It's often been said that in life, you win some and you lose some. Well, in just one weekend, the women's lacrosse team won one and lost one.
On Friday, the Big Green beat the 12th-ranked Penn Quakers on their home turf, 16-6, but later fell in the second frame of battle against the Nittany Lions of Penn State by a score of 12-9.
The Sunday loss in State College, PA is the lone blemish on the Big Green's near-perfect 5-1 overall record on the season. Dartmouth is now 2-0 in the Ivy League.
Brilliant attacks by the Big Green offense paved the way for an easy victory. In the first half alone, sophomore Heather McNulty, senior tri-Captain Kim Mendelson and junior Julia Morrill each lit the scoreboard twice, while junior Jennifer Greene split the posts once and chalked up one assist.
The second half left no time for the Quakers to muster a counter-attack as the Big Green found the net only 35 seconds into the second stanza. Dartmouth closed out the afternoon with an unchecked 5-0 scoring spree to carry the team to its second Ivy League win.
Morrill was brilliant on offense as she penetrated the Quaker defense not once, not twice, but four times. Greene ended the day with two goals and four assists.
Sophomore goalie Sarah Carlson frustrated the Quaker attack with eight saves on the afternoon.
With one win under their belts, the 9th-ranked Big Green entered into their next contest against the 10th-ranked Cougars of Penn State.
Morrill, with the hotstick on Friday night, was unable to play on Sunday due to illness.
Within the first 20 minutes of play, Penn State struck hard by pulling ahead to a 6-2 lead. By halftime, Penn was in the driver's seat with a 7-4 lead.
Penn State's junior goalkeeper Lauren Retzlaff proved to be the nemesis for the Big Green as she shut the door on 13 shots.
Dartmouth pulled to within two with 3:44 left to play but was unable to assemble an effective offensive strike to pull off the win.
Sophomore Weze Shorts led the Big Green with three goals on Sunday.
Dartmouth returns to action on Wednesday for their first home game of the season against the Minutemen of UMass. The action begins at 4:00 at Chase Field.
