Boston College
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Dartmouth
No. 7 Women's Hockey Advances To Frozen Four
March 10, 2007 | Women's Hockey
March 10, 2007
Hanover, N.H.--The seventh-ranked Boston College Eagles (24-9-2) advanced to the 2007 Frozen Four in Lake Placid, N.Y. with a 3-2 double overtime win over Dartmouth at Thompson Arena Saturday evening. Sophomore Meghan Fardelmann notched her second goal of the game at 4:20 of the second overtime period to give the Eagles their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
Freshman goaltender Molly Schaus made 45 saves in a spectacular effort. Fardelmann also scored the game's first goal, while rookie Allie Thunstrom accounted for the third Boston College goal.
Third-ranked Dartmouth (27-5-2) won the first face-off and left-winger Shannon Bowman took the first shot on goal, but the Eagles quickly asserted themselves. Freshman Kelli Stack brought the puck up the length of the ice against the right wall before dishing it out to Fardelmann to one-time it past Big Green goalie Carli Clemis at 1:11.
Boston College took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but not without some hard work. The Eagles killed off three penalties against a Dartmouth special teams unit that converted 25.7% of man-up situations entering the NCAA Tournament. Dartmouth took six shots on goal during the three power plays, but many more were blocked by Eagle defenders and never made their way through to Molly Schaus.
The Big Green held a 33-9 advantage in shots during the first frame, but just an 8-7 edge in shots on goal.
The Eagles got back to business at the top of the second stanza. In the first minute back on the ice, junior Deborah Spillane hit the post, and sophomore Becky Zavisza collected the rebound and spun around for a hard backhanded shot that hit the chest of Clemis.
In the sixth minute, Fardelmann had a fast breakaway, but missed just high. Minutes later down on the other end of the ice, Darmouth's Cherie Piper took a shot that pinged the top post before flipping over the net.
The Eagles took their fourth penalty of the game at 4:29 when junior Lindsay Wright was whistled for tripping. As she had five times prior to Saturday's game, Thunstrom stunned the opponent with a shorthanded goal. Exactly one minute into the Big Green power play, a Boston College defender blocked a shot which Thunstrom gathered up and took down ice. Her and Stack traded passes before Thunstrom lit the lamp at 3:29. The Eagles lead the nation with 13 shorthanded goals. Shots were even at eight apiece in the second period.
Stymied at first by a last minute scratch of Canadian Olympian and first line forward Gilliam Apps, Dartmouth got back into the game when it finally converted on two consecutive power play opportunities. Piper connected at 2:06 with a shot that hit the top of the goal and bounced deflected behind Schaus for the Big Green's first goal. Four minutes later, Nicole Ruta beat Schaus over the goalie's left shoulder on a one-timer. The puck was fed to her by Jenna Cunningham and Maggie Kennedy.
Regulation wound down and each team killed off one more penalty. Through three periods, the Big Green won the shots on goal battle, 29-23. Eleven of Dartmouth's shots on goal came on the power play. Schaus made 11 saves in the third period for 27 total in the first 60:00. Clemis finished regulation with 21 stops.
The Big Green dominated play in the first overtime, and the Eagle defense played frenzied. Boston College could not clear the puck out of the zone and could not apply any pressure down on their offensive end, giving Dartmouth time to outshoot them, 15-4.
The Eagles were much more crisp in the second overtime period. Sophomore blueliner Maggie Taverna cleared the puck out of the zone about four minutes into the frame. Stack received it and carried it up the left wing, getting a shot off in the process. Fardelmann got her stick on the rebound to slip it into the net from the backdoor.
Boston College will play Minnesota-Duluth at 8:00 p.m. in Lake Placid on Friday, March 16. The game will be broadcast live on CSTV.
-BC-
