No. 9 Big Green Drop Championship to Cornell, 3-0

Saturday, March 5

Ithaca, N.Y.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Cornell

Holdcroft Named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week

No. 9 Big Green Drop Championship to Cornell, 3-0

3/5/2011 2:49:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

ITHACA, N.Y. — Lightning doesn't strike in the same spot twice very often, and the ninth-ranked Dartmouth women's hockey team found out the hard way on Saturday. After defeating second-ranked Cornell three weeks ago, the Big Green tried to take down the powerhouse again in the ECAC Championship, but lost 3-0. The loss dropped Dartmouth to 22-11-0 overall and Cornell improved to 30-2-1.

"We are a team that capitalizes on other team's mistakes," said senior captain Katie Horner (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) "And when you play a team that doesn't mess up very often, it is hard to find anything to capitalize on."

Junior Chelsea Karpenko, who was named the tournament's most outstanding player, led the Big Red by scoring the team's first two goals and put the game out of reach. The last time the Big Green beat Cornell they used the power play to their advantage, but the Big Red were ready this time. Dartmouth finished 0-for-6 with an extra skater and never could find a rhythm on offense.

"They probably have two of the best defenseman in the country, and probably two or three of the best forwards too," said Head Coach Mark Hudak. "I said at the beginning of the year that Cornell is that team you might beat once or twice out of 10 times if you do everything right. Three weeks ago we were able to do that, and in this game, they were really on their game."

Cornell scored the first goal of the game after a relentless attack in the first six minutes. After a couple of quick passes from senior Hayley Hughes and junior Amanda Young, Karpenko skated through the congestion in front of the net and beat freshman Lindsay Holdcroft (Pittsburh, Pa.) on the right side.

The Big Red had multiple other chances to score in the first but couldn't get past the Big Green defense. Dartmouth committed back-to-back penalties midway through the opening frame and looked to be in serious trouble down two skaters. Holdcroft made a couple diving saves, and the team killed both penalties to escape the first period only down, 1-0. Holdcroft made eight saves in the first with Cornell outshooting the Big Green, 9-5.

It was more of the same in the second period with the Big Red being the aggressor and Dartmouth not being able to take advantage of power play opportunities. Cornell stretched its lead to 2-0, 7:18 into the second period when Karpenko scored her second goal of the contest. On the power play, Hughes took the puck from behind the net, and passed to sophomore defenseman Laura Fortino at the top of the left face off circle. Fortino made a quick pass to Karpenko on the right side who beat a sliding Holdcroft for the score.

The two teams traded penalties and failed power play opportunities the rest of the period. Each squad committed three penalties in the session with only Cornell taking advantage going 1-for-3. Dartmouth put more shots on goal in the second frame then in the first, but Cornell still outshot the Big Green, 8-7.

In the third period, the Big Red added another insurance goal off the stick of junior Catherine White. Hayley had the puck behind the net, and fired a quick pass to White who was at the top of the crease. White flicked the puck into the back of the net for Cornell's third and final goal.

Dartmouth finished with 14 shots, while the Big Red took 28. Holdcroft made 25 saves, and was named to the ECAC all-tournament team. In the physical contest, Cornell committed six penalties for 12 minutes and the Big Green had five for 10 minutes.

The Big Green will now have to wait and see if they will make the NCAA tournament. They were on the bubble coming into the contest and it will depend how the other conference tournaments play out to see if they receive a bid.

"We had a really, really great year," said Hudak. "I told the team we put ourselves in a really good position to play in the NCAA's, and now some of those things are out of our control and we hope we get a chance to practice on Monday."

The NCAA tournament selection show will be streamed online on ncaa.com at 6:30 p.m on Sunday. The eight teams making the field will be announced and the bracket will be released at the conclusion of the show.