It took Melissa Frazier '00 and the women's lacrosse team just 10 seconds to race down the field and claim a lead they would never relinquish as they won their fifth straight game with a convincing 16-7 win over the University of Massachusetts in Amherst yesterday afternoon.
The Big Green scored early and often as Emily Fenwick '00 led the way with a game-high five goals and team scoring leader Jacque Weitzel '00 chipped in four as twelfth-ranked Dartmouth moved to 5-1 and the Minutemen fell to 4-3.
The Big Green figure to move up in the national rankings by virtue of wins over eleventh-ranked Penn State and Ivy rival Brown.
After Frazier scored the first tally, Fenwick added the first of her quintet four minutes later to give the Big Green a 2-0 lead.
Jen Herker put the Minutemen on the board to cut the lead in half before Weitzel scored twice and Liz Merritt '01 added a goal to give the Big Green a 5-1 advantage. Merritt also had three assists on the afternoon.
Dartmouth dominated in every statistical category, outshooting Massachusetts 40-17 and turning the ball over only twelve times in comparison with the Minutemen's twenty errors.
The teams traded pairs of goals before Massachusetts fired in two quick strikes separated by just nine seconds to narrow the margin to 7-5.
Then Fenwick singlehandedly seized control, scoring a goal in the final minute of the first half and then another tally just nine seconds after intermission to jumpstart a nine-goal run for the Big Green which ended all hopes of a Minutemen upset.
The Minutemen would score two meaningless goals to end the day's scoring.
Jen Greene '98 assisted on three Big Green scores to add to her nation-leading total.
Other Big Green scorers on the day were Kate Graw (two), Greene, Julia Morrill and Amy Zimmer. Mary Barensfeld '01 chipped in two assists and Morrill had one.
Once again, the Big Green's opponents had troubling matching Dartmouth's passing ability, as the Minutemen had no assists on the day while the Big Green recorded nine.
Sarah Carlson '99 and Ellie Leahy '01 split time between the pipes, allowing seven goals and combining for five saves. Jen Nardi and Tara Durkin played goaltender for Massachusetts, recording a total of 14 saves.
Things get no easier for Dartmouth as a meaty part of their schedule remains, including the top three teams in the nation consecutively: Ivy League rival Princeton, and Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouses North Carolina and Duke. The NCAA defending champion Maryland Terrapins, another ACC team, is the only team with a win over the Big Green.
Dartmouth's next home game is next Saturday against Pennsylvania at 12 p.m.
With only seven total Ivy games on the slate each season, each contest is vitally important. The Big Green, 2-0 in the Ivy League, will travel to Cornell for an Ancient Eight matchup at Schoelkopf Field.
