Big Green Open 2015-16 At Home Against No. 5/5 Harvard

GAME 1 – Friday, October 23
Dartmouth (0-0-0, 0-0-0) vs. No. 5/5 Harvard (0-0-0, 0-0-0)
Hanover, N.H. – Thompson Arena
7 p.m.
Live Stats
Video

THIS WEEKEND
The Dartmouth women's hockey team jumps right into conference play, hosting Ivy League and ECAC Hockey rival Harvard at Thompson on Friday, Oct. 23, officially kicking off the season with a 7 p.m. puck drop.

SEASON OPENER
Since taking over the program in 2003, head coach Mark Hudak has led the team to an 8-4 mark in season-opening games. At this time last year, the Big Green defeated New Hampshire, 6-2, on home ice to mark the beginning of the 2014-15 season.

LAST TIME OUT
A power-play goal by co-captain Laura Stacey with 15 seconds remaining broke the tie and lifted Dartmouth over McGill, 2-1, in a preseason exhibition contest last Friday. Five penalties occurred in the first period, the last of which resulted in a penalty shot for the home team. Devon Moir's shot initially looked to be saved by Taylor Hough, but managed to trickle through the leg pads and into the net to put Dartmouth up, 1-0, with just nine seconds remaining in the first. The Martlets' lone goal of the game came at 12:15 of the second period, when Pamela Psihogios was able to sneak the puck past Ropp to tie the score. With the clock at 19:45, a one-time slapshot by Stacey from the point on a clean draw from alternate captains Kennedy Ottenbreit and Eleni Tebano gave Dartmouth the goal it was looking for to end the game on a high note.

SCOUTING HARVARD
The Crimson had a tremendous 2014-15 season. They defeated Cornell to win the ECAC Hockey Championship, defeated Quinnipiac in the NCAA Quarterfinal and defeated No. 2 Boston College in the Frozen Four. In the championship event, Harvard fell to No. 1 Minnesota, 4-1, on the Gophers' home ice. For the past four weeks, the Crimson have appeared in the national rankings (No. 5/4), even though they have yet to play a game. The day after Dartmouth's win over McGill, Harvard had a 3-2 exhibition victory over the Martlets.

LAST TIME AGAINST HARVARD
The Big Green can boast that they defeated a team that played in the 2015 NCAA Championship. After a 4-1 loss to the Crimson on the road in December, Harvard made its way to Hanover a month and a half later and left with its 10-game winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss. Leading the team were Morgan Illikainen and Lindsey Allen, who both ended the day with two points. Illikainen scored Dartmouth's first goal and assisted on Allen's, while the latter scored twice, including the equalizer and the fourth and final goal for insurance. It was Brooke Ahbe that ultimately scored the game winner, netting a power-play goal at the 13:51 mark of the third to give the Green their first lead of the day.

HUDAK AND COMPANY
Having led the Big Green women's hockey team since the 2003-04 season, Hudak has compiled a record of 218-124-30 in his 12 seasons. His accomplishments with the team include two Ivy League titles, two ECAC Hockey Tournament titles, one ECAC Hockey regular season title, six NCAA Tournament appearances and two Frozen Four berths. On the bench, Hudak is joined by associate head coach Holley Tyng, who is entering her 11th season with the team, and assistant coach Josh Liegl, who returns to the Big Green coaching staff for his fourth year.

CAPTAINS
Dartmouth is led by captains Catherine Berghuis and Laura Stacey and alternate captains Kennedy Ottenbreit and Eleni Tebano. Last season, Berghuis had three goals and seven assists for 10 points, while Stacey was one of three Big Green players to lead the team with 26 points from nine markers and a team-leading 17 helpers. Ottenbreit was another Dartmouth player to end the year with 26 points, scoring 13 goals and tacking on 13 assists, while Tebano had two goals and 15 helpers for 17 points.

FRESH FACES
Making their collegiate debut this season are Caroline Shaunessy, Alyssa Baker, Tess Bracken, Kate Landers, Shannon Ropp and Christie Honor. There is a nice mixture of positions, as two are forwards (Baker, Landers), two are defensemen (Shaunessy, Bracken) and a pair will be vying for playing time in Dartmouth's crease (Ropp, Honor).

AND IN NET…
Having played just 230 minutes in net as a freshman, Robyn Chemago became the Green's starting goalie as a sophomore, appearing in 30 games and starting all but one. She spent 1,780 minutes in the cage, which is fourth in the Dartmouth all-time single-season record book. Her 797 saves set a new single-season standard, replacing Meaghan Cahill, who had previously held the record with 749 saves in 1997-98. She boasted a .910 save percentage, 2.66 goals against average and a record of 13-15-2. Joining Chemago are Ropp and Honor, who both appeared in net in the game against McGill, playing 20 minutes apiece and registering six saves each.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Over Halloween weekend, Dartmouth will host ECAC Hockey foes St. Lawrence (7 p.m.) and Clarkson (3:30 p.m.).

Schedules