S OLYMPIC CONNECTION
Former Dartmouth women's hockey standouts Gillian Apps '06 and Cherie Piper '06 got Christmas presents early as the two were selected on Dec. 21 to the Canadian Women's Hockey Olympic team that will compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver this February.

SCORING AT WILL
Dartmouth has tallied 60 goals in 20 games so far this season, which ranks at the top of the list in ECAC Hockey. The Big Green is averaging three goals per game and is still ahead of third-ranked Clarkson, who sits at No. 2 with 2.80 goals a game. Dartmouth has had trouble when it's had to rely on its defense. When the Big Green scores three or less goals, the team is 0-10-1, but scoring four or more Dartmouth is 7-1-1.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Boston College comes to Hanover with a 5-12-9 record overall and a 4-8-4 mark in Hockey East play. The Eagles are currently on a three-game losing streak and they have gone winless in their last nine games. The last Boston College win came against Northeastern by a 3-2 score. The Huskies were ranked eighth in last week's USCHO National Poll. The Eagles have played an amazing number of overtime games as they have reached extra time in 11 games and have a 1-1-9 record in overtime contests.

Senior Allie Thunstrom leads the way in the scoring column with 15 goals and 21 points. Three of her 15 goals have come on the power play, which leads the team as well. Freshman Ashley Motherwell has been a welcomed addition with five goals and a team-high 10 assists for 15 points. Sophomore Mary Restuccia is a consistent skater for Boston College with six goals and eight assists for 14 points. All but two skaters have at least one point, including freshman netminder Corinne Boyles, who has an assist this season.

In net, Boyles is the top goaltender with 19 games played this year with a 4-6-7 record and one shutout. She has recorded a 2.53 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. Sophomore Kiera Kingston has seen action between the pipes in nine games and has posted two shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 29th meeting between these two schools with Dartmouth holding a dominating 24-2-2 record against Boston College. The series began back in 1980 with the Big Green winning a close 3-2 game. During the series, Dartmouth has had a 14-game winning streak and went unbeaten against the Eagles in 23 games from 1981 to 2007. The loss that stopped the streak was in the NCAA First Round in 2007.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Seventh-ranked Harvard travels to Thompson Arena with a 10-5-4 overall record and a 8-5-2 mark in ECAC Hockey play. Last weekend, the Crimson split its two games with a win over Union on Friday night, but Rensselaer skated away with a 4-2 win over Harvard on Saturday afternoon. The Crimson had a season long nine-game winning streak from Nov. 15 to Jan. 8.

Junior Kate Buesser is tops on the team with 23 points with a team-high eight goals and 15 helpers. Her eight goals are tied with freshman Jillian Dempsey for the best on the squad. Dempsey has also posted 11 assists, to go along with her eight goals for 19 points. Junior Leanna Coskren has been the special team's sniper with three power play goals to lead the Crimson.

In net, senior Christina Kessler is regarded as the best goaltender in the conference as she leads the league in both save percentage and goals against average. Kessler has a 1.39 goals against average and an impressive .944 save percentage. Recently she set the Harvard mark for career wins. She has a career record of 64-16-6 and this year her mark is 9-3-3.

SERIES HISTORY
The Dartmouth-Harvard rivalry is one of the best in collegiate women's hockey. The two Ivy schools will be meeting for the 78th time since the first game back in 1978. Dartmouth holds a 42-32-3 advantage in the rivalry, but has struggled against the Crimson as of late with Harvard winning eight of the last 12 contests. The teams have met 14 times in the postseason with each team winning seven games.

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