The women's lacrosse team used a 10-3 halftime lead to pave the way to a huge 13-7 victory over the 11th-ranked Yale Bulldogs yesterday at Chase Fields. The win improved the 9th-ranked Big Green to 8-2 overall and stretched their Ivy record to a perfect 4-0.
The Big Green drew first blood in yesterday's showdown as senior tri-captain Kim Mendelson capitalized on a free position shot at the four minute mark.
"After Monday's game against JMU, we knew we couldn't wait to play catch-up," Mendelson said. "One of our goals today was to score first."
Retaliating, the Bulldogs attacked the Big Green's net, but sophomore goalie Sarah Carlson blunted this attack, shutting down Yale on a free position shot five minutes into the game.
The Big Green defense continually stepped up to shut down the Yale drives even after the Bulldogs pulled within two goals with 6:45 left to play in the first half.
"Today's game felt a whole lot better than the JMU game," Carlson said. "The defense really did a great job today and they deserve a lot of credit for the win."
The Dartmouth offense was on fire throughout the contest. Junior Jennifer Greene lent her hand in the offensive works as she chalked up three assists to capture the Big Green's single-season assist record. Greene topped the charts with her 23rd assist of the season only ten minutes into the game. She stands only two assists shy of the 50-assist career mark.
"We came into today's game really fired up," senior tri-captain Krumholz said. "There was never a question of whether or not we'd win this one."
Krumholz and Mendelson proved themselves the pace-setters of the game as they led the team to a 4-0 lead in the first 16 minutes of play. Freshman Emily Fenwick dazzled on offense, as she crippled the Bulldog's defensive efforts three times.
Juniors Julia Morrill and Dune Thorne, sophomore Heather McNulty and freshmen Kate Graw and Melissa Frazier all found their marks to add to Dartmouth's commanding lead.
"It was really a great all-around team effort," Krumholz said. "You never saw anybody's shoulders drop."
In net, Carlson proved to be tenacious with her 11 saves on the day.
With eleven minutes left in regulation, the Bulldogs attempted to launch a counter-attack against the Big Green defense.
But this effort proved too little, too late.
Yale fought back from a 13-4 deficit to end the game with a score of 13-7. The Big Green defense held their ground against this onslaught and waited for the horn to blow, signalling the downfall of the Bulldogs and yet another notch on Dartmouth's belt.
"For now, our priority is winning the Ivies," Mendelson said. "We need to stay on top of our game against Brown this Saturday."
"We're really excited about the Brown game on Saturday," Krumholz said. "If we win, that guarantees us at least a share of the Ivy title."
The Big Green hope to top off their three home game stint with a win over the Brown Bears to clinch at least a share of the Ivy title this season. Dartmouth faces Brown on Chase Fields at noon on Saturday.
