In a physical, down-to-the-wire, grudge-match which pitted 7th-ranked James Madison University against 10th-ranked Dartmouth, the women's lacrosse team dropped a 8-7 decision to the Dukes at Chase Field yesterday afternoon.
The loss dropped the Big Green to 7-2 overall.
Nine minutes into the opening half, the Dukes lit the scoreboard with a quick goal off a mid-field rush. But the Big Green evened the score at one as co-Captain Kim Mendelson connected on a free position shot less than a minute later.
It wasn't until the 18th minute of the game that Dartmouth secured their only lead of the game as junior Jen Greene flipped a pass from behind the net to Julia Morrill '98, who let the ball fly for a 2-1 Big Green lead.
The Dukes knotted the score with seven minutes left in the first half to send both teams to their respective benches with two goals apiece. The tie at the break came despite 18 first-half shots by the Big Green.
"We had 18 shots in the first half and all we needed to do was stick it into the goal," sophomore Weze Shorts said. "We had the opportunities, but we just didn't finish."
In the second stanza, both teams put in the overtime on defense as they went shoulder-to-shoulder to force numerous penalties and free position scoring opportunities.
Two minutes into the half, JMU regained the lead as freshman Amy Brew made a beeline down the left flank to score on a one-on-one opportunity. Dartmouth answered five minutes later as Mendelson found the five-hole to even the score.
Tempers flared on both ends of the field as overheated emotions resulted in three yellow cards and one red card ejection in the second half.
The score, meanwhile flip-flopped back and forth, though Dartmouth found itself playing catch-up every time.
With 13 minutes left, freshman Jacque Weitzel found Kate Graw '00 open at the left post and Graw poked the ball in high to tie the game at six. But that was the closest the Big Green would come to downing the Dukes.
JMU took a late two-goal lead off tallies by scoring ace Shelley Klaes '97 and Megan Riley '99, who sank the game-winner with nine minutes remaining.
The Big Green's last goal came with 3:43 on the clock as Greene flipped the ball to Mendelson for the flying right-to-left on-timer in front of the net.
"Overall, I think we played pretty even with [the Dukes]," Mendelson said. "The difference was that they capitalized and we didn't."
The Dukes' Kate Brew '98 came up huge between the pipes with 15 saves on the day. Dartmouth's Sarah Carlson '99 ended the afternoon with nine stops.
The Big Green returns to Chase Field tomorrow to take on the Yale Bulldogs at 3:00 p.m. Now 3-0 in Ivy play, Dartmouth stands alone at the top of the league standings.
"From now on, we just need to focus on one game at a time," Mendelson said. "As far as the Ivies go, I think it's all in our hands now."
Yale is now 2-1 in league play and ranked third behind Princeton in the Ivy polls.
