HANOVER, N.H.—The Colgate Women's Hockey team's top offensive line was too much for Dartmouth Saturday afternoon at Thompson Arena in a 5-1 victory.
The Raiders carried over offensive momentum from Friday evening, but could not find the finish in the opening 20 minutes against the Big Green. Colgate outshot the home side 7-4 in the period, but a myriad chances just missed to keep the game deadlocked.
Julia Vandyk was perfect on four shots in the goal for the Raiders.
Just like they've done multiple times this season, the Raiders' top line of
Malia Schneider,
Jessie Eldridge and
Shae Labbe was able to take over the game in the second period. The trio applied tons of offensive zone pressure and was quickly able to capitalize.
A little over three minutes into the frame, Eldridge skated her way to the right faceoff dot, then slid a pass cross ice to Labbe, who had an easy finish to break the scoreless tie. It was the senior's 11th of the season.
A few minutes later, the top line doubled up the Raider advantage. This time around, Schneider worked her way free to the opposite faceoff circle and center a feed to a cutting Eldridge, who fired home her team-leading 17th of the season.
Colgate's offensive onslaught continued a little past midway in the frame when Labbe struck for her second of the period. In the Raiders' defensive zone,
Olivia Zafuto won a puck battle and got it free to
Tanner Gates. With Dartmouth in the midst of a line change, Gates fired a pass up ice to Labbe, who broke in on a 2-on-1 with Eldridge. With the passing option cut off, Labbe ripped one that hit the crossbar and went in to complete a three-point period for the senior.
The senior class continued to shine four minutes later for Colgate when
Bailey Larson got involved in the scoring. On a clearance attempt by the Big Green,
Coralie Larose blocked an attempted chip out of the zone. From there,
Rosalie Demers cut to the middle of the ice and played the puck loose to Larson, who slammed home her sixth of the season.
Even with the offensive attack on the other end, Vandyk still stayed busy in the frame and was perfect on all 10 shots she saw.
The teams traded a few chances in the third period, but it was Colgate's top line that once again found the back of the net. After Schneider cleared the puck up ice, Labbe and Eldridge entered the zone on a 2-on-1. Labbe shuffled a pass over to Eldridge, who one-timed it home to increase the Raider lead to five.
Dartmouth was able to break up Vandyk's shutout bid with 1:48 left to play, but it was still a convincing victory for Colgate to complete the weekend sweep.
Bottom Line
- #8 Colgate 5, Dartmouth 1
Facts & Figures
- Colgate has now taken eight out of a possible eight points this season from the traveling partners of Harvard and Dartmouth.
- The four-point game was the first of the season for Labbe and the second of her career. She is tied with Schneider with nine multi-point games this season to lead the Raiders.
- Labbe finished the weekend with five points to lead all Colgate scorers.
- Eldridge now ranks in the top-5 in the NCAA with her team-leading 18 goals.
- Vandyk concluded the weekend with 65 saves on 68 shots.
- Gates now has at least one point in five straight games.
- The Raiders are now on a four-game unbeaten streak and are 7-1-3 in their last 11 games.
From the Source
Senior Forward
Shae Labbe
- "The weekend sweep is big for us," said Labbe. "We really want to turn up our play at this point in the season and it's really good to see the little things we've been working on start to get implemented into a game."
On the chemistry with linemates Schneider and Eldridge:
- "It's been great," said Labbe. "When you put three skilled players together with high hockey IQs, good things are going to happen. In that second period we really started to work together and things started to flow. It felt good to get rewarded for doing the small things well."
- "We really want it at this point in the year," said Labbe. "As a team, our chemistry has been great and has been building on and off the ice. Things are coming together really well."
Head Coach
Greg Fargo
- "It was a good weekend of hockey for us," said Fargo. "Anytime you can grab four points on the road is a good feeling. The league is so tight from top-to-bottom, and we've seen it already this year where anybody can knock off anybody, so you have to focus on every day and take care of your own business."
- "I give our team a lot of credit," said Fargo. "Right from the onset yesterday through the end of today's game, there was a lot of buy-in. I really loved the way we played."
- "We had some good looks, but we just couldn't cash in on our chances in the first period," said Fargo. "Then in the second, we just wanted to stick with it. We didn't change anything or let any frustration set in, it was just a matter of really bearing down on some of our opportunities and sticking with our game. The big second period resulted from us playing the right way without the puck."
On the top line of Schneider, Labbe and Eldridge:
- "They're so good because they're tremendously talented," said Fargo. "As our season has gone on, they're really starting to understand how each other plays the game. It's not just one player, they make space for each other and their defense pairs that are out there with them have a big influence too."
Up Next
Colgate returns to home ice at Class of 1965 Arena Friday afternoon to take on nationally ranked Cornell. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.
