Big Green Head to Capital District for ECAC Hockey Road Battles

Game 14
Dartmouth Big Geeen (7-4-2, 3-3-1 ECAC Hockey) at
Rensselaer Engineers (5-11-2, 3-5-0 ECAC Hockey)
Friday, Jan. 4 - 7 p.m.
Troy, N.Y. - Houston Fieldhouse (5,217)

Game 15
Dartmouth Big Geeen (7-4-2, 3-3-1 ECAC Hockey) at
Union Dutchwomen (5-9-3, 0-5-3 ECAC Hockey)
Saturday, Jan. 5 - 4 p.m.
Schenectady, N.Y. - Messa Rink (2,225)

THIS WEEKEND
The Big Green return to action this weekend after just three days rest, traveling to Rensselaer and Union for two ECAC Hockey road games. Dartmouth has not played a league contest since Friday, Nov. 30 when it began its current eight-game road trip at Harvard.

BACK FROM BREAK
In the team's first game back from break, the Green defeated Providence, 4-2, in a New Year's Eve matinee at Schneider Arena. Knocking of the Friars for the 10th straight time since head coach Mark Hudak took over in 2003-04, Dartmouth stretched its current win streak to three.

STILL TRAVELING
The Big Green continue to play away from Thompson Arena as they spend the weekend in New York's Capital District. It will mark the sixth and seventh games in the current eight-game road swing. That road toughness will also be tested in the final contest of the stretch with a mid-week non-conference tilt at Vermont on Wednesday, Jan. 9.

KEEP IT GOING
There is little doubt that senior Camille Dumais is Dartmouth's hottest player on the ice right now. In her last three games, the fourth-year forward has nine points on five goals and four assists. Her stats and on-ice play earned her ECAC Hockey Player of the Week just before the holiday break.

TOP LINE
Dumais may be the one garnering the attention, but her linemates have done their part putting numbers on the scoreboard as of late. Senior co-captains Reagan Fischer and Jenna Hobeika each have four-game point streaks coming into the weekend. Hobeika has had a goal and an assist in each of the last two outings, while Fischer had added a helper in each contest in that time.

HOLDCROFT HOLDS ON
Junior Lindsay Holdcroft was a major factor in the team's two-goal win in the Friars' home rink. Her 32 saves were a new season high for any Big Green goaltender this season, besting her previous high of 28 set against Cornell in November.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Ailish Forfar picked up her first collegiate goal midway through Monday's second period. Not only was it the first marker of her career, it proved to be the eventual game-winner as it gave the Green a 3-1 lead 9:47 into the middle stanza.

SHE'S BACK
It wasn't the first goal of her career, but it was her first in almost a full year. Sophomore Samantha Zeiss made it a 2-0 midway through the opening frame on Monday afternoon for her only tally of 2012-13 so far. Zeiss scored once as a freshman, coming all the way back on Jan. 3, 2012 in a match-up with Vermont.

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
Rensselaer plays host to Dartmouth in the first game of the weekend Friday night at 7 p.m. This season, the Engineers are a misleading 5-11-2 overall and 3-5-2 in ECAC Hockey contests. A current three-game win streak against league opponents in the final weeks before the break followed a tough stretch of seven outings without a win (0-6-1). Alexa Gruschow leads the team in nearly every category, including goals (9), assists (7), points (16) and penalty minutes (20). The goaltending duties have primarily fallen upon the shoulders of sophomore Kelly O'Brien. In 17 games she is 4-10-1 with a 2.69 GAA and a save percentage of .890.

SCOUTING THE DUTCHWOMEN
Union also enters the weekend boasting a win streak. The Dutch swept Maine on the road the weekend after Dartmouth went to Orono and did the same. Union took both games from the Black Bears by one goal, winning 4-3 and 3-2. It will host Harvard Friday night before welcoming Dartmouth to Messa Rink Saturday afternoon. Five players have registered five assists this season, while sophomore Christine Velente has produced 10 points to go along with her team-leading five goals. Shenae Lundberg has been the coaching staff's go-to netminder this season, playing 14 games and sporting a mark of 4-6-3. Lundberg's stat line features a 2.49 GAA and a .917 save percentage as well. The team is 5-9-3 overall this year, but has been unable to defeat a league opponent, sitting 11th in the conference standings with three points as the result of an 0-5-3 ECAC mark.

AGAINST THESE TWO LAST YEAR
Dartmouth was 3-1 against this weekend's opponents during the 2011-12 campaign. The Green swept its home slate with 4-2 (Union) and 3-2 (RPI) victories. On the road, the team from the Upper Valley bested the Dutchwomen, 3-0, on Feb. 10 before falling, 4-2, the following day to the Engineers in Troy.

AGAINST THESE TWO ALL-TIME
The Big Green are 18-0-0 all-time against Union, while 10-4-1 against RPI since the inception of the two programs.

LEADING AFTER THE SECOND
The key for Dartmouth is to hold a lead after 40 minutes of play. When leading through two periods, the Big Green are 6-0 this season, a figure that reached its current state after the team held a 3-1 advantage going into the third in Providence.

HOCKEY EAST
Against one of the top leagues in the nation, Dartmouth was 4-0-1 this season when taking on a Hockey East opponent. Wins over Maine (2), Providence and New Hampshire and a come-from-behind 3-3 tie with No. 5 Boston College were crucial to the first-half successes of the Green in the 2012 portion of its schedule.

Schedules