In its last weekend of play, the women’s hockey team ended its worst season in history with its highest-scoring game of the year, albeit a loss.
The Bulldogs (1-27-1, 1-20-1 ECAC) fell 10-5 to Dartmouth (18-8-2, 14-6-2 ECAC) on Friday night in Hanover, N.H. Saturday night saw the team shutout 4-0 by Harvard (20-8-1, 17-4-1 ECAC) in Cambridge, Mass.
The team, which is ranked 12th in the 12-team conference, will not see post-season play, as only the top eight teams make the playoffs. Dartmouth and Harvard are ranked fourth and second in the conference, respectively.
The ECAC quarterfinals will take place this upcoming weekend. Cornell, Harvard, Clarkson, Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, Quinnipiac, Princeton and Brown will each play three games amongst themselves in hopes of making it to the semi-finals in two weeks.
Despite the defeats, the Bulldogs did manage an offensive breakthrough this weekend — they scored a season-high of five goals against Dartmouth. Forwards Alyssa Zupon ’13, Danielle Moncion ’13, Stephanie Mock ’15, and captain Aleca Hughes ’12 all made their marks on the scoreboard Friday night. Moncion scored twice, and the team managed to take advantage of two power plays during the game.
“It was great that we had scoring chances against Dartmouth and capitalized on our power play,” head coach Joakim Flygh said. “But we struggled to contain both Dartmouth’s and Harvard’s top lines. Dartmouth’s first line was on the ice for six or seven goals, and Harvard’s first line scored all their goals.”
Yale was outshot 45-33 against the Big Green. Goaltenders Jaimie Leonoff ’15 and Genny Ladiges ’12 both played in net for Yale.
Ladiges said that although the team played well offensively, it lacked strong goaltending and defensive play. She added that it was the overall highest scoring hockey game in which she has ever played.
The results of Saturday’s game, although more consistent with the rest of the season, were nonetheless remarkable in that Harvard forward Lyndsey Fry scored all four of the Crimson goals — two in the first period, one in the second, and one in the third.
The Bulldogs were outshot 47-17, and Ladiges made 43 saves.
Harvard scored on one of its six power plays, but Yale failed to capitalize on any of its seven.
“I thought that we played a more complete game against Harvard, despite being shut out,” Ladiges said. “We failed to take advantage of all of the power plays we had, but managed to shut down some of their top offensive weapons.”
The Bulldogs are no doubt disappointed with their season, as the one and only time they won a game was on Nov. 11 in overtime against Union. But Ladiges said that the team has progressed from October to February and that this season will serve as a “building block for the future.”
Flygh added that the roster is still far from fully healthy, as some players need surgery and some are still recovering from concussions sustained earlier in the season.
“We have had a few players that have played through injuries all year, and we all appreciate their commitment to the team,” Flygh said. He added that it is imperative for the team to recover so it can train during the off season, have a full roster during practices, and become more competitive for next season.
The players, however, remain hopeful for the future of the team.
“I’m extremely proud of how this team pulled together at the end,” forward Lauren Davis ’12 said. “We really played some of our best hockey towards the end of the season, and I hope that is an indicator for how next season will begin.”
Last season Yale finished in a three-way tie for eighth place in the league.