Big Green Head to Cambridge for ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal Showdown

ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals
Best-of-Three Series
#3 seed Harvard vs. #6 seed Dartmouth
Dartmouth Big Green (16-8-5, 11-7-4 ECAC Hockey) at
No. 7 Harvard Crimson (21-5-3, 17-3-2 ECAC Hockey)
March 1-3, 2013
Cambridge, Mass. - Bright Hockey Center (2,850)

Shipping Up to Boston
The Dartmouth women's hockey team travels to Cambridge for the second time this season, looking to avenge an early season, 6-1, defeat at the hands of the Crimson. This is the first time since the 2005-06 season that the Big Green have played an ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinal series on the road. Dartmouth looks to have better success then their last road trip in the first round in March of 2006 as it was swept by Brown in Providence. The last time the Green and White traveled to Massachusetts for a postseason hockey game against Harvard, they topped the Crimson, 4-1, in the ECAC Hockey semifinals in 2011.

Last Time Out
The team from the Upper Valley ended the season on a high note splitting their final home weekend of 2012-13. The Big Green dropped the opener to No. 7 Clarkson, 3-1, and skated to a 7-2 victory against St. Lawrence on senior day. The seven goal outburst was the highest since putting a 10-spot on Yale on Feb. 17 of last season.

Hudak's History
Under head coach Mark Hudak, Dartmouth has played in the conference tournament nine times, won the league title twice and played in the championship game three times. The 10th year coach has led the team to the NCAA tournament six times, advancing to the Frozen Four twice.

Rank and File
Heading into the series against No. 7 Harvard, the Big Green are still in search of their first win against a ranked opponent this season. They are 0-5-3 when facing top-10 programs, erasing a two-goal third period deficit to draw a tie against No. 5 Boston College at Thompson Arena on Nov. 12. The Big Green twice erased one-goal deficits en route to a 2-2 tie with No. 3 Harvard on Feb. 1 and skated to a scoreless draw last time out at No. 4 Cornell. The team's last win against a nationally-ranked foe was on Nov. 26, of last season as they topped No.10 Northeastern, 4-3, in overtime at home.

Super Seniors
Dartmouth is led by a strong core of experienced seniors, with eight players seeing action in over 100 contests. The class of 2013 paces a balanced offensive attack for the Big Green as four of the team's five leading scorers are set to graduate. Co-captain Reagan Fischer leads the team with 14 markers, while Camille Dumais and co-captain Jenna Hobeika are tied for the team-lead with 14 assists. Dumais also has a team-best four game-winning goals. Defenseman Sasha Nanji is coming off her first multi-goal game of the year in the finale against St. Lawrence. The seniors have accounted for 48 of the team's 84 goals (57.1%).

In Good Company
Over the final 13 games, Fischer has seven tallies and three multi-point contests. In her final season on campus, the Irma, Alberta, native is averaging just under a point a game, while racing up the program's career points list (she currently is 25th with 113 points). Not to be outdone, Dumais is putting an exclamation point on her career, currently sitting in 16th on the all-time list with 129 points.

Holding Down the Fort
Lindsay Holdcroft has played well between the pipes for the Green and White during her junior campaign. The Pittsburgh, Pa., has picked up four shutouts with a goals-against average of 2.01 and a save percentage of .916. The third-year netminder was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week two weeks ago.

Freshman Firepower
The Green and White boast a strong core of first-year players led by Laura Stacey. Through the first 26 games of her collegiate career the Kleinburg, Ontario, native has eight tallies and a team-leading 14 assists. Stacey has five multi-point games this season and she has scored in three of the last six contests. Stacey is the top-scoring freshman in Ivy League games this season, scoring three goals with four helpers. Other newcomers making an impact this season are Ailish Forfar and Lindsey Allen. Forfar has twice been named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week and leads all freshmen in the conference with three game-winning goals, while Allen is sixth on the team with 14 points (7g-7a). The class of 2016 has accounted for 25 goals.

With the Man Advantage
Dartmouth's power play broke out in the finale against St. Lawrence. The Big Green converted four of their seven man-advantage opportunities. The Green and White have now scored power-play goals in three of their last four games. The four man-advantage markers against the Saints equaled the Big Green's total over their previous nine games. The team is 7-for-21 over the last four games when a skater up.

Killin' It
The Green and White's penalty killers continued their strong run, killing 7-of-8 penalties last weekend. They have now killed off 55-of-60 power-play chances over the last 11 games. The special teams rank third in ECAC Hockey, killing 87.9% of opponents' man-advantage opportunities this season. They are also the fourth-most penalized team in the league with 310 penalty minutes through 29 games.

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 15-0-1 this season, a figure that reached its current state on Feb. 23 as Dartmouth led St. Lawrence, 5-0, heading into the third. RPI is the only team all season to battle back from a second-period deficit against the Green and White to earn a point. On the other hand, when trailing after two periods Dartmouth is 0-5-1. When the team is tied after two periods this season they are 1-2-4, a figure that reached its current state after skating to a draw with Cornell. The Big Green haven't won when trailing after two periods since Feb. 27, 2011, when they rallied to beat Clarkson, 4-3, in overtime.

Scouting the Crimson
Harvard is coming off a 3-1 victory against Yale in its season finale on Tuesday. The Crimson are coming off a weekend that saw them pick up just one point, skating to a 2-2 tie with St. Lawrence before falling 3-1 against Clarkson. For the first time since 2009, Harvard earned a share of the Ivy League title. The Crimson boast a potent offensive attack, ranking second in the conference in goals (100) and goals per game (3.45). Senior Jillian Dempsey leads Crimson in goals (23), assists (19) and points (42). She also ranks in the top ten in each of those categories in the conference. Lyndsey Fry is another offensive threat with 14 markers and 18 helpers, while leading the team with four power-play goals. Junior Kalley Armstrong has a team-best five game-winning goals. Between the pipes, Harvard has a talented one-two punch. Senior Laura Bellamy is 12-1-1 with five shutouts this season and a league-best .092 goals-against average, while freshman Emerance Maschmeyer is 9-4-2 with a three shutouts and a .931 save percentage.

Against Harvard Earlier this Season
The Big Green and the Crimson met on Nov. 30 in Cambridge. Harvard scored a trio of first period goals and never looked back, skating to a 6-0 victory at the Bright Hockey Center. On Feb. 1 the teams squared off in Hanover, skating to a 2-2 tie.

All-Time Record
Dartmouth is 44-38-4 all-time against Harvard and 7-14-2 under Hudak.

Schedules