Talk about bad omens. The Minnesota Golden Gophers should have realized it was going to be bad day when they were called for a two-minute protocol penalty before their contest with Dartmouth even began.
The penalty was assessed to the Minnesota bench because the team failed to take the ice on time before the opening faceoff.
It was all downhill from there.
Dartmouth (9-0-1, 8-0-1 ECAC) broke open a scoreless game heading into the second period with five unanswered tallies, leading the No. 1 team in the country to an easy 5-1 victory over No. 2 Minnesota (11-3-1, 10-1-1 WCHA) on Saturday.
Kristina Guarino, a senior forward from White River Junction, Vt., scored what proved to be the eventual game-winning goal at 14:35 of the second period for a 2-0 lead. The goal came after Minnesota goalie Erica Killewald failed to get back into position after playing a loose puck behind the net.
Senior Lauren Trottier assisted on the play and earned her 100th career point.
The game began with an onslaught of chances by Dartmouth, as the Big Green held a territorial advantage throughout the first period and outshot Minnesota 15-4. Killewald was up to the challenge however, as she stopped several Grade A chances, including spectular stops on Correne Bredin and Carrie Sekela from in close.
Dartmouth goalie Amy Ferguson was also up to the task, making a stellar stop on Minnesota’s Kristin King, who managed to get off a backhand shot all alone in front of the net.
Finally, at 1:20 of the second period, Dartmouth’s leading scorer Carrie Sekela got Dartmouth on the board by banging in the rebound of a shot from the point on the power play.
The goal seemed to spark the already dominating Dartmouth offense, and Minnesota was not able to match the firepower or depth of the Dartmouth team.
Besides Guarino’s game winner, Dartmouth also tallied goals from Lydia Wheatley and Carly Haggard in the decisive second period.
Haggard’s goal was Dartmouth’s second power-play goal of the afternoon, and was assisted by junior Correne Bredin. The damage could have been worse for Minnesota, as a shot by Dartmouth seemed to cross the goal line, but the red light did not go on.
Dartmouth’s final tally of the afternoon came 1:19 into the third period. Guarino scored her second of the day, this one shorthanded, as she picked up a loose puck at center ice and broke in all alone on Killewald. Guarino then smoked a wrister to the high right corner of the net, beating Killewald glove side and putting Dartmouth up 5-0.
The game took a solemn turn as Minnesota freshman Bethany Peterson went crashing head-first into the boards while playing the puck behind her own net. The defenseman from Bloomington, Minn., lay motionless on the ice for 15 minutes until she was finally taken away on a stretcher.
No immediate word on her condition was available.
The Gophers then seemed to rally behind their fallen teammate as they finally got on the board at 10:40 of the third period. Melissa Coulombe’s shot from the point found its way into the net after apparently being deflected off a leg in front of Dartmouth goalie Amy Ferguson.
