"Yesterday was a bit more of a battle than we would have liked to have had," co-captain Kerry Bracco '12 said. "We were definitely confident that if we played well, we could beat Brown."
Both teams struggled offensively through most of the first half, and the game remained scoreless until more than halfway through the period. Freshman Meghan O'Donnell scored for the Bears 21 minutes into the half for the only goal of the game's first 30 minutes.
The second half saw a string of goals between the two teams, beginning with a shot by Maya Herm '13 six minutes in that tied the game at one. The Bears quickly responded with a goal from senior Leslie Springmeyer, again giving Brown a one-point advantage.
Samantha McPherson '13 then scored for Dartmouth to re-tie the game, until O'Donnell tallied again and gave Brown the lead. Co-captain Kelly Hood '12 who won a League Player of the Week award last week responded, scoring on the Bears with 16:30 remaining in the half and later forcing the game into overtime.
With the score tied at three, tensions ran high as the two teams battled eight long minutes into the extra period. Ali Savage '15, the Ivy League Rookie of the Week, scored the winning goal for Dartmouth.
Bracco said the Big Green had difficulty on offense during the game.
"We created a lot of opportunities, we just weren't doing the best job of finishing," she said. "We had a ton of shots but we just couldn't put them in the goal."
Hood said, however, that she was impressed by the team's resilience.
"We weren't as threatening offensively as we could have been, especially in the first half, but I was really proud of our team," she said. "They scored, we battled back, they scored again but then we battled back again."
Both captains also noted a drop in Dartmouth's defensive focus, which had been a strength in its early-season wins. Hood added that Brown played an impressively strategic offensive game.
"We had a couple of breakdowns," Hood said. "Brown was very opportunistic. They found a way to put the ball in without a lot of opportunities."
Coming off its conference victory at Brown, the Big Green returned home on Sunday to play the College of the Holy Cross.
Dartmouth's offense responded from its letdown on Saturday and quickly established its dominance, scoring four goals in the first half alone. Meghan Everett '12 began the onslaught, and Savage and Janine Leger '15 added two more goals in the next three minutes. Everett then scored her second goal with about eight minutes left in the half.
The second half played out much like the first, with Dartmouth dominating on offense. Maggie Scanlon '14 and Lisa Masini '13 scored two more goals for the Big Green less than a minute apart from each other, and Dartmouth's defense also held its ground.
The Crusaders finally scored with 13 minutes left in the second half, but it proved too little, too late against the Big Green's offensive outburst.
Bracco said the game against Holy Cross gave Dartmouth an opportunity to redeem itself after its close match against Brown.
"It was nice to have a second game of the weekend to prove ourselves that we didn't play our best yesterday," she said.
The Big Green has a busy schedule this week, playing at the University of Vermont on Wednesday before it faces the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Bracco said the team is concerned about Penn's field's surface, which differs from those of all other Ivy League schools.
"Penn is unique in that they don't play on Astroturf," Bracco said. "They play on field turf. It's a lot slower, and you can't use the same skills. We just have to practice for that."
Hood said she believes that Dartmouth is up for the challenging playing surface.
"I think that's a challenge we can overcome because I think that we're the better team," she said. "Hopefully we can prove that this weekend."
