HANOVER, N.H. - The University of Connecticut women's ice hockey team returned to action this afternoon in Thompson Arena, dropping a 9-2 decision to the Dartmouth Big Green. Brittany Murphy (Tewksbury, Mass.) and Maude Blain (Magog, Que.) recorded the pair of UConn goals during the game, scoring in the first and second periods respectively.
The Big Green got on the board first at the 9:19 mark of the opening period when Sally Komarek got the puck around Alexandra Garcia (Pointe-Claire, Que.) for the early 1-0 Dartmouth lead.
Murphy answered just six minutes later when she posted her fourth goal of the season at the 15:27 mark to tie the game at 1-1 with under five minutes left in the opening period. Sami Evelyn (Nepean, Ont.) and Kelly Horan (Methuen, Mass.) earned their sixth and seventh assists on the goal when they found Murphy at the top of the net.
Dartmouth went on to post five unanswered goals within seven minutes during the second period to take a commanding 6-1 lead before the Husky offense was able to get on the board again. Blain put the score at 6-2 when Casey Knajdek (Woodbury, Minn.) found her with the open power play shot at the 17:59 mark of the second period.
The Big Green closed out the scoring during the contest, posting three additional goals in the third period for the 9-2 victory.
Garcia and Nicole Paniccia (Oakville, Ont.) split time in net for the Huskies during the contest, with Garcia recording 17 saves during 30 minutes and Paniccia playing 29 minutes with 11 saves.
The Huskies return to action tomorrow afternoon (Jan. 2) when they face off against the Big Green again in Thompson Arena.