In what is becoming a pattern for the season, the women's lacrosse team, behind a seven goal effort from attacker Kim Mendelson '97, rebounded from an Ivy League loss last weekend to beat up on non-league opponent University of Massachusetts, 21-8 Sunday in Amherst.
"We came out and took it to them, and it's not like they were a bad team," co-Captain Lauren Demski '96 said. Head Coach "Amy [Patton] compared them to the Brown team we played last week. But we came out with intensity and played our game, knowing that with three games left in the season, we really had nothing to lose."
The 21 goals were the most scored in one game in the past four years by the Big Green, who have also produced 20 and 19 goal efforts this season against non-Ivy League opponents. The win raised the Big Green's record to 8-5 on the season (3-3 in Ivy League).
Dartmouth came ready to play, wasting no time and taking out the previous week's frustrations on the helpless Minutemen as the Big Green found the back of the net in the first 20 seconds of play. Led by goals from Mendelson, as well as sophomores Jennifer Greene, Julia Morrill and Ginger Kreitler, the Big Green stormed out to a 10-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of play and never looked back.
"By using more of a mid-field passing game and executing our fast breaks offensively, we developed an aggressive attack down the field and were able to score some quick goals and get them rattled," Mendelson said.
While the team put up its most prolific scoring effort this season to date, the day belonged to Mendelson, whose career high seven goals came on perfect seven for seven shooting. Mendelson, who was named to last week's Ivy League honor roll for her four goal output against Harvard, is on a tear, scoring 17 goals in the Big Green's last four games.
Greene, Morrill and Kreitler also joined the multiple scorers list, each recording three goals.
"On offense we moved the ball very well and capitalized on our opportunities, making penetrating passes to cutters which broke down their defense, which is what Amy [Patton] had us work on in practice during the week," Demski said. "Kim [Mendelson] benefited from the ball movement which opened up some opportunities for her, but she also had some nice one-on-one moves where she weaved through the defense. To score seven goals on seven shots is amazing."
Just as the game was an offensive milestone for the Big Green, sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Gercke had her own breakthrough in net as she gained a victory in her first varsity start, making 10 saves on the afternoon.
The Big Green, which has beaten all of its non-Ivy League opponents that were not ranked in the top five, will travel to the University of Vermont Wednesday afternoon before closing out their season next weekend by visiting top-ranked Maryland.
"We want to end the season feeling like we have played these next couple of games up to our potential," Mendelson said.
