The path didn't get any smoother for the Dartmouth field hockey team when the Big Green rolled into Princeton on Saturday for the start of a weekend road trip.
Going into the game with a 3-2 record -- including tough, overtime losses to Boston College and Northwestern -- the team was looking for an upset against the nationally ranked Tigers.
But the Tigers weren't about to let the Big Green even make this game close, as they scored five goals in the first half in route to a 7-1 victory.
The Big Green just could not find their rhythm, as Princeton kept the heat on Dartmouth's defense, unloading shot after shot from inside the circle and taking a 5-0 lead at the half.
"We just didn't play very well," Lauren Scopaz '00 said. "None of us had an on game, and we didn't play well as a team. We didn't communicate well."
Dartmouth battled back in the second half however, and managed to score when Jen Karlen '98 sent one blazing into the net off a penalty corner.
That would prove to be the extent of the Big Green's scoring however, as they were outshot 36-9 on the day.
In fact, keeping the ball on the offensive side of the field has proved problematic for Dartmouth. Goalie Kendra Kosko '99 has been kept busy. After outshooting their opponents by a 3-1 margin in their first four games, the Big Green were outshot convincingly by the Tigers.
Shots, and goals for that matter, were not hard to come by on Sunday. Facing off against LaSalle, the Big Green found themselves on the winning side of a rout this time, winning 6-2.
After giving up an early goal, the Big Green came storming back. Scopaz '00 got Dartmouth on the board first with off an assist from Amy Yost '98.
Less than two minutes later, Scopaz struck again, this time by way of Lauren Worley '99. Weze Shorts '99 added another Big Green goal for a 3-1 halftime lead.
"Going into Lasalle, we knew that we could play a lot better," Scopaz said. "We came out strong at the beginning, and we had so much fun because we were moving well and communicating well. We clicked together as a team."
In the second half, senior Kelly Hannigan kept the pressure on the Privateers with a goal at 32:42.
Worley and Sarah Drake '97 added the remaining goals for the Big Green. The key once again was getting a lot of shots on goal, as the Privateers were outshot 32-6.
The win bumped the Big Green back over the .500 mark overall at 4-3.
This weekend, the Big Green travels to Brown in a Ivy League match-up. The Bears have opened the season with a dismal 1-4 record, and Dartmouth will look to capitalize to gain ground on front runners Harvard and Princeton.
