Elizabeth Muirhead ’20
Elizabeth Muirhead ’20 is a member of the Smith College Ice Hockey Team.
The Smith College Ice Hockey Team (SCIH) suited up for its fifth game of the season, against Keene State College on Sunday, Jan. 21. Smith had beaten Keene 5-2 back in November, but they hadn’t played a game since Dec. 10 when they narrowly beat Norwich University 3-2.
Despite being a little rusty, SCIH managed to secure another win over Keene, this time 8-2; they scored three more goals than the last time they played Keene.
Commenting on the higher score against Keene, Mackenzie Dreese ’18 said, “We’re more cohesive now than we used to be … [W]e’ve been on the same lines now for a while, so I’m better at predicting where my teammates are going to be.”
After that win, SCIH was 5-0 for the season and seeded first in its division.
One week later, Smith was set to play Norwich University again, this time at home. Norwich was seeded second, immediately behind Smith. Given the teams’ records and the tight score from their previous game, it was expected to be one of the closest games of the season. A large crowd of parents and students turned out to watch, the biggest home crowd of the season for SCIH.
Norwich was the first team to score, and the rest fell apart from there. After the first period, Smith was losing 3-1, and by the end of the game, the final score was 8-3 Norwich. The loss wasn’t necessarily shocking for Smith, but it was humbling.
What went wrong? Six of Norwich’s eight goals scored on rebounds can be attributed to defensemen failing to pick up sticks in front of the net. After the puck is shot, the defense are responsible for covering the players on the other team to make sure that they cannot tip the shot or score on a rebound.
Additionally, Smith had trouble positioning on the breakout. The breakout is when the puck is in the defensive zone and Smith gains possession and begins moving toward the offensive zone.
Spirits on the team are still high despite the loss. Margie Hemp ’20 said, “Norwich saw what we brought to the first game and really prepared for this game to take back the win. We all played well; Norwich just saw what we had and matched that level.”
SCIH needed to maintain that optimism and work ethic headed into this past weekend. On Feb. 3, they played Dartmouth for the first time, which was expected to be a difficult game given that Dartmouth was ranked third in the division. As the top two teams from each division go onto the playoffs and at this point in the season, SCIH needed the win to secure their spot at playoffs since Norwich has almost definitely secured the top spot.
However, shaken from its loss against Norwich, the best version of SCIH did not show up to the game that evening. Right from the start, the Dartmouth team came out with more energy, putting high offensive pressure on Smith.
They peppered the goal with shots and at the end of the game Smith just couldn’t match the intensity and movement of their offense in front of the net. Kate Ginder made some progress in balancing the scales putting in two goals for Smith in the first and second period. At the end of the third period, SCIH was defeated in a 10-2 loss.
There is still hope if they can come out strong and pull a win out from under Dartmouth next weekend. That win could take them to the playoffs for the first time since Smith joined the IWCH League. One can only hope that the sword of victory will be forged by failure.
