Saturday was a big day for the women's soccer team, but it was an even bigger day for senior standout, Jenna Kurowski, as she tallied a Dartmouth record-high of nine points in the Big Green's 6-1 trouncing of the Princeton Tigers.
Dartmouth drew first blood 12 minutes into it when Kurowski snagged a Princeton pass deep in the Tiger zone to get the one-on-one go-ahead goal.
Princeton responded several minutes later with a Jen Abbondanza header off Susan Rea's cross from the wing. The score remained tied at the break.
The second half was a whole different story as Kurowski set the pace for a Tiger rampage right from the get-go.
Three minutes into the half, Jenna "take no prisoners" Kurowski crippled the Tiger squad with a rapid-fire hat-trick. Within a span of five minutes, she found the net three times to put the Big Green up 4-1.
At the 48:00 mark, Kurowski posted up in front of the goal as the Tigers tried to clear. She waited for the high-bouncer, then volleyed a rocket one-timer past the Princeton keeper, Jonna Iacono.
Thirty-six seconds later, Kurowski was back up front in the Princeton zone. She beat the defender, took a touch to the inside, and blasted a shot from the 18 right over the keeper's head.
Kurowski capped off her five-minute scoring spree with a "hasta-la-vista-baby" header off a patent Christina Hallenbeck '97 cross from the right side. Melissa McBean '97 set up the play with a pass out wide to Hallenbeck from the 18 as Kurowski converged on the goal.
Forget the myth that cats have nine lives. For these striped kittens from Princeton, there would be no comeback -- as the Big Green continued to pile on the pressure.
"I think we were a little disappointed with the first half because we had dominated and we knew we were the better team," co-Captain Holly Thomas '97 said. "We came out and capitalized on the opportunities we had [in the second half]."
Kurowski scored her ninth point of the game at the 62:52 mark with a corner kick to Melissa Roth '00 at the 10 yard line, who slipped it through the posts for her first career goal.
Later, Roth connected once more with three minutes left on the clock off an assist by Camille Powell '97. Powell weaved the ball down the left flank and chipped a feed over the tiger defense to give Roth the break-away goal.
On defense, Carrie Bourdon '99 had two saves during her 80-minute stint in front of the net. Annie Eckstein '98 saw no resistance in her closing minutes in goal.
"It was a good win against a good team," Thomas said.
When all was said and done, what ended up as a heart-breaking day for the Tigers turned out to be a record-breaking day for Kurowski.
For starters, Kurowski's four goals put her on par with Chris Gates '89 and Dana Weintraub '90 for the most goals scored by a Dartmouth player within a single game. Factor in her assist, and Kurowski's nine points erases the previous game-high point total held by Gates, Weintraub and Jane McBride '88. With 56 points to date, and 17 so far this season, Kurowski ranks third on the Big Green's all-time scoring list.
Dartmouth, now 4-1 overall and 2-0 Ivy, is set to play its next game at Hartford on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. During their 1995 campaign, the Big Green highlighted their season with a 2-0 upset victory over the then fourth-ranked Hartford Hawks.
