Don’t let them shoot
No. 5 Quinnipiac opened 2015 with a pair of shutouts, defeating Union, 4-0, and Rensselaer, 1-0. Chelsea Laden earned both, giving her a national-best 10 on the season; she was called on to make only four stops versus the Dutchwomen and another eight in blanking the Engineers. Shiann Darkangelo scored twice against Union, and Nicole Kosta and Cydney Roesler also had two-point games. Taylar Cianfarano banged home her ninth goal of the season off of a centering feed from Nicole Connery to defeat RPI.
Ending a skid
No. 9 Bemidji State experienced its second four-game losing streak of the year when it fell to Lindenwood on Friday, 1-0. Nicole Hensley turned away all 29 shots in winning the duel with the Beavers’ Erin Deters, who made 24 saves but couldn’t prevent Alyssa West’s third goal of the season at 10:38 of the third period.
BSU’s offense came back to life on Saturday in a 6-0 victory over the Lions after scoring only once during the losing string. Sophomore Lauren Miller netted a hat trick and freshman Emma Terres had a trio of assists. Brittni Mowat recorded 30 saves to get the shutout.
Two out of three ain’t bad
Dartmouth played three road games, and all three ended with 5-1 results. The Big Green owned the five on Wednesday at Northeastern and Saturday at Brown, but came out on the short end on Friday at Yale. Dartmouth trailed in the final minute of the second period versus the Huskies, but Lindsey Allen scored at both ends of an explosion that produced four goals in under three minutes. Karlee Odland also tallied twice, and Morgan Illikainen had a goal and two helpers.
DC fell to the Bulldogs as Hanna Åström led the Yale attack with two goals and two assists, Jackie Raines scored and assisted twice, and Jaimie Leonoff turned aside 35 shots.
In upending the Bears, Sam Zeiss struck for a pair of goals and Allen, Odland, and Kennedy Ottenbreit had two-point games.
Starting to roll
The Big Green’s travel partner, No. 6 Harvard, was able to sweep the same two ECAC opponents. After playing at a .500 clip through the first half-dozen contests, the Crimson have now rattled off six straight.
Sydney Daniels scored twice to key a 6-0 win over Brown; Hillary Crowe and Mary Parker had a goal plus an assist.
Lexie Laing and Daniels tallied 25 seconds apart in the waning seconds of the opening period to erase a 1-0 lead for Yale on Saturday. Marissa Gedman provided an insurance goal and Emerance Maschmeyer made 23 saves as Harvard skated to a 3-1 win.
Finding the range
The only other ranked team to resume action in 2015, No. 2 Minnesota, slammed St. Lawrence, 10-0. The Gophers have won their last three outings by a 29-0 composite score. Rachael Bona and Kelly Pannek buried hat tricks.
Moving up
Ohio State succeeded where all others failed, including ranked teams like Quinnipiac and Mercyhurst, by sweeping a series from Penn State. Hayley Studler’s first two goals as a Buckeye proved decisive in a 3-1 win on Saturday, as OSU enjoyed a 35-9 advantage in shots.
The Nittany Lions were closer on the shot chart on Sunday, but farther away on the scoreboard, falling 6-0. Kassidy Sauve saved 23 shots, and the Buckeyes got goals from six different players, including the first collegiate goals by Dani Sadek and Julianna Iafallo. Taylor Kuehl had three points.
Another sweep
Vermont edged past Colgate twice, 3-2 and 2-1. On Friday, Megan Sullivan and Breanne Wilson-Bennett staked the Raiders to leads, only to have Brittany Zuback erase them for the Catamounts. Delia McNally’s first goal of the season at 13:36 of the third period proved decisive for UVM. On Saturday, Taylor Willard struck first for Vermont and assisted on McNally’s second-period goal. Lauren Wildfang notched her first goal for Colgate just in advance of the second-period buzzer, but the Raiders were unable to find an equalizer. Molly Depew made 25 saves in improving to 3-1 on the year.
Other action
Rensselaer took three separate leads on Princeton and made the last one stand up in a 4-3 victory. Katie Rooney scored twice for RPI, as did Hilary Lloyd for the Tigers; Marisa Raspa netted the deciding goal at 12:28 of the second period.
Princeton got a win of its own with a 3-0 triumph over Union. Kelsey Koelzer and Brianne Mahoney combined to set up goals by Molly Contini and Morgan Sly, and Fiona McKenna hit an empty net. Alysia DaSilva turned in a 16-save shutout.
Kennedy Marchment scored twice in a 3-1 win for St. Lawrence at Minnesota State on Saturday. Alex Moore also tallied for the Saints, and goalie Brooke Wolejko made 22 saves while yielding only Kathleen Rogan’s first goal of the season.
In a rare week where only one game went to overtime, Connecticut and Northeastern played to a 3-3 tie. Kendall Coyne scored twice for Northeastern, the second coming at 3:34 of the third period to produce the final deadlock. Lucie Povová also got on the board for Northeastern, with Margaret Zimmer, Emily Snodgrass, and Rebecca Fleming providing the UConn goals.
