The Cornell women's hockey team booked their return trip to the NCAA Frozen Four this afternoon, beating Dartmouth 7-1 in front of a loud and large crowd at Lynah Rink.

After last season's successful run to the NCAA championship game, where they fell in triple overtime to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, this season's team, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, had understandably high goals. They checked off another item on the season's to-do list this afternoon, one week after beating the same Dartmouth team for the ECAC Tournament crown, and improved their record to 31-2-1.

Catherine White, a junior forward who had a goal and two assists for the Red, was excited to be going back to the Frozen Four. "Obviously it's an unbelievable experience … the atmosphere is like none other," said White.

Coach Doug Derraugh was particularly proud of the overall team effort, as all three lines contributed offensively. "In order to succeed at this time of year, you cannot rely on one or two players," he said. "We knew that we were going to have to execute our game plan, and if we didn't, we were not going to make it to the Frozen Four."

"You see a lot of teams that have two very good lines, and to have a third line that is going to contribute, I think that's going to be the difference maker in this tournament," he said. "I think every team that's going to go to the Frozen Four has two lines that are extremely dangerous. The question might be who's got the third line."

Derraugh also cited the team's experience last year as being helpful in this year's tournament. "I think the experience of having played in the NCAA tournament before helps … we knew were going to have to play our best, regardless of who we're playing. All the teams that get into this tournament at the end are strong."

This was the team's third meeting against Dartmouth in recent weeks. Dartmouth handed Cornell its second loss of the season, 4-2, in their regular season meeting at Dartmouth Feb. 18. However, Cornell has now avenged that loss twice, beating Dartmouth 3-0 in the ECAC Tournament Final at Lynah Rink last weekend and then in the NCAA Quarterfinals today.

Cornell will take on Boston University in the NCAA Semifinals Friday, March 18, in Erie, Pa.. BU, the No. 3 seed, beat Mercyhurst 4-2 at home to advance to the Frozen Four. Cornell has a storied hockey history with BU, dating back to the days when the teams were rivals in the ECAC. The national championship game will be Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m. Next weekend's games will be live streamed by the NCAA on NCAA.com.