The Big Green of Dartmouth fortified their ranking as the No. 1 team in the country Sunday by easily handing No. 2 Minnesota its second four-goal loss in as many days, this time by a score of 4-0.
Senior goaltender Meaghan Cahill stopped 30 shots en route to the shutout and junior forward Kim McCullough scored what proved to be the eventual game winner only 2:12 into the first period.
For Cahill, the victory was career No. 48, only two shy of the school record 52 set by Kelly Coyne in 1990.
Unlike Saturday’s game, in which Dartmouth dominated territorially throughout the first two periods, Sunday’s game saw Minnesota come out firing, generating several high quality chances to match Dartmouth shot for shot. The end-to-end action culminated in the first goal of the game as McCullough picked up the puck on the right wing, curled to the slot, and unloaded a slap shot past Minnesota goalie Erica Killewald that rang off the far post and into the net.
Down early, Minnesota continued to generate scoring opportunities, but was continuously denied by Cahill. Minnesota’s Laura Smolinski and Nadine Muzerall were both robbed on phenomenal opportunities from the front of the net.
The two teams continued to trade chances throughout the first period until Jennifer Wiehn of Dartmouth took a pass from Kristina Guarino in front of the net and lifted a backhand shot just under the crossbar with just 29 seconds left to play in the first, giving Dartmouth a 2-0 lead.
The second period played out much like the first as the two teams again generated numerous scoring opportunities. Minnesota’s Ambria Thomas had a great chance to cut the Dartmouth lead to 1 early in the second, but was denied on a sprawling save by Cahill. Nadine Muzerall and Tracy Palinsky of Minnesota also had great opportunities in the period, but Cahill was again up to the challenge.
Dartmouth was then able to widen the lead to 3-0 when Carly Haggard fought her way through two checks to pick up a loose puck and send it to Lydia Wheatley, who hammered a slap shot past helpless Gopher goalie Killewald.
Lauren Trottier closed out the scoring for Dartmouth on a beautiful tally in which she stickhandled through the heart of the Minnesota defense and put in a goal from in close.
The win lifted Dartmouth to 10-0-1 while Minnesota fell to 11-4-1.
