Dartmouth’s Late Comeback Falls Short In 5-3 Loss to No. 6 Quinnipiac

Saturday, January 13

Hanover, N.H.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-14-2, 1-10-2

Quinnipiac

21-3-1, 10-3-0

Quinnipiac

Dartmouth

Photo by: Ryan Yong

Dartmouth’s Late Comeback Falls Short In 5-3 Loss to No. 6 Quinnipiac

1/13/2024 8:13:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

The Big Green and Bobcats combined for four goals in the final 5:42 of play

By: Rebecca Osowski

HANOVER, N.H. – The Big Green and Bobcats played a balanced game through two periods, however a late Quinnipiac goal in the second period and two goals in the third period were too much for the Dartmouth women's hockey team to overcome in a 5-3 loss.

With the loss, the Big Green move to 4-14-2 overall and 1-10-2 in ECAC play, whereas the sixth-ranked Bobcats improve to 21-3-1 and 10-3-0 in the conference.

The Big Green and Bobcats started the game evenly matched. The Big Green had three great chances early but were unable to convert, allowing the Bobcats to take the lead just over 11 minutes into the game with a shot from the point that snuck by goaltender Hann Humphreys, who made their second start in as many days. Humphreys stopped 27 of the 30 shots they faced.

"It was nice to be back, it's always fun to play," Humphreys said about their performances this weekend. "The team's been doing a great job in front of me, which made it really easy for me. My parents were here, and my rugby teammates were out here watching, so it's really fun to get to play well in front of people I care about."

Just over halfway through the second period, the Bobcats doubled their lead on a breakaway. The Big Green continued to battle as Annie King collected her own rebound and from a tough angle, shot the puck off the post and in to make the score 2-1 Bobcats.

The 2-1 score did not last long though. With only 1:03 left in the middle frame, the Bobcats found the back of the net again to make the score 3-1 heading into the intermission.

Dartmouth came out with energy in the third period, outshooting the Bobcats 12-5. Despite this, the score remained 3-1 in favor of the Bobcats. With about seven minutes remaining in regulation, Dartmouth committed a trip and sent the Bobcats to the power play where they took advantage of the extra skater and extended their lead to three.

Not even 30 seconds later though, Laura Fuoco beat the Bobcats goaltender to make the score 4-2. The Big Green continued to battle, and just over a minute later, scored again. Vanessa Stamper collected a rebound in front and outwaited the extended goaltender to cut the deficit to one.

The Big Green then pulled Humphreys for the extra skater, but Quinnipiac controlled possession, and scored the empty net goal with nine seconds remaining, to create the final score, 5-3.

Despite the loss, Assistant Coach Max Gavin said sticking to their game allowed the team to stay competitive in both tonight's game and Friday night's tie against Princeton. Gavin said it is important for the team going forward, especially in league play, to continue to build off this weekend's games.

"The big thing is keep building off this. We put together a really competitive weekend against really good opponents," Gavin said. "Now, it's about continuing to raise our level and trying to get as many points as we can moving forward into the playoffs."

King had similar sentiments and said this weekend is "a great momentum start."

"It was the first time we've found that consistency between Friday and Saturday games. We talked about it in the room after…we got to build up from here and keep rolling and bringing that same game," King said.

The Big Green will return to ECAC action when they travel to New York next weekend to face Union and Rensselaer. The games will be available to stream on ESPN+.