The women's field hockey team split decisions this past weekend on a trip in Virginia. The results left the Big Green's record at 2-2 this season.
The team began the weekend on Saturday, battling the William & Mary Tribe. The Tribe advanced themselves to a 2-0 half-time lead over the Big Green after two goals from William & Mary's Saskia Bensdorp.
"We came at them strong," co-Captain Cynthia Roberts '96 said. William & Mary then called a time-out to slow Dartmouth's momentum. "We fell apart after that," Roberts said.
"William & Mary did surprise us a bit," Coach Julie Dayton said. "They had one Dutch player [Saskia Bensdorp] who's really a ringer."
Dartmouth's Allison Pell '96 found the goal with 14:22 left on the clock to give Dartmouth its one goal for the game.
However, William & Mary did not let down and finished the game with one more goal to bring the final score to 3-1.
The Tribe's win improved its record to 5-1 for the season.
"We had a hard time with our passing combinations and that really threw us off our game," Roberts said. "We also had trouble with some little things, like defensive marking, and there was a lot of switching around."
"We didn't execute our game plan very well," Dayton said. "We were a little scattered as a team going down there. The freshmen had to travel separately. But we did put it together on Sunday."
Dartmouth traveled to the University of Richmond on Sunday to take on the Spiders. Despite out-shooting Dartmouth 16-12, the Spiders could not capitalize.
The Big Green pulled together to get the win, finishing the afternoon with a 1-0 victory.
Dartmouth's one goal came from Amy Coughlin '96, who scored on a penalty shot, low and past Richmond goalie Carol Knerr.
The referees called the penalty against the University of Richmond for an illegal stop.
"On Sunday, we definitely improved. We had a hard time finishing some of the plays, but there was a definite improvement. We were playing much more to our level," Roberts said.
Dartmouth goalie and co-Captain Lauren Demski '96 secured the win with saves on five shots. Demski shut out the Spiders, leaving them scoreless and giving Dartmouth the win.
"Lauren Demski has been playing really well in goal, and Cynthia Roberts has been anchoring the other end of the field," Dayton said.
"Also, we have different people doing the scoring," Dayton added. The other teams can't shut us out with one player."
"Our expectations, our standards have raised in the past few years. Our schedule has been a tough start, but we're building on each outing," Dayton said..
Asforthefuture, Dartmouth will take on the University of Pennsylvania away this Saturday.
"It won't be an easy game by any stretch," Dayton said."Pennsylvania salways tougher on their home turf.We're going to go down there and give it our best shot."
"We're definitely ready to play anyteam," Roberts said. "We're looking forward to showing people what Dartmouth's all about."
