This Saturday the final buzzer went off one goal too soon. Princeton defeated the Big Green with a score of 2-1, moving the Tigers into first place in the Ivy League.
Dartmouth started the game a bit hesitantly, which enabled Princeton to score both of its goals in the first half. "That says a lot about the character of the Princeton team." Coach Julie Dayton said.
The players worked hard in the first half, but they were still not playing to their potential. At half-time, however, the frustrated team prepared itself and entered the second half determined to fight back.
"It was tough having [the Tigers] score two goals right away," said senior tri-captain Rebecca Slisz '95. "They came out strong and that was what hurt us the most."
Dartmouth goal-keeper Lauren Demski '96 said, "After the first two goals, we got angry ... It really fired us up and we wanted to come back."
The team did make a come-back, when 15 minutes into the second half Cynthia Roberts '96 scored off of an assist from Kathleen Hickey '96 and tri-captain Sarah Devens '96.
"We never really got settled until the second half," said Slisz. "Once we became more offensively oriented, we scored and gained our confidence back. Princeton was playing defense the whole second half. I think they really panicked."
Although Dartmouth outplayed Princeton in the second half, Princeton goal-keeper Liz Hill outplayed all with a second half total of 10 blocked shots.
"We wanted to score and when we did, it became a whole new ball game. We dominated the second half, but just couldn't put the ball in the net after our first goal," said Demski.
The Big Green desperately fought to score again, but after numerous missed corners and a blocked penalty shot by Roberts, the final seconds counted down and the buzzer sounded.
The Tigers celebrated another Ivy win and the Big Green tried to keep their spirits up.
"This was more of an emotional loss than anything for us," said Dayton. "We came out a little tentative in the first half, but then dominated the second half. Princeton, however, came out really strong and gave a great team effort."
"Princeton is always a big game for us" said Slisz. "Still, we felt like we could have won. They were beatable, and that is why the loss was so disappointing."
This game marked the end of Dartmouth's four game winning streak, and it also had a negative effect on Demski's five shutout record for this season, but Coach Dayton remains positive.
"Lauren has been playing really well," said Dayton. "She deserves all the shutouts she's had in the past couple of games. She's earned them all. Today she made some key saves for us which proves again that she is a great goal keeper."
Now in second place in the Ivy League, Dartmouth looks towards the future. "We still have two Ivy games ahead of us: Cornell and Harvard. We'll see how it turns out. We're still optimistic," said Dayton.
"Although the Ivy Championship is a long shot and now out of our control, we still have four games left and they are definitely takeable." said Slisz. "We would love to finish out the season 4-1-1 in the Ivies, that would be a huge accomplishment for us."
Demski agreed, saying "We have four games left, and anything can happen. If we play our own game, our way, we'll win. We won't back down though. We're going to continue to work hard, and have fun."
The Big Green will be playing Springfield University this Thursday at 3:00 p.m. on Chase Field. On Saturday they will play Cornell in the first of three road games. The second will be against the University of Vermont and the final will be at Harvard on October 29.
