Coming off a disappointing loss to Brown last Saturday, the women's soccer team appeared a bit slow as they came out in the first half yesterday afternoon against the always competitive Boston College squad. Yet, luckily for Dartmouth, with strong second half play, the Big Green pulled off a 3-0 victory to go 6-2-1.
"We had a tough time last week," Coach Steve Swanson said. "A loss puts everything into perspective though. Hopefully you will learn some things from losing and use that in the future."
The Big Green came out slow in the start, taking only three shots in the first half. But, fortunately for Dartmouth, Boston College was also lacking momentum and took only two shots.
"It took a little while to get into it," Swanson said. "Once we started to knock the ball around, we started to get some confidence going."
Indeed, confidence began to soar in the second half following a left footed outside goal by Melissa McBean '97. McBean, who was injured in the summer, began playing last week and has gradually been working her way into top form.
"In the beginning I made a lot of improvement," McBean said. "I've reached a point now where it hasn't quite gotten back. My knee still hurts and I still feel a little pain, but it felt really good to get one in."
"It was good to get [McBean] out," Swanson said. "I think she's been progressing and getting better each day. She has been a little tentative, but in the second half her heart came out. She looked to take people on, and that's a good sign."
McBean set the ball rolling for the Big Green in the second half and, eight minutes later, Megan Owens '96 scored off a free kick to put the Big Green up 2-0.
"I think we dominated and kept the pressure on them," Jenna Kurowski '97 said. "In the first half we didn't have as many quality shots, but in the second half we began to dominate the midfield and went to every loose ball. We also finished a lot better."
The Dartmouth squad also began to control the pace of the game, outshooting its opponents six to nothing in the second half.
"We were winning more of the 50-50 balls in the second half," Kurowski said. "We also challenged the keeper a lot more."
The Boston College goalie tallied 12 saves, but in the end Dartmouth closed the door on the persistent Boston College team with 14 minutes left in the game when Betsy Dobbin '98 shot one in with an assist from Brittany Boulanger '95.
"We were just more intense in the second half," McBean said. "We were hungrier in front of the goal."
Swanson attributes the Big Green's attacking attitude and high concentration in the second half to the team's yearning to avenge its loss Saturday.
"There is nothing like a loss to get your team more focused," Swanson said. "We're now just trying to get the momentum going and improve every game to get back on track. Our team has always responded, and they responded today."
The Big Green will now prepare for their Ivy League game away at Princeton this Saturday as they look to better their 2-1 Ivy record.
"We have to put our loss against Brown behind us," Kurowski said. "I think we are psyched now because with a loss we have to prove ourselves again."
