The women's field hockey team came back from a 2-0 deficit yesterday afternoon to upset the University of Massachusetts 3-2 in overtime.
The Big Green, now 8-5, were down 2-0 with ten minutes remaining in the game but refused to die. The win over the Minutewomen was Dartmouth's first since 1979.
"They have such a strong tradition," goalkeeper Lauren Demski '96 said. "I think we were sort of scared at first and let them set the tone."
The Minutewomen's early dominance gave them a 1-0 halftime lead from a goal by Kyle Rothenberger. That lead increased to 2-0 with less than 16 minutes to play when Courtney MacLean scored on a pass from Amy Ott.
"We were a little tentative at first," Cynthia Roberts '96 said. "They've been such a strong tradition for a long time, and that was the image we had of them."
With nothing to lose, however, the Big Green decided to put that image to rest. With 8:20 remaining in the game, Allison Pell '96 took a pass from Roberts and scored the Big Green's first goal of the game.
"I think they started to look tired, and we just played all out," Demski said. "In the second half, we just went out there and stepped it up."
Minutes later, junior Kelly Hannigan jumped on a loose ball opportunity and chipped in a shot past the UMass goalkeeper.
"Their goalie had a lot of key saves," Demski said. "But we just kept shooting it in there."
The Big Green dominated the sudden death overtime period pressuring the Minutewomen defense. With only 2:17 left, Sara Sedgwick '98 shot in Dartmouth's winning goal to give the Big Green the 3-2 victory.
"It was a really good win," Roberts said. "Our team really pulled together as a team."
The Big Green will have little time to recuperate, as they face the University of Vermont tomorrow at home.
"We're probably going to be riding high," Demski said. "We were exhausted today, but it is such a satisfying exhaustion. If we play like we did against UMass, I don't think we'll have a problem."
The game starts at 2:00 p.m. on Chase Fields.
