For the second weekend in a row, the women's soccer team had to reschedule Saturday games to Sunday because of rain, and unfortunately, for the Big Green, for the second week in row, they had similar results.
Dartmouth, who lost to Cornell last weekend 3-1 on a rescheduled Sunday game, came up short again yesterday as the Big Green fell to Harvard 3-2.
Despite the day wait, the women came out strong in the first half, competing strongly with the Crimson who are currently in first place of the Ivy League.
"We played really well the first half," co-Captain Holly Thomas '97 said. "We moved the ball well."
Dartmouth did give up an early goal to the Crimson nine minutes into the game when Harvard's Naomi Miller scored off an assist from Keren Gudeman.
Before the half would end, however, the Big Green tied the game at one when Dartmouth's leading scorer, Jenna Kurowski '97, shot in her eighth goal of the season.
"We put forth a good effort," Coach Steve Swanson said. "I felt that through most of the game we played well. We just make little mistakes, and we get punished for them."
Those little mistakes definitely hurt the Big Green in the second half as Dartmouth came out a little slow.
In the first 20 minutes of the half, Harvard increased its lead to 3-1 with goals from Emily Stauffer and Jamie Chu.
"I definitely think we had chances," Thomas said. "They just finished on there's, and we didn't finish on our's."
With just less than five minutes to go, the Big Green closed the gap to 3-2 with a goal by Kerry Marsh '96. But time ran out for the Big Green.
Time is also running out on the Big Green's overall season. With only two games remaining in regular-season play, Dartmouth still hopes to earn a bid in the ECAC post-season tournament.
With such a tight schedule, the Big Green have been playing at least two games per week, and this has started to take a toll.
"I don't think it's as much the body as it is mentally," Swanson said. "We've played well enough to win in every game but have just come up short in many cases. It's frustrating because of that."
Dartmouth is now a somewhat disappointing 7-7-1 on the season. But the Big Green have shown a lot of heart throughout the fall.
"I'm really proud of the team," Swanson said. "I think they've stuck together. They are fighters, and I can't ask for much more."
The women will play their last home game tomorrow on Chase Field against Providence College at 2:00 p.m. before ending their season this Saturday at Columbia.
"We have two more games, and we want to finish strong," Swanson said. "I'm going to come out tomorrow preparing for Providence, and I know our team will do the same."