Megan Owens '96 said it finally hit her as she was sitting watching the ballet last night. She and her soccer teammates are going to the big dance: the NCAA tournament.
"I got so excited and my palms got real sweaty," Owens said.
The women's soccer team will make its first tournament appearance ever when it plays in the first round of the tournament Saturday. They are also the first Ivy League squadto earn an NCAA bid since Brown in 1986.
"This is a big step for our program," Brittanny Boulanger '95 said. "We're definitely excited, and we have a right to be. We've put a lot of hard work and effort into this season."
Owens said, "This shows that we're doing something right. It's a credit to the school that we can reach this level without offering scholarships. It shows that anyone can reach this if they work hard enough."
Dartmouth (12-2-1), the third seed in the Northeast Region, will play the number two seed, the University of Connecticut (16-5-1), Saturday at 11 a.m. at the University of Massachusetts.
Top-seeded Massachusetts (15-2-3) will play Providence (10-8-2) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The winners face off on Sunday for the right to advance to the Final Four, which will be held November 19-21 at a site undetermined.
The Big Green has already played the three teams that join them in their region. They tied Massachusetts 0-0 in late October, beat Providence 3-1 in September and lost to Connecticut 2-1 in an overtime thriller early in the season.
"It's payback time," said Co-Captain Michelle Conroy '95. "We were a little intimidated the first time we played [Connecticut], since they have such a huge national reputation. But after playing and dominating them, we gained the confidence and positive attitude we need to take it to them this time."
Coach Steve Swanson echoed Conroy. "We played [them] in our second game of the season, when we were still finding out about one another," he said. "We have more experience now, and we've gelled in the last months. We know we can play with them."
That attitude, plus the confidence that the Big Green gained by marching through the Ivy League undefeated and unscored upon, should help ease any jitters that the team may have on Saturday. According to Swanson and his players, the pressure is also on their opponents.
"We're the underdogs," Conroy said. "People don't expect anything from Dartmouth. The 23 of us know that we can win, but others may not think that." "UConn and UMass have done well in the tournament in the past few years, so the pressure's on them," Boulanger added. "We have nothing to lose."
Swanson said his players are "focused, confident, and relaxed. We know we have a realistic shot of winning the region," he said.
