Knowing it can compete with any school in the nation, rankings mean nothing to the women's soccer team, and the Big Green proved that Tuesday afternoon as they upset the University of Massachusetts 1-0.
"Our full expectation was to go in there and win," Coach Steve Swanson said. "We were confident, but not cocky, and that's how you have to go into games like this."
After a scoreless first half, Dartmouth outshot UMass 7-4.
"Anyone who was at the game would say that Dartmouth deserved to win," Swanson said. "Soccer is a funny game in that the team who should win doesn't always, but we pulled it through."
Since it was a tight game, it looked as though overtime might have been necessary, but with 10 minutes left, Melissa McBean '97 drove in the game winning goal with an assist from Betsy Dobbin '98.
"I thought we played really well," Swanson said. "We put a lot together and moved the ball well to create some chances. It was a good college soccer game decided by someone taking the initiative, not by somebody making a mistake."
Dartmouth set the pace of the game early on as they controlled the ball throughout.
"We moved the ball really well," Dobbin said. "We wanted it and we were ready when we went out and played our game from the beginning by being aggressive. With our hard work ethic we went 100 percent to every ball. We managed to keep that attitude throughout."
Soon into the second half, the UMass squad attempted to change the pace, and although the Big Green were flustered with the use of more long balls, they hope to learn from the experience.
"We always feel like we can play better," Swanson said. "In the second half we played a little bit of their game, and I think we need to learn to adjust to the other team's tactics a little bit better."
Overall, though, the performance was one Swanson was proud of.
"I definitely think this was our best game of the season," Swanson said. "You always hope it happens at the end of the year. Now we just need to prove we have the capability to play that way consistently."
The Big Green will have the perfect opportunity to establish themselves as one of the top teams in the East when they take on Cornell University at Chase Field this Saturday. The game is part of a double header with the women playing at noon and the men following at 2:30 p.m.
"I think it will be a challenge especially after such a good win," Dobbin said. "We need to keep up the way we played against UMass. Everyone knows what they have to do. It's just a matter of keeping the intensity.
Cornell will arrive in Hanover with a recent win against top ranked Hartford and will look to knock off last year's Ivy League Champions.
"They'll come in with a lot of confidence and enthusiasm, and we're just going to have to make sure we're ready for it."
The Big Green hope that with home support they can stop Cornell early and establish themselves as the team to beat.
"We've gotten a lot of home crowd support," Swanson said. "If we can get them cheering behind us I think that will make a big difference for our team."
