If only the weather had been bad yesterday afternoon in Burlington, because then at least Vermont goaltender Mindy Vinelli could have blamed it on the rain for the beating the Big Green handed the Catamounts. After suffering through one of its most disappointing defeats of the season, the Big Green field hockey team rebounded in a big way by trashing Vermont, 5-2, in Burlington yesterday. The win put Dartmouth back over the .500 mark at 6-5 overall, 1-3 in the Ivy League.
Senior Weze Shorts opened up the scoring in the first half with a quick shot that beat Vinelli, giving the Big Green an early 1-0 lead. From that point, the two teams would trade goals before halftime, with Jillian Joyce '00 scoring for the Big Green, the third consecutive game in which she has found the back of the net. Joyce's goal seemed to give the Green momentum after watching the Catamounts tie the score following the opening goal.
"Weze's goal was a great way to set the pace and develop momentum," Kristen Scopaz '00 said. "Although they did score the next goal, we bounced back from that, picking up the intensity and kept pounding at their goal."
Kim Jenkin '02 continued her impressive rookie campaign just minutes into the second half with her fourth goal of the season to put Dartmouth up 3-1. Jenkin's goal was set up courtesy of a Scopaz steal, who then fed a cutting Jenkin in the box.
The Big Green then compounded their lead when Lauren Scopaz '00 snuck the ball past Vinelli. The Catamount girls would know the loss was true when freshman Kate Alexander tacked on Dartmouth's fifth and final goal with a pretty finish into the corner of the net. Vermont's Paula Bremer would try to ignite a Catamounts comeback with a second-half goal, but it would be too little to late for the Catamounts.
"Our offensive performance today displayed the depth that we have built into the forward line," Joyce said. "Each goal was scored by a different team member making it hard for the other team to pinpoint a specific offensive threat."
Kristen Scopaz added that the Green defensive effort should not be lost in the offensive charge.
"I thought the defense did an excellent job intercepting passes and moving the ball up the field.
The five goals were the most Dartmouth has posted on an opposing goalkeeper since last season's 6-0 romp over Columbia. Brittany D'Augustine '01 made five saves on the afternoon for the Big Green before being relieved by Kirsten Anderson '02. It was the first time ever D'Augustine had taken a seat on the bench, as the sophomore goalkeeper has played every minute of every game since the opening of her freshman season.
Dartmouth continuesits road warrior mentality this weekend with a swing through upstate New York that takes them to Cornell on Friday and Syracuse on Sunday. Victories in these two games would help the Big Green immensely in their quest for a ECAC tournament bid.
