Although the women's lacross team appeared to have gained momentum for the rest of the Ivy League campaign after last week's come from behind victory at Yale, the the team faltered in its attempt at its fourth straight Ivy League win as it was upset by Brown, 13-7, in Providence on Sunday.
The loss, only the second to Brown since 1982, dropped the Big Green to 3-2 in the Ivy League (7-4 overall) and back into a tie with Yale for second place in the league.
As they had in the Yale game, the Big Green fell behind in the first half Sunday due to an offensive outburst from the Bears.
Led by top scorers Alli Schettini and Kerri Whitaker, the Bears were able to open a 7-2 lead going into halftime, managing to convert their offensive opportunities while frustrating the Big Green on offense and shutting down leading scorers Julia Morrill '98, Kim Mendelson '97 and Jennifer Greene '98.
However, unlike the victory at Yale, Dartmouth was unable to turn the tide in the second half to earn its second straight road comeback victory.
Sophomore Catherine Passano, whose effort earned her a spot on the Ivy League Honor Roll for this week, tried to provide the offensive spark as she tallied four goals, but the Big Green faltered defensively, allowing uncontested shots to be fired on goalies Sarah Carlson '99 and Nicole Gercke '98.
Between the posts, Carlson and Gercke combined to deny five shots on the afternoon.
The Brown offensive players went on a scoring binge over the course of the game, as four of its players scored at least two goals each. Schettini led the way with four netters.
"As a team we played very, very poorly on the afternoon," co-Captain Maura Schneider '96 said of the game.
Following the Brown loss, the Big Green are faced with a must-win situation for the rest of their schedule if they are to have a chance at receiving a bid into the NCAA tournament. Last season the team advanced all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
The schedule gets easier down the stretch until the final game, when the Big Green travel to down to Maryland to face the top-ranked Terrapins.
While Dartmouth is 0-3 against teams ranked in the top five this season, a win over Maryland along with a second-place finish in the Ivy League might earn it one of the final seeds.
The Big Green's contest against Harvard today finishes out their home schedule for the year. While Harvard comes into the contest toting a 2-3 record in Ivy League play, one of its two wins was a 10-7 victory over Brown last week.
A win would guarantee Dartmouth a second place finish in the Ivy standings.
