Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Dartmouth College women's hockey team scored two goals in the second period and three in the third to beat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 6-1, in Sunday afternoon's ECAC Championship Game at Bright Hockey Center. With the win, the Big Green improve to 20-9-4 overall and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Engineers finish their season with a 19-14-4 mark.

Three Engineers earned All-Tournament Team honors, including junior forward Whitney Naslund (Bloomington, MN/Bloomington Jefferson), sophomore defenseman Laura Gersten (Queensbury, NY/Troy-Albany Ice Cats) and sophomore goaltender Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON/Toronto Jr. Aeros). Darmouth's Shannon Bowman (Leamington, ON/Windsor Wild Cats), Sarah Parsons (Dover, MA/U.S. National Team) and Julia Bronson (Arlington, VA/Washington Pride) round out the six players selected, with Parson being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Dartmouth opened the game's scoring early on a tally by sophomore Alyssa Boehm (Waterford, CT/CT Polar Bears). Parsons slid a centering pass across from the left to Boehm, who beat van der Bliek five-hole at 2:43 of the first period.

The Engineers knotted things up at 1-1 in the second stanza after senior Nicole McDonald (Ottawa, ON/Ottawa Radiers) sent a shot from the far boards through the right circle to Jill Vandegrift (St. Paul, MN/Minnesota Thoroughbreds). The rookie center sent a wrist shot into the open left side of the net past Dartmouth netminder Carli Clemis (Taber, AB/Midget AA Boys) at 7:27.

The Big Green gained the upper hand through the final 12 minutes of the period, as Bowman scored her ninth of the season and assisting on another for a 3-1 Dartmouth lead after two.

Bowman made it 2-1 at 8:37 after she collected a feed low in the slot from Parsons and lifted it past the reach of the Rensselaer netminder.

Dartmouth later took advantage of an RPI penalty to gain a two-goal edge at 12:44. Bowman won the face-off and chipped it out to Bronson at the top of the slot. She slid it to the left point where Maggie Kennedy (West Hartford, CT/CT Polar Bears) ripped the shot through traffic.

The Engineers had a number of chances in the second stanza, including a breakaway effort by Naslund with under a minute remaining in the stanza, but Clemis held strong.

Dartmouth added three goals in the third to make it a 6-1 advantage. Junior Jenna Cunningham (Medicine Hat, AB/Kingsland Hawks), Parsons and sophomore Amanda Trunzo (Andover, MN/Benilde-St. Margaret's School) each tallied within an 11-minute span to put the game out of reach.

Clemis (17-9-2) earned the victory in net for the Big Green making 15 saves. van der Bliek finished with 28 stops.