The Dartmouth field hockey squad experienced both ends of a 2-0 decision this weekend as the Big Green topped Cornell on Friday before dropping a non-league match to Syracuse University on Sunday. The Big Green are now 6-6 overall, 2-3 Ivy League.
In the Friday showdown in Ithaca, the Big Green's Kristen Leadbeater '00 launched the opening goal with 24:20 remaining in the first half to give Dartmouth the 1-0 halftime advantage. Her classmate Kristen Scopaz earned the assist on the play.
Sophomore Jillian Joyce added the buffer goal for the Big Green with 18:30 remaining in the second stanza as she snagged a pass from Lauren Scopaz '00 and zipped it past Kristi Bullard in front of the Big Red cage. The tally marked Joyce's fourth goal in four games.
Dartmouth's offensive line outshined the Cornell attack as the Big Green outshot their opponents by a 9-5 margin and held the 8-4 edge in penalty corners to top things off.
On defense, the Big Green shielded the net so well that Brittany D'Augustine '01 was spared of any saving duties between the posts. Bullard, meanwhile, closed the afternoon with three saves for Cornell.
Last season, the Big Red provided Dartmouth with one of its two league losses, the other coming to top-ranked Princeton. As a result, the Big Green were out to prove something in Ithaca.
"We were playing for respect in the Ivy League," co-Captain Robin O'Sullivan '99 said. "Last year, they were our only Ivy loss besides Princeton, and we wanted to prove that we're a better team than our Ivy record shows right now."
D'Augustine's meager responsibilities in the net against Cornell were totally reversed on Sunday when she was forced to make a season-high 12 saves against the Syracuse Orangemen.
The Orangemen took a one-goal lead at the 23:35 mark of the opening half as Johanna Fitzpatrick connected on a penalty corner opportunity. Gemma Ormonde and Kacey Croft earned assists on Syracuse's eventual game-winner.
The score looked to stay at 1-0 until the final second of the game when Amy Weller sank Syracuse's second goal of the day to give the Orangemen the 2-0 victory.
"It was disappointing losing to Syracuse after picking up a couple wins in a row," Lauren Worley '99 said. "We played pretty well and definitely picked up the intensity in the second half. Syracuse is a very good team, and they pounded at our net throughout the game."
O'Sullivan believed that though the result was different, the Big Green played better against Syracuse.
"We actually played better against Syracuse, but the difference was that we weren't as relentless on attack against the Orangemen. Brittany had some great saves in the goal, but we didn't put together a total offensive effort like we sometimes do," she said.
The Syracuse match ended a three-game roadtrip for the Big Green. Dartmouth returns to Chase Field on Wednesday for a 2:00 p.m. match against UMass.
