Big Green Welcome in Dutchwomen, Engineers This Weekend

Game 19

Union Dutchwomen (7-12-3, 0-7-3 ECAC Hockey) at
Dartmouth Big Green (11-5-2, 6-4-1 ECAC Hockey)
Friday, Jan. 18 - 7 p.m.
Hanover, N.H. - Thompson Arena (4,500)

Game 20

Rensselaer Engineers (6-14-2, 4-6-0 ECAC Hockey) at
Dartmouth Big Green (11-5-2, 6-4-1 ECAC Hockey)
Saturday, Jan. 19 - 4 p.m.
Hanover, N.H. - Thompson Arena (4,500)

Home Sweet Home
After wrapping up an eight-game road trip, Dartmouth returned home for the first time since playing Colgate on Nov. 24. The squad made its long-awaited return to Thompson Arena, embracing the support of its fans and the advantage of finally having the last change again by sweeping its first home weekend since Feb. 17-18, last season. In the opener, The Big Green topped Quinnipiac, 5-2, on Friday and closed out the weekend with a convincing 6-2 victory against Princeton.

Winning Ways
The Green and White have been playing quality hockey thus far in 2013, earning a record of 4-1 in the New Year. Since falling, 2-1, to RPI on Jan. 4, the team from the Upper Valley has won four straight heading into this weekend. Dartmouth has also won 7-of its last-8, outscoring its opponents, 36-13. During the streak opponents haven't scored more than two goals in any one game against the Big Green defense and junior netminder Lindsay Holdcroft.

ECAC Honors
Ailish Forfar, the reigning ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week, stayed hot scoring two game-winning goals and adding an assist as the Big Green went 3-0 last week. The East Gwillinbury, Ontario, native became just the second freshman this season to earn the honors in consecutive weeks. The first-year forward now has five markers and one helper this season. Forfar's points have all come over the last six games as she's settled into the offensive system nicely. Also earning honors was senior Camille Dumais, who was tabbed the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week for the second time during the 2012-13 campaign.

Hats Off
After tallying a goal against Quinnipiac on Jan. 11, Dumais netted her second hat trick of the season in Dartmouth's win against ECAC Hockey and Ivy League foe Princeton the following afternoon. Dumais' three-unanswered goals came in a five-minute span during the second period. Dumais' four-goal weekend vaulted her into the top-five in the conference in goals scored. She now has 12 tallies and seven assists during her final year with the squad. Three of her goals have been game-winners, which is tied with Forfar for the team lead. The hat trick was the fourth of her career.

Top of the Line
Dartmouth's top line led the offensive explosion over the weekend as Dumais and senior co-captains Reagan Fischer and Jenna Hobeika combined for seven of the team's 11 goals. The trio also added five assists and were +14. On the season, they have scored 16 tallies with 19 helpers when playing together, while leading the Big Green to a 6-1-0 mark.

Welcome to the Show
After registering two assists over her first 16 career games, freshman Catherine Berghuis found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career, early in the third period in the victory against Princeton. Berghuis joins a freshman class that has been very productive in 2012-13 led by Forfar, Laura Stacey and Lindsey Allen. Stacey is tied for the team-lead with 11 assists as the four members of the class of 2016 have combined for 15 goals and 21 helpers.

Even Offensive Distribution
The Green and White had five players with multi-point games against the Bobcats and Tigers. Dumais, senior defenseman Sasha Nanji, Stacey, Fischer and Hobeika all got in on the action. After going three games without registering a point, Nanji bounced back nicely, tallying a goal and an assist in both games. Through 18 games, Dartmouth has five players who have scored at least five goals and seven players who have seven or more assists.

Holdcroft Holds it Down
Holdcroft had another solid ECAC Hockey series in goal, stopping 37-of-41 shots. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native is now 10-4-2 on the season. After the weekend, she lowered her goals-against average to 2.21 and upped her save percentage to .905. Through Jan. 15, the third-year starter ranks sixth in goals-against average and fourth in wins in the league.

Special Teams
Dartmouth's penalty killers continued their impressive run, killing 8-of-9 nine penalties last weekend. In the opener, the Big Green killed all five of the Bobcats' power-play chances, running their streak to 12 straight opportunities denied. Against the Tigers, the Green and White allowed a first period man-advantage goal before killing the final three. The team from the Upper Valley are 10th in Division I, killing 85.7% of opponents' power plays this season.

Scouting the Dutchwomen
Union enters the game still in search of its first conference win this season. The Dutchwomen have won 2-of their last-3 games. After sweeping Penn State last weekend, Union fell, 4-2, at New Hampshire in mid-week action. Creating offense has been a problem all year for the Dutchwomen as they have been shutout six times. Sophomore Christine Valente and freshman Jessica Kaminsky lead the offensive attack as they each have five goals and six assists. Keeping Valente off the board is key for the Big Green as the Dutchwomen have a 6-1-3 record when the West Haven, Conn., native registers a point. Between the pipes, Union is led by Shenae Lundberg, the reigning ECAC Goaltender of the Month for December. Lundberg has a record of 6-9-3 this year with a .906 save percentage. Last weekend against the Nittany Lions, she earned her first career shutout in a 1-0 victory.

Scouting The Engineers
After topping Dartmouth, 2-1, on Jan.4 to run its win streak to four games, Rensselaer has lost three straight one-goal contests. All three of the game-winning goals have come in the third period and two have been while the opposition was on the power play. Freshman Alexa Gruschow paces the offensive attack for RPI, leading the team in goals (9), assists (10) and man-advantage markers (4). However, the first-year forward has not scored since Dec. 8 against Yale. In goal, sophomore Kelly O'Brien has compiled a record of 5-12-1 with a save percentage of .892 and a goals-against average of 2.58. In her last two outings the Sussex, Wis., native has stopped 55-of-60 shots.

Against The Teams Earlier This Year
Two weeks ago, the Big Green traveled to New York's Capital District, splitting road games against the Engineers and Dutchwomen. In the first game of the weekend, the Green and White's third-period surge fell short against RPI, falling 2-1 on Jan. 4. The following afternoon, Dartmouth bounced back, scoring a 6-0 win at Union's Messa Rink.

Against The Squads All-Time
Dartmouth is a perfect 19-0-0 all-time and under head coach Mark Hudak against Union. The Big Green are 10-5-1 against RPI all-time, while posting the same record under Hudak.

First 40 Minutes
The key for the Big Green is to hold a lead after 40 minutes of play. When leading through two periods, the Green and White are 10-0-0 this season, a figure that reached its current state after the team held a 5-2 advantage going into the third against Ivy League foe Princeton. On the other hand, when trailing after two periods they are 0-4-1.

Hobeika's Run
Hobeika had back-to-back multi-point games, tallying a goal and an assist in the opener against QU and ended the weekend with a pair of helpers against Princeton. Hobeika has now scored points in 8-of the last-9 games. During that span, the Alpine, N.J., native has tallied four goals and had five multi-point contests.

Schedules