For the women’s hockey team, this weekend was a case of the scoreboard not telling the whole story.
Despite outplaying one team and matching up well with another, the Bulldogs (4-6-1, 1-2-0 ECAC-N) were unable to combine effort with output, falling 4-1 to No. 5 New Hampshire (11-3-1, 6-1-0 ECAC-E) Sunday, following a 1-0 loss to Quinnipiac (3-9-1, 0-6-0 ECAC-E) Saturday.
“The games this weekend were an example of lack of execution, not effort,” forward Nicole Symington ’05 said. “Going into the break we are happy with the effort put forth in the majority of our games.”
The Wildcats were the clear favorite heading into the game, having been ranked as high as No. 2 in the country before falling to the No. 5 slot the prior weekend. The Bulldogs, however, held them scoreless until 14:57 in the first period.
With the Elis on a power play, UNH’s Carolyn Gordon eluded a Yale defender and lifted a shot into the upper right corner of the net past Yale goalie Nicolette Franck ’04 for the short-handed goal.
Kira Misikowitz extended the Wildcats’ lead to 2-0 only 8:15 into the second period when she won the faceoff and then tipped in the rebound off of Nicole Stefanilo’s slapshot through traffic.
The Bulldogs did not let up at this point, however, and pulled to within one goal when Rory Neuner ’03 skated out from behind the left side of the net and slid the puck to forward Erin Duggan ’05, who was alone in front. Duggan lifted the puck high over UNH goaltender Jen Huggon to bring the score to 2-1.
“[Neuner] made a perfect pass and I just had to redirect it into the net,” Duggan said.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, this was as close as they would come to beating New Hampshire for the first time in 15 career meetings.
“We competed with UNH as well as we competed with every team this year,” head coach John Marchetti said. “We made some mistakes in our zone, though, especially on faceoffs.”
With four seconds remaining in the second period, UNH controlled another faceoff, resulting in another Stefalino slapshot from the point. This time, it went in untouched to give the Wildcats a 3-1 advantage.
But the Wildcats were not done scoring, and UNH leading scorer Allison Edgar netted a power-play goal that was her 12th of the season at 6:18 to finish off the Bulldogs.
Despite the score, the Elis were not disheartened.
“The game was much tighter than the score shows,” Duggan said. “Our team played well, probably one of our best games of the season.”
The Bulldogs were without forward Wallis Finger ’04, Anna Jepson ’05 and Gabrielle Goodfellow ’04 due to injuries. Amy LeClair ’03 played despite a painful injury.
The Wildcats outshot Yale by a margin of 45-19, but Franck had a tremendous appearance in the net, recording 41 saves in the loss.
“She obviously kept us in the game, which was important,” Marchetti said.
Saturday’s loss to Quinnipiac was much more frustrating for Yale. Playing in their first Division I season, the Braves entered the game with a record of 2-8-1 and managed to eke out a victory despite being outplayed by the Elis.
“During the Quinnipiac game we broke down a bit,” said forward Keely Macmillan ’05.
After a scoreless first period, the Braves’ Serena Hillman recorded a power-play goal with a slapshot from the right point that eluded captain Katie Hirte ’02 low to the stick side.
Yale continued to pressure the Braves, outshooting them 29-26, but had trouble finding second chances on their shots and capitalizing on those that did occur.
Midway through the third period, the line of Sara Wood ’02, Deanna McDevitt ’03, and Symington nearly scored, but barely missed tying the game.
“[The trio] had several good scoring chances, but it just seemed like every time we were ready the puck would bounce over our stick or something,” Marchetti said.
McDevitt, who was named the ECAC Player of the Week last week, and Symington are currently tied atop the leading scorer’s board with 11 points each.
Quinnipiac goalie Mel Courtemanche ended the game with 29 saves, blanking the Bulldogs and preserving a 1-0 victory.
The weekend’s games were the team’s last until 2002, and the injury-wracked Bulldogs are certainly looking forward to recuperating before they return to league play.
“We’re happy that we’re at the break,” Marchetti said. “We need some rest, relaxation, reflection, and refueling — we need to get healthy.”