Despite once again failing to make the playoffs, the Red women’s hockey team will look to continue the tremendous strides forward that it has taken this year when it finishes out its ECACHL schedule against No. 10 Harvard tonight in Cambridge, Mass., and Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon in Hanover, N.H. Having already compiled eight victories, the squad has more than doubled its win output from a year ago. With four games to play, the Red has also topped last seasons total of 53 goals scored.
Last season, four Red players reached double-digit scoring totals, while this season five players have already scored at least 10 points. Sophomore Caleigh Beerworth leads the team with 20 points on six goals and 14 assists; junior Halina Kristalyn has 15 points on nine goals and six assists; sophomore Brianne Schmidt is tied with Kristalyn for second, having totaled four goals and 11 assists; sophomore Brittany Forgues, who leads the team with 11 goals, has 14 points on the year, and freshman Emma Chipman rounds out the top-5 scorers with 10 points on four goals and six assists. Senior Vicki Hodgkinson and sophomore Molly McDonald are each one point away from double figures with nine points a-piece.
Harvard enters the final weekend of league play ranked No. 10 in the country, with a 12-8-4 overall record and an 8-4-4 mark in the ECACHL; however, the Crimson has hit a rough patch of late, picking up just two wins in its last seven outings, going 2-3-2 since Jan. 11.
The Crimson holds the all-time series advantage against the Red, with a record of 40-16-2. The two teams last faced off on Jan. 8, with the Crimson leaving Lynah Rink with a 6-3 win. The last time the Red defeated the Crimson was on Feb. 1, 2002, when the squad marched onto Harvard’s home ice and walked away with a 4-2 win.
Dartmouth enters the weekend 9-10-4 overall and 6-7-3 in the ECACHL, and will entertain Colgate Friday night before playing host to the Red on Saturday afternoon. The Green has not won its last four outings..
The Green are lead on the ice by an unlikely tandem of freshmen. Shannon Bowman is first on the team with 21 points on 11 goals and 10 assists, while Maggie Kennedy is second on the team with 19 points on 6 goals and 13 assists. Senior Kate Lane has been the regular starter for Drtmouth during the 2005-2006 campaign, going 6-9-2 in 16 starts. She has a 2.33 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.
Saturday’s game will be the 59th meeting between Cornell and Dartmouth in women’s hockey, with the Big Green leading the all-time series 33-20-5. The teams played earlier this season on Jan. 7, with Dartmouth rallying to erase a one-goal deficit in the third period and claim a 4-3 victory. Cornell last beat Dartmouth on Jan. 24, 1999, when the Red won 4-3 at home.
Archived article by Jacob Lieberman
Sun Staff Writer