The Dartmouth field hockey team made strides over the weekend in the national rankings only to watch that slip away in their 2-1 loss to Stanford yesterday afternoon in a neutral-site contest at Boston College. It was the second neutral-site game for the Big Green in as many games as Dartmouth thumped Bucknell 5-2 on Saturday afternoon in Cambridge.
With that victory, the Big Green moved up a spot No. 18 in the national poll, a spot that will be shortlived due to yesterday's defeat. Dartmouth is now 6-4 on the season after a 3-0 start. Three of the four losses have come during midweek games, while only a loss to No. 5 Princeton has come over the weekend.
Dartmouth got on the scoreboard first against Stanford as Lauren Worley '99 scored right before halftime to give the Big Green the lead at intermission. The second half was not as kind though to the squad, as Stanford capitalized on two penalty corners to notch two goals and the win. Both goals were scored on the same play by Justina Williams and assisted by Stephanie Finkelstein. Dartmouth was unable to crack the cage after the two goals and dropped the game despite outshooting the Cardinals.
"It's a really frustrating loss because I can't put my finger on what went wrong," Weze Shorts '99 said. "I think we may have just lost our focus and been taken out of our game by the fact that they hit the ball hard down the field as opposed to our short, passing combination attack."
Shorts believes that the team struggled in facing a west coast opponent who they hadn't seen before.
"We knew they were a good team because they had four players try out for the World Cup team, so we didn't take them lightly," she said. "But at the same time, we hadn't faced them and didn't know their style of play because we couldn't scout them as we do most teams."
"The key issue is for us to put this game behind us heading into the rest of the Ivy League season, but at the same time we need to remember how this loss felt," she said.
The loss yesterday was even more disappointing after Dartmouth put forth one of their best efforts against Bucknell on Saturday. The Bucknell game was a breakout game for Dartmouth as they used an offensive flurry in both halves to bury the Bison.
Dartmouth got on the board with the first two goals of the game in the first half, as Kristen Scopaz '00 tallied off her sister Lauren's '00 attempt with 10:51 remaining in the first half. The assist was the first point of a four assist day for Lauren Scopaz. The Big Green seized the momentum they had just gaineed as just over a minute later, Shorts converted a pass from Sarah Sedgwick '98 for a 2-0 Dartmouth lead that would stand until the end of the half.
"One of our goals for the Bucknell game was to come out strong from the first whistle and set the pace for the game," Kristen Leadbeater '00 said. "We wanted to dictate how the game was going to go and that is exactly what we did. Coming out hard and getting two early goals was definitely key in setting our pace of the game."
"It's always important to get an early lead," Lauren Scopaz said. "It helps to get the momentum of the team going and to slow down the momentum of the other team for sure. It also boosts the confidence and definitely allowed us to get into 'our' game so that we could dictate the flow of the game into our style game."
Bucknell tried to mount a comeback as they got on the board with 8:08 left when Maura Higgs converted a penalty stroke, bringing the Bison within one goal. However, the Bucknell goal was just what Dartmouth needed to bring them out of their second-half shell. The Big Green rallied with three-straight goals, two of them from Leadbeater to put the game out of reach. Sedgwick added the other goal, her first of the season, to complete the triumvarate.
"After they pulled within one at halftime, we focused on keeping our intensity up and continuing to play our game," Leadbeater said. "There was never really a sense of urgency -- we simply played with poise and control. We knew we were not going to lose, and we definitely wanted to knock some more goals in the cage."
"I think we really turned it on and our passing combinations clicked in front of the cage. We've been making the opportunities, but everything was in sync on Saturday. It was evident because all of our goals were assisted and were total team efforts."
The five goals with five assists brought about great excitement from not only the players but Head Coach Julie Dayton.
"That we scored five goals and had five assists typifies the kind of team effort we have on the field," Dayton said. "Right now, we are playing very strong and together all over the field. We continue to get better every game and are playing the strongest level of field hockey we have played during my five years as head coach. The team attitude and work ethic are impressive and paying off for us."
"Our midfield and foward lines have been working well and have produced some great combinations," Lauren Scopaz, who leads the team with 14 points, said. "All the assists show how selfless and team oriented we are which also makes our team that much more effective and dangerous. It's not one or two people who you can stop to stop our team. You have to stop everyone in order to attempt to beat us."
