As the line-ups were announced for the women's soccer game at Chase Field yesterday, it sounded like the Big Green was playing the Scandinavian national team and not the University of Hartford. The Hawks had six very good Scandinavian players on their roster and the number one ranking in New England. But after 120 minutes of play, the Hawks and the ninth-ranked Big Green both settled for a scoreless tie pushing Dartmouth's record to 3-2-1 (2-1-0 Ivy) and Hartford's to 6-1-1.
Both teams were very tentative in the first half, with neither team playing anywhere near the top of their game. Hartford did get off a good shot that sent Luckenbill sprawling to make the save.
After both teams regrouped at the half, play picked up and the first serious scoring attempt was recorded on a strong Dartmouth rush by Melissa Roth '00, but the Hartford goalie, Ingrid Sternhoff from Oslo, Norway, turned it away with a diving stab.
As expected, the stars of the game were the goalkeepers, the Hawks' Sternhoff and the Big Green's Kristin Luckenbill '01. Sternhoff dropped her GAA to a miniscule 0.84 and "Lucky," as her teammates affectionately call her, lowered hers to 0.46.
The second half was full of missed opportunities for both teams but perhaps more so, for the Big Green.
At 78:24, last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week Jen Murray '01 found Roth who put the ball just out of the goalkeeper's reach and just over the crossbar.
The last half of the game made the first half look as though it were played in slow motion. If it were not for the efforts of Sternhoff and Hartford's speedy sweeper, Marika Karlsson, Dartmouth probably would have converted at least one of the countless chances it had.
On the other hand, credit must be given to tri-captain Sue Eastman '99 and freshman Eleanr Seigler '01 for their leadership around the net for the Big Green. They combined for about five very important clears in the last 10 minutes of regulation No one made a bigger play than Luckenbill when, with just two seconds remaining in regulation, she snatched the header which was headed for the upper right corner of the goal, and would have not only won the game but also would have devastated the entire squad.
The final scoring attempt of the game for either team was when Katy Hearey '99 hit the post on a shot with 12:00 left in the second overtime.
Although the Big Green managed a tie with the No. 8 team in the nation and the No. 1 team in New England, they certainly were not satisfied.
"Today showed us that we can play up to and above the level of a top ten team. We outplayed Hartford, but on paper it was just a tie...the luck was just not with us," Luckenbill said.
Dartmouth's tie with the Hawks could go a long way to securing a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament should the Big Green not win the Ivy title. Hartford already has beaten two regional powers, Connecticut(#2) and Harvard (#4), and so Dartmouth's draw with the Hawks was a statement to all of New England, but not a the victory they wanted.
