The Dartmouth Women's Rugby team fought Cornell University and Princeton University and came up victorious, garnering their fourth consecutive Ivy League title on Saturday at Sachem Field.
Against Cornell, the women scored 51 unanswered points including a drop goal from the field by inside center Keirsten Lawton '94. Tries were scored by outside center Nicole Carrier '94 (2), winger Erica Puccio '95 (2), fullback Nicolette Van Der Lee '95 (1), number 8 Jennifer Bentwood '96 (1), winger Mishuana Goeman '94 (1), and prop Christy Kahl '94 (1). Lawton kicked four conversions for Dartmouth before the game was called early due to a Cornell injury.
"In the first game we had the opportunity to experiment with offensive plays against a competitive backline defense. It was good preparation for the game against Princeton," Van Der Lee said.
In the final game of the afternoon, Dartmouth faced a very determined Princeton team. From the outset, the Big Green were in scoring position, limiting the Tigers' offensive drives to midfield. Even with the wind at their backs and several penalties called in their favor, the Princeton Ruggers couldn't pull their offense together until the end of the first half. Dartmouth took advantage of the situation with two tries by Carrier and a conversion by Lawton for a halftime score of 12 to nothing.
"Princeton had a tenacious defense. They were really aggressive and they really wanted to win. We used up a lot of energy in the first game and that showed in the second half when we had a lot of offsides penalties called against us," Coach Deb Archambault said.
In the second half, the Tigers came back strong offensively but were unable to score until the 35 minute mark. Dartmouth was slowed by penalties and an injured player. In the final five minutes Dartmouth took over on a 20-yard scoring drive by Puccio on an assist from Carrier. Lawton kicked a conversion from the far left to make the final score 19 to 5.
Lawton had several key plays including a strong kick to touch in the beginning of the second half that took the Tigers out of scoring position. Coach Archambault called Lawton's good decision-making a key factor in the game. Defensively the team was helped by fullback Van Der Lee.
The Big Green now boast a 4-0 Ivy League record. Next Saturday the team travels to Burlington, Vermont to take on the University of Vermont.
Dartmouth's B team, also competing on Saturday, tied the Radcliffe Ruggers 5 to 5. In a game that was the first for many Dartmouth players and with two Dartmouth injuries, the Killer Bee's had to make a lot of adjustments on the field. Against the more experienced Radcliffe forwards, Dartmouth was pushed backwards a lot but the defense kept them in the game according to Coach Archambault.
