Saturday afternoon at Bright proved to be the best hockey game I have seen in
the young season.  The Dartmouth Big Green edged the Crimson of Harvard 5-4 in
overtime.  What made it such a treat to watch was the fact that first one team
would dominate and then the other.  In the end, Dartmouth's superior mobility
gave them the advantage.
 
The match opened with Harvard busting up the gut for two quick strikes.  First
Kiirsten Suurkask (Angie Francisco, Tara Dunn) drilled her shot high glove
side after getting a nice feed from Francisco for a shorthanded goal.  As the
penalty expired the Crimson's Claudia Asano stepped out of the box, collected
the puck, went in all alone, and fired high into the netting.  Dartmouth
looked shocked by the two Harvard goals, but managed to come back.  Sarah Hood
picked up a long pass that was bobbled by the Crimson defense.  Hood torqued
it, blew by the other Harvard defender and tucked the puck home.  Lovely goal!
 
In the second, the Crimson seemed to be sitting on their lead.  Harvard has a
penchant for killing off their own power plays that prevented them from
extending their lead.  Neither team was in control for large periods of time.
However as the period waned, the Big Green started to turn up the heat.
Kathleen O'Keefe (Hood, Michelyne Pinard) scored on a bang-bang-bang play,
during a 4 on 4 situation, to tie the game.  They had controlled the puck in
the Harvard end when Hood made the killer pass to O'Keefe.
 
As the third period started I felt somehow Dartmouth was going to win this
match.  Sure enough, Big Green scored again to take a 2-3 lead at the start of
the period.  Jen Wiehn (Lauren Trottier, Pinard) scored from the side of the
net after a three-way passing play.  To my pleasant surprise, Harvard tied the
match when Francisco (Suurkask, Jen Gerometta) caught the Dartmouth defense at
sixes and sevens.  It was up and down hockey with both teams going for
victory.  The Crimson regained the lead at 4-3 when Suurkask (Melissa Milbert,
Francisco) pulled off a fine solo slanting move before touching the puck into
the back of the net.  Dartmouth roared right back as Carrie Sekela (Trottier,
Wiehn) struck home a rebound when the Harvard defense couldn't clear the puck.
Finally in overtime, Wiehn (Hood) threaded in the winning goal off a perfect
pass from Hood.  Both teams had played extremely well.
 
Dartmouth has a very interesting team.  They have a number of talented first-
years who are fitting into the Big Green system nicely.  I have a feeling that
when this team is on song, they could beat any team in the ECAC with their
excellent skate and pass game.  The woman of the match was Hood.  The senior
co-captain did it all.  She back-checked, she scored a brilliant goal at a
timely moment, and she dished off a number of lovely feeds, including the game
winning goal.  Hood is a strong player who could help her team into the honors
this season.  O'Keefe was another attacker that at times looked very
dangerous.  First-years Trottier and Wiehn are marvelous.  They strung
together a lot of first-class passes.  Trottier has a soft stick and a myriad
of moves.  Wiehn made numerous telling passes.  The line that isn't, O'Keefe,
Hood and Pinard was easily the best line on the ice.  It was only united a
couple of times, but produced a key goal to tie the game in the second.
Together, those three are something special!  The blue liners were lead by
senior co-captain Jen Lane.  Lane is the on-ice commander who pushes her
troops forward.  Wendy Soutsos was the other DC defender who played a very
smart match.  Overall, I look for Dartmouth to be one of the contenders in the
ECAC and Ivy Leagues.
 
The Harvard players should be proud of their fine form today.  They went for
it against a very tough opponent and came very close to winning.  The Harvard
woman of the match was Francisco.  The first-year forward displayed her
outstanding vision today and along with her linemates provided much of the
Crimson offense.  Francisco also did a good job of back-checking.  Fellow
linemate and first-year Suurkask put out a ton of attacking energy.  The combo
of Francisco-Suurkask is creating some fun plays.  That unit is completed by
Dunn, and looks remarkable good as it surges up the ice.  The line of
Elizabeth Ganzenmuller, Sally Maloney and Kim McManama also looked very good
together.  Crystal Springer looked solid in net.  Asano led the defense with
her powerful skating.  She is really holding things together at the back for
the Crimson.  Jamie Notman had moments where she looked great on the blue
line.  The key for all the Harvard blue liners is to keep it simple.  Overall,
a very convincing performance by the Crimson.
 
 
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 good shooting
 hungerf
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