The temperatures in the Upper Valley have been anything but tropical lately, but No. 2 Dartmouth made its game against Cornell on Saturday afternoon look like a rerun of Hawaii Five-O. Or at least, that was what the Thompson Arena scoreboard looked like.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Lane stopped all 11 shots she faced, and the line of Katie Weatherston and co-captains Sarah Clark and Meagan Walton combined for nine points en route to a 5-0 Dartmouth victory.
“We stayed more focused and composed today than we did yesterday,” said Dartmouth head coach Mark Hudak, whose team played its second straight game without forwards Cherie Piper and Gillian Apps, both at a Canadian National Team training camp.
“I thought we played a really good game,” said Cornell head coach Melody Davidson. “We’re strong, but we still have a ways to go.”
In the first, Dartmouth did not appear to feel the absence of Apps or Piper, launching 11 shots at Cornell goalkeeper Flora Vineberg, while allowing only four to reach Lane. However, Vineberg stopped every shot she faced in the first period.
The scoreless tie did not survive long into the second. Weatherston got the first of her goals 3:17 into the middle period, when Vineberg was drawn out of position during a scramble in front of the net. Walton slid the puck across the ice to Weatherston, who slammed the puck into a wide-open net from point-blank range.
The sophomore from Thunder Bay, Ont., scored her second goal less than ten minutes later, from almost the same exact spot in front of the net. With Vineberg’s shutout bid ended, Lane kept hers alive and well, stopping all five shots she faced in the second, including several quality Big Red chances.
“The defense in front of me was so strong,” said Lane. “The shutout is a full-team effort.”
The Dartmouth continued to pull away 6:05 into the third, when Walton got a goal of her own, shooting from the slot on a pass from Alana BreMiller and beating Vineberg five-hole.
BreMiller added a tally herself, making it 4-0 on a shot from the blue line with just over seven minutes to play.
Late in the game, Weatherston went looking for a hat trick on a breakaway. Her shot hit the crossbar, but Dartmouth got a goal on the exchange from Clark, who beat Vineberg from the bottom of the faceoff circle for Dartmouth’s fifth and final goal.
Dartmouth will head to New York next weekend for a pair of games with ECAC D-I newcomer Union next Friday and Saturday, while the Big Red will host non-conference opponents Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart at Lynah Rink next Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
