Black bears are dangerous.
The women's soccer team learned this the hard way yesterday as they tied the University of Maine Black Bears 2-2 at Chase Field.
Maine jumped into the driver's seat early on as Sophie Lecot punched a loose ball into the Dartmouth net at the 37:47 mark to put the Black Bears up by one.
The Big Green had little time to recover as the Black Bears sank their second goal eight minutes later. Lecot went unassisted as she dribbled down the middle and unleashed her second tally from inside the Dartmouth box.
Maine held its 2-0 lead through the break.
The second half got a little messy as the Black Bears shifted their forwards further back to create a stacked defense. The Big Green responded by blanketing the Black Bear zone and rifling 42 shots on goal.
"It was pretty ridiculous," Megan Owens '96 said of the second half crowding scheme. "It seemed like we were standing on their side of the field the whole time."
Co-Captain Kate Andrews '96 put Dartmouth up on the scoreboard at the 51:52 mark, as she connected on a pass from Jessica Post '00.
Fifteen minutes later, Owens blasted an indirect kick high to the right corner to tie the score and send the game into overtime.
In the two overtime sessions, it was more of the same as Dartmouth outshot Maine 9-0 but just couldn't find the net.
"We outplayed them, but we couldn't get the ball into the net," Owens said. "Each of our shots missed the goal by centimeters."
The Big Green's best chances to steal the lead were foiled by two shots that hit the crossbar and another that sailed just high.
The Black Bear goalie Sheila Fenderson made two of her 19 saves in the overtime periods to secure the tie.
With their unexpected 2-2 outcome against the 8-8 Maine, some players are now worried about the Big Green's chances of making the NCAA Tournament later this month. Without a share of the Ivy League title, Dartmouth, now 11-3-1, is seeking an at-large bid to the national tournament.
The Big Green closes out their regular season with a home game against the Columbia Lions on Sunday. Game time is 2:30 p.m. at Chase Field.
