Wednesday afternoon, the Big Green traveled to the University of Hartford to take on the number four nationally ranked Hawks and, with consistent play, they surprised everyone but themselves.
"We knew it was going to be a difficult game," Coach Steve Swanson said. "But we've played tough teams so we had a certain amount of confidence because of the preparation we had."
After a scoreless first half, it was obvious that both teams wanted desperately to score in the second. The Big Green were able to get their wish first when Kate Andrews '95 drove in the first goal of the game.
"It was a great women's college soccer match," Swanson said. "There were a lot of momentum changes, which happens when two good teams go at it, and those make for an exciting game."
After Hartford retaliated by scoring in the last twenty minutes of the second half, the Big Green were able to regain control in the remainder of the game and in overtime.
"In overtime we completely dominated," Megan Owens '96 said. "We controlled the pace, and if anything was going to happen, it was going to be from us. We just didn't put the ball in the net."
Considering their strong performance near the end of the game, the Big Green were somewhat disappointed that the game ended in a tie.
"We had so much momentum in the last 30 minutes," Betsy Dobbin '98 said. "We started to put things together and dominated, and if the game had continued a little longer, I think we would have won."
Despite the disappointing tie, the Dartmouth team played a very consistent game overall and was pleased with its performance.
"We played well, defensively and offensively," Swanson said. "It was nice to put it together like that. We worked very well as a team, were very disciplined, and did a lot of things together, which was nice to see. We have to be happy with how we played, but it was too bad we just couldn't pull it out."
The next test for the Big Green will be this Saturday when Dartmouth travels to Providence to compete in a night game against Brown.
"I have more adrenaline playing under the lights," Dobbin said. "Everyone has really been anticipating this game. We look to go into Brown with the same energy we played with at Hartford, and we're hoping for a good game."
Despite their impressive results recently, the Big Green don't plan to look too far into the future as far as an Ivy Championship goes.
"We're trying to look at one game at a time," Swanson said. "We want to improve on our outings and come together as a team. We have too short of a season and too tough of competition not to do that."
