Wednesday night at Bright found the Big Green using their superior
passing and skating skills to beat the Crimson.  In the final Ivy
League game of the season, both teams used their third lines more than
usual.  Both of those lines played very well, as the teams get ready
for this weekend's ECAC playoffs.
 
There was no scoring in the first period.  Dartmouth likes to use a
relaxed 1-2 attack which gives them a certain fluid motion and the
proper amount of energy for attack time.  In the second period, Big
Green scored first when Sarah Howald (Kim Cohen, Kim Reid) tipped down
and in a slap shot from the point.  Gretchen Ulion (Reid, Cohen) made
it 0-2 when she finished off a lovely pass from Reid.  The play was
made by the quick break in of Ulion, the digging and setup pass of
Reid, and the twist and turn skating of Ulion to get open again.  In
the third period Dartmouth finished its scoring when Ulion (Reid,
Cohen) scored a power play goal.  A shot had been tipped high in the
air, the Harvard D had tried to clear it, but Ulion struck home the
rebound.  Harvard scored its lone goal when Stacy Kellogg (Winkie
Mleczko, Holly Leitzes) was able to redirect a shot from the point
partially block by traffic in front of the net.
 
Dartmouth has a skillful squad.  Their use of 1-2's allows them to
attack from any point on the ice.  The biggest weakness for Big Green
is the small number of players on the team.  For example they only
played 3 defenders last night.  That has got to be killer against the
faster sides.  Women's hockey has developed into a quicker skate and
pass game.  You really have to have a third line out there regularly
if you are going to keep up.  The outstanding player on the ice was
Gretchen Ulion.  She combines powerful, elusive skating with precision
passing and dynamic shooting to be a great player to watch.  When she
is on the ice, striking is at its highest level.  Kim Reid is another
Big Green player with a lot of skill.  I saw her pull a couple of
passes out of the air with her wonderful touch.  The Ulion-Reid
connection is a deadly.  I also liked the smart play of second line
center Sarah Devens.  She made a number of excellent team plays.  On
defense, Sarah Vogler and Kim Cohen were right on their game.  Whether
it was stepping up to break up a play, or providing support for an
attack, they were always around.  I hope Big Green can play strong
when they face PC on Sunday in the quarterfinals.
 
Harvard was doing too much stopping and reaching last night to give
Dartmouth much of a game.  It was good to see the third line get more
ice time.  Jennifer Duval lead the line with some good hustle and
drive towards net.  Kate Schutt worked some good 1-2's with Duval
and got off a couple of accurate shots.  Ellen Frump seemed to assume
the back-checker role for the line as she was good at providing the
extra coverage.  All in all a good showing.  The outstanding player
for the Crimson was Holly Leitzes.  Her strong fluid skating, good
passing and tough D kept Harvard in the game.  Colleen Malek and
Winkie Mleczko both played good heads up hockey, meeting their player
and fending them off.  The first line lead by the skating of Joey
Alissi had a pretty good night.  At times their passing and team
play was almost clicking.  This coming Sunday at Northeastern they
will need to be on form if they hope to advance in the playoffs.
 
I found myself dreaming during the intermissions last night of a Team
USA Women's line of Issel (Pri), King (Bro) and Ulion (Dar).  It might
not work, but if it came together I was thinking about the speed,
the cuts, the dishes and all the incredible offensive sets you could
use with these three smart and deadly players.
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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