It was for the Ivy League title.
It would have put Yale in the number one position in the League and pushed the Elis up significantly in the Brine poll. But that did not happen.
The Dartmouth women's lacrosse team went out to win yesterday and win it did. The team sent the Elis back to New Haven with a 10-8 loss and only a distant chance to win the Ivy League title.
Dartmouth finds itself undefeated in Ivy play, and in the driver's seat for the Ivy League title.
And it was not even the best game Dartmouth has played. In fact, Yale held Dartmouth's scoring machine, co-Captain Lauren Holleran '95, who leads the league with 45 points, to only one goal.
Not only that, but Yale held the Big Green to a single goal in the entire second half.
However, Dartmouth was able to put its strong defense to use, keeping the Yale attack from taking control of the game and hanging on to the first-half cushion.
At halftime Dartmouth led 9-3 and had the momentum. But the Big Green's season-long second-half woes continued. The entire tempo of the game changed; Dartmouth let down and Yale picked up, dominating the second half and making it appearthat the teams had switched uniforms.Four unanswered Eli goals closed the gap to 9-7 and the home crowd started to get edgy..
With 6:49 remaining, Holleran shovelled in the only Dartmouth goal of the second half to move the Dartmouth lead back to three.
But the Yale rush continued. With 2:03 left on the clock, Yale put in yet another goal to put the score at 10-8.
Knowing that two minutes is more than enough time to score three more times, Dartmouth put in every effort and came up with the draw. From there on out, Dartmouth was able to stall, running the clock down and coming up with the win.
Dartmouth took control from the first draw in the first half. Yale played good defense at the beginning to keep Dartmouth away from its goal. But they could only hold out for just three more minutes before Wallis Cook '95 fired and scored.
The tide of the half continued to show itself through the draw controls as Dartmouth picked up the next one.
"Dartmouth was strong in the first while we were weak in the first," Yale Coach Amanda O'Leary said.
Play continued up and down the field until 7:14 into the game when Yale's Colleen Mallon evened up the score with a shot to the middle right of the goal.
For the third time in a row, the draw went to Cook. After a saved shot on the Yale goal, the Elis took possession. Their efforts were not rewarded,as goalie Kirsten Prettyman '95 saved the ensuing shot.
A clear to Sarah Devens '96 sent the ball back down towards the Yale net. As she ran Devens slid past the Yale defenders by easily switching hands, something O'Leary had been yelling at her team to do.
At 11:38, Kim Mendelson '97 gave Dartmouth the lead, putting the ball past goalie Joan Sullivan.
Dartmouth continued to play well on both ends of the field, with the attack dominating ball control. When the ball did find its way into Dartmouth's end, the defense was quick to react and return the ball to its offense.
Less than a minute after Mendelson's goal, Dartmouth was back in Sullivan's face. A pass from Holleran to Cook was quickly shot into the goal,increasing Dartmouth's lead to 3-1. Dartmouth was hungry for goals, though, and would not be satisfied with that. The draw went to Mendelson who ran the ball to Yale's goal and scored, just nine seconds after the last goal.
With 12:37 left to play in the first half, Mallon found an open spot in the net once again. Dartmouth was quick to follow a combination of Holleran assisting and Devens scoring to the lower left hand corner.
Dartmouth's domination continued to the end of the half with another goal each by Devens, Cook, Mendelson and Jenny Edwards '95. These goals gave both Mendelson and Cook a hat-trick for the afternoon, before the intermission.
Yale also had another goal when the Elis put in a rebound offa save by Prettyman.
"In the first half, we had some very pretty passing plays on the fast break," Dartmouth Coach Amy Patton said.
"I don't know. Our second halves, we've only played two strong halves this season [against Penn and Cornell]," Patton said.
Dartmouth got off several shots. All but one were saved or deflected. Yale, on the other hand, shot more accurately than in the first half.
The first goal of the half came more than 10 minutes in when Yale's Amanda Cox hit the lower left hand corner.
Yale's next goal came at 13:27 into the half when Mallon completed a hat-trick with a bounce shot to the bottom left.
Dartmouth's biggest objective at this point was to break Yale's momentum. With the draw, Dartmouth, after a long struggle for the ball, got this opportunity by gaining possession.
Dartmouth continued to take many shots but all to no avail. At the same time, Yale had picked up its passing game.
"In the second half we were playing as a team," Patton said. "They are fast and were wearing our defense down. I give Yale credit for hanging in there. They kept fighting until the end."
As to the difference between the first and second half, O'Leary said, "It was a matter of getting our team organized. Individually, Dartmouth is very strong with Lauren Holleran, Sarah Devens and Wally Cook. We put our best defender [Samantha Barnes] on Holleran."
"It's the tight games, if you can win them, it shows you're a good team," Patton said.
