Chase Field played host to the Laura Kaczynski show on Saturday afternoon, as she single-handedly lead the University of Connecticut Huskies to a 5-1 win over the Big Green.
The game was tightly contested until the Huskies struck first at 15:50 of the first half. "Laura Kaczynski" would be a name the Big Green would become painfully familiar with as she netted her first of five goals.
Dartmouth had problems keeping the ball on the offensive side of the field, as the Big Green were constantly fending off waves of Huskie attacks. The defense got plenty of practice, but played well. Kaczynski scored her second goal of the afternoon at 3:57, and the Big Green went into halftime only down 2-0.
Dartmouth couldn't keep control of the ball in the second half either. Kaczynski added her third, fourth and fifth goals of the game to ensure the victory for the Huskies.
In the waning minutes of action, Kristen Leadbeater '00 put Dartmouth's sole dent on the scoreboard to avoid the shutout.
On the season, the Big Green has had problems matching up with nationally ranked opponents such as UConn.
"For Dartmouth field hockey to step up and knock off a ranked opponent we need to have a much more balanced game on offense and defense," Kendra Kosko '99 said. "Yesterday was a tough game for defense. We had several penalty corners in a row and it felt like a scramble in the circle pretty much every time they were on the offensive."
"Another big problem that keeps hitting us hard is our number of turnovers," Kosko added. "We need to look up and make better decisions. Other than that, we should fare well against these teams. We have the skill, speed, and presence of mind. We just need to score a lot earlier and more often. Our team really gels as soon as a goal is scored."
The Big Green stand at 6-5 and will face the University of Maine this afternoon at 3 p.m. on Chase Field.
