The Colgate women’s ice hockey team traveled to Hanover, New Hampshire and Cambridge, Massachusetts to take on the Dartmouth Big Green and the Harvard Crimson on Friday and Saturday night. The Raiders started off the weekend with an outstanding 5-1 victory over Dartmouth on Friday night where Colgate put up three goals within two minutes and five seconds. This was followed by a 4-0 win over Harvard on Saturday night, marking Colgate’s tenth weekend sweep of the season.  

After committing two penalties within the span of 1:13, the Raiders’ offense against the Big Green heated up in response to Dartmouth’s two-skater advantage and 1-0 lead with 13:25 left in the first period. Toronto native and senior forward Megan Sullivan lifted the puck over the shoulder of Dartmouth goaltender Christie Honor, opening the score for Colgate with 4:11 left in the first period. This was followed by a goal from junior forward Jessie Eldridge who gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead, sneaking the puck five-hole on a pass from senior forward Shelby Perry. Soon after, a goal from senior forward Breanne Wilson-Bennett further built on Colgate’s lead.

Following a scoreless second period, the Raiders scored two insurance goals in the third. Colgate’s fifth goal came from first-year forward Malia Schneider, off an assist from senior defender Lauren Wildfang. Wildfang now shares the record for most goals by a defender in program history with Tara French ’07, with 72 career goals.

“I like the maturity we showed today. After coming out and getting behind, in terms of penalty trouble, and then giving one up on the 5-on-3, there wasn’t much panic within our group. We just had to get back to playing the right way 5-on-5 and we did that. We got rewarded with some nice plays late in the first,” head coach Greg Fargo said. 

Colgate has won six consecutive games over Dartmouth dating back to Jan. 8, 2015 and fired a season-high 54 shots on net, surpassing the 50 shot mark for the first time since February 10, 2017, when they had 57 shots. 

During Saturday’s game against Harvard, Colgate struggled to score early on, despite having several good looks on net due to sharp play from Harvard goaltender Beth Larcom. Eldridge snuck a goal past Larcom’s right pad, finding the first hitch in Crimson defense and giving the Raider’s a 1-0 lead with 7:32 left in the first period.

The score stood for the next 40 minutes and 22 seconds until junior defender Olivia Zafuto snuck the puck past Larcom to make the score 2-0 with 6:10 left. Just 10 seconds after Zafuto’s goal, Eldridge scored her second point of the game with 3:44 remaining, giving the Raiders a 4-0 lead. Eldridge’s two goals brought her total to fourteen, tying her for the team lead.

“It was a really tight game. It could have been a frustrating one for us because none of them were falling, but I give this group a lot of credit. We just stuck with it and eventually were able to make plays that turned into goals,” Fargo said. 

This win improves Colgate’s record to 25-4-1 overall and 15-3-0 in ECAC Hockey play, setting a program record. Colgate is undefeated against Harvard in its last five games with a 4-0-1 record. 

With only four games remaining, Colgate will continue its battle against two tough Ivy League competitors this weekend, taking on Brown on Friday, February 9, and then Yale on Saturday, February 10, in the Class of 1965 Arena.

Contact Daisy Krolik at [email protected].