The women's soccer team crushed the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on Sunday in their Ivy League opener, 4-0.
Dartmouth controlled the play from the outset, scoring twice in both the first and second half, despite being confronted with Penn's unusual game plan.
"They came out in a very defensive posture, and put a lot of people in [their own penalty] box," Coach Steve Swanson said. "We're used to having space to work with. It was tough because of how many defenders they had."
Defender Megan Owens '94 opened the scoring 31 minutes into the game. Brittany Boulanger '95, inside the penalty box, laid the ball back to Owens, who struck a 25-yard shot that found the left corner of the net. Owens scored a similar goal in the Big Green's last game, a 3-1 win against the University of New Hampshire.
"I told her she had to look for her shot. We just worked the ball back to her and she got a good shot off," Swanson said.
But even after the goal, Penn was continually on the defensive.
It was only a matter of time before Dartmouth would again break through. At the 41-minute mark, a cross from Jess Andre '94 set up Kate Andrews '96, who scored her first goal of the season. Andre's cross resulted in a loose ball that Andrews collected and finished. The goal staked Dartmouth to a 2-0 halftime lead.
Dartmouth continued the scoring onslaught in the second half. Sixty-one minutes into the game, Jenna Kurowski '97 scored the second goal of her collegiate career off a brilliant cross from Melissa McBean '97.
McBean set up the final Dartmouth goal at the 76-minute mark, feeding Co-Captain Stacy Smith '94 inside the penalty box and putting the icing on the cake for the 4-0 win.
Goalie Heidi Hachtel '96, playing in her second game of the season, made one save while recording the shutout.
With the win, the Big Green's record improves to 3-1 on the season. The team travels to St. Mark's School in Southboro, Mass. to face Providence College Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
