Hanover
Clinging to a 2-0 lead, the hosts committed three consecutive tripping penalties during the final five minutes and 43 seconds, one in the offensive end and two in the neutral zone. The Dutchwomen used a two-player advantage to halve their deficit with three minutes remaining and there was real hope among their fans that a 48-game conference winless streak might end.
Dartmouth goaltender Robyn Chemago, however, was up to the task in the Big Green’s 2-1 win. The senior showed poise and skill in making seven saves during the final five minutes. Union uncorked nine shots during in that span, desperate to win its first ECAC contest since Dec. 16, 2014.
“I thought we killed those penalties off nicely,” said Dartmouth wing Eleni Tebano, whose team’s triumph was its second in four days, following on the heels of a 2-1 victory over New Hampshire. “Sometimes, even when you have your feet moving, you get your stick caught the wrong way and they’re going to call something on you.”
First-year coach Laura Schuler’s squad entered the game averaging the second-most penalty minutes per game in ECAC play. She said her team was fortunate not to pay more dearly for its fouls after going scoreless in six power-play chances.
“One of our focuses this year is to … not do the reaching and clutching and grabbing,” Schuler said. “Sometimes penalties happen, but we have to know the clock and be even more disciplined late, especially when you’re up.”
Dartmouth (4-12, 2-8 ECAC) opened the scoring during the sixth minute when Caroline Shaugnessy struck from between the circles. Christina Rombaut and Alyssa Baker assisted. The Big Green doubled its lead eight minutes into the third period courtesy of Tebano, a senior playing just her third game at wing after skating her first 101 collegiate contests on defense.
Pondering a return to the bench as she skated across the Union blue line, Tebano saw Baker headed for possession in the left corner. A look around revealed no Dutchwomen nearby, so Tebano accelerated down the slot, shouting Baker’s name. A quick pass was followed by a short pause before Tebano fired low and inside the left pipe.
“I knew (goaltender Kate Spooner) was going to be tracking the puck into the middle and that the far post would be open,” said Tebano, a Glastonbury, Conn. native who added that she last played forward as a 10-year- old. “I just had to let her slide a little.”
Schuler touted Tebano’s work ethic and hockey sense and noted that No. 9 still plays defense on specials teams.
“She really helps us breaking out with her ability to fight through scrums and control the puck,” the coach said. “Her battles along the boards and her general vision really helps out. It was great that she recognized that even if it’s towards the end of your shift and you have a numerical advantage, you have to go for it.”
Union (3-20, 0-11) has mostly spun its wheels since joining NCAA Division I in the early 1990s. The Dutchwomen, captained by White River Junction native Alli Devins, snapped a 55-game winless streak earlier this season, but have the country’s worst special teams and have been outscored, 77-25.
Union is on an 0-40-9 run in ECAC play and last winter endured the first-ever winless season in NCAA Division I women’s hockey history. The Dutchwomen are 1-26 all-time against Dartmouth, the lone victory coming at home in Schenectady, N.Y., in 2014. The program attracts an average of roughly 130 fans per home game.
Dartmouth, which hosts Rensselaer at 3 p.m. today, will try to win three consecutive games for the first time since January 2015, when it won four contests in a row.
Notes: Dartmouth played without injured forwards Brooke Ahbe and Sara Lopez-Wheeler. The former has competed only seven times this season and the latter only five. … Three of Union’s 11 freshmen are goaltenders. Melissa Black, whose 1,111 saves as a freshman Dutchwoman last season put her sixth on the NCAA’s list for stops during a single campaign, transferred to Vermont, where she’s splitting time for the Catamounts, who were 10-7-5 entering the weekend. … Claudia Barcomb, Union’s coach the previous nine seasons, is in her first year as a girls hockey assistant to Kimball Union Academy head man Mark Hudak, who coached Dartmouth the previous 13 seasons. Barcomb’s 36-236-32 record with the Dutchwomen resulted in a 1.71 winning percentage, lowest among the 81 NCAA Division I and Division III women’s coaches in the sport’s history with at least 200 games behind the bench. The KUA varsity girls entered the weekend 7-2-1.