High temperatures and a persistent Brown University squad held the women’s soccer team to a 1-1 tie in the Big Green’s Ivy League opener at Burnham Field, which extended its home unbeaten streak to 16 games.
Lucielle Kozlov ’16 scored midway through the first half for Dartmouth. The Big Green (3-2-2) held this lead until the 88th minute, when Brown junior Erin Katz scored to send it to overtime.
After two scoreless 10-minute periods, the game ended in a tie. The contest was head coach Ron Rainey’s first in the Ivy League.
Though Dartmouth had chances, including a free kick goal-scoring opportunity just a minute in, much of the beginning of the game went back-and-forth. The Big Green began to take control as the game continued. Dartmouth women earned 11 corner kicks and kept Brown to just one, and took 17 shots to Brown’s eight.
“We take it game by game, so before today Brown was the most important game, the only game, we had on our mind,” Kozlov said. “We let in a pretty unfortunate goal, but we also had opportunities to finish, so we could have gone up 3-0.”
Kozlov, who leads the team so far this season eight points on four goals, scored in the 19th minute. A cross from defender Jackie Friedman ’16 landed near the far corner of the six-yard box, and both Corey Delaney ’16 and Lindsay Knutson ’18 made attempts to send the ball towards the goal. As the ball bounced back out, Kozlov put it in the far side of the cage.
Both sides saw opportunities, but the half ended with three saves by Brown’s senior goalkeeper Mallory Yant.
Goalie Tatiana Saunders ’15 has fought an injury that caused her to miss the team’s last two games, but played the entirety of Sunday’s contest. And the game brought another injury — with five minutes left in the period, defender Meredith Gurnee ’17 competed with a Brown defender for a header. After a bad landing, Gurnee went to the hospital.
Brown launched a counterattack with two minutes to play, when freshman Mikela Waldman opened up space for a cross. A relatively empty box gave Katz room to put the ball away.
“One-zero is the most dangerous score in soccer, and it showed today,” Kozlov said. “Yeah, we tied, but we want that win. We’re all going in that a locker room mad. I’m happy that we’re mad because you need that fight, you need that drive, so next time, when we play Princeton, we don’t want this feeling — we want to win.”
The Big Green had some chances in overtime, including two free kicks, but could not convert them.
The team looked particularly strong getting the ball down the sideline and around for crosses and corner kick opportunities.
“We do a good job of turning the corner on backs, and when we do that, now we need to get behind that player and serve away from them and not give up corners,” Rainey said.
The Big Green women went undefeated at home last year, and today’s tie extends this streak.
Rainey said the team needs to bring its home-field mentality on the road.
“Obviously you like to start the season with a win, but we also didn’t start the season with a loss,” Friedman said. “Going forward we just need to learn from this game.”
The Big Green hits the road for its next contest at Sacred Heart University at 5 p.m. on Sept. 30. The next home game will be under the lights against Yale University on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
