A tough 3-2, double overtime loss to Cornell, made for a long drive home from Ithaca, New York for the Dartmouth field hockey team. The up-and-down Big Green, have endured their share of tight games this season, and Sunday's game provided another heartbreaker.
Unable to put together a winning streak of more than two games all season, the loss set Dartmouth back to 8-7 overall, and 2-3 in the Ivy League with two games remaining.
Dartmouth came out looking dominant, as it scored the first two goals of the game to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. With 24:09 remaining in the half, Lauren Scopaz '00 found Sarah Drake '97 off a penalty corner for the 1-0 lead.
Keeping the pressure on the Big Red, Dartmouth continued to flirt with the cage, and struck again with 3:38 remaining. This time it was Weze Shorts '99 connecting off the assist from Amy Yost '98.
Going into the half, the Big Green appeared to be in control and ready to build on their advantage.
Cornell would have something to say about that, though, as the Big Red stormed back to tie the game, shut down Dartmouth's offense and send the game into overtime.
In the span of less than a minute, the Big Green had their lead erased and their momentum shattered.
Cornell's Sarah Walton knocked one home courtesy of Jamie Marciniec, and 55 seconds later Katie Light scored off a penalty corner from Emily Robb. In the familiar position of a tight game, the Big Green kept working for the win, but when the horn sounded on regulation, the score remained 2-2.
Dartmouth charged out of the gates in overtime, but couldn't connect on any of it opportunities. In the 21 minutes of overtime alone, the Big Green outshot Cornell 11-3, and had nine blown opportunities from penalty corners.
The Big Red only needed three shots and seven penalty corners, however, to find the cage. They took the lead for good in the second overtime, with 9:22 remaining. This time it was Robb scoring from a penalty corner off a Kelly Boutin assist.
The lost was a devastating one for the Big Green as far as the ECAC playoff picture goes. With only two games remaining this season, Dartmouth must battle the University of Massachusetts Wednesday and Harvard Saturday -- both nationally ranked teams.
To be eligible for an ECAC playoff bid, Dartmouth will have to pull off some stunning upsets against the two powerhouses.
To the Big Green's benefit, Wednesday's showdown with the Minutewomen is at home on Chase Field. Game time is 3:30 p.m.
