Although it did not win Ivy championship, the Dartmouth field hockey team will have a chance at the Eastern College Athletic Conference, which, as announced last night, will be held at Chase Field this weekend.
Last Saturday in Cambridge, the team demonstrated its usual unyielding toughness and defeated Harvard with a score of 4-1.
Dartmouth dominated the game from the beginning. The first goal came when forward Allison Pell '96 shot one in the net, at 5:29 into the first half.
"We definitely felt that we had nothing to lose with this game," said goal-keeper Lauren Demski '96. "We came out strong and felt pretty much on top of things."
Harvard tried to fight back throughout the remainder of the first half and finally scored near the end of the half. However, the Big Green did not let the Crimson's goal affect their desire for another goal.
"After Harvard scored we became even more focused," Coach Julie Dayton said. "We played very, very well, and our team passing was just great."
Two minutes before the end of the first half, Sarah Devens '96 scored off of an assist from Cynthia Roberts '96. After this goal, Dartmouth didn't look back.
In the second half the Big Green sunk two more goals, the first coming off a beautiful shot fired by Rebecca Oettinger '96 from the right side 25 yard line.
The second goal came with just 30 seconds left in the game. Notching her season-career goals to seven, Pell scored the final goal of the game and confirmed Dartmouth's victory.
As usual, Demski had a strong game with eight saves. Demski finishes the season with an impressive shutout record of six.
"The win felt good" said Dayton. "It was a great way to end the season, and shows what a team effort there was."
With a final season record of 9-5-1 overall, 3-1-2 in the Ivy League, the team looks ahead to next fall, confident in its ability to be even better.
"We're using this season as momentum for next fall," said Dayton. "We'll be even stronger next year, and will continue to develop as a team."
In just two short seasons, Dayton has done wonders for the field hockey program, improving its record from 6-6-3 in 1992 to a commendable 9-5-1 this year. This year is the first winning season for Dartmouth field hockey since 1988, when its record was 11-5.
Although the official 1994 season has come to a close, the final chapter of the season has not yet been written.
Dartmouth is currently the second seed out of four teams heading to the ECAC tournament. Maine is the first seed, Colgate the third and Rider College fourth.
The tournament will be held on Chase Field beginning this Saturday. Dartmouth will compete against Colgate at noon and the winner of that game will be playing the winner of the Rider/Maine showdown on Sunday afternoon.
