The Ivy League title is still up in the air, as is the Big Green women's soccer team's shot at the NCAA tournament, but give them credit for putting themselves in a position that almost any team in the nation would envy.
With five games remaining on its schedule, Dartmouth, who is ranked ninth in the latest national poll, has not won anything yet, but could not have asked for much more from the first two-thirds of their season.
The Big Green are a perfect 6-0 at home and have yet to give up a goal at Chase Field.
They are also a perfect 4-0 in Ancient Eight play heading into Saturday's duel with Cornell.
Dartmouth is 10-1-1 overall with their lone blemishes coming against national powerhouses Stanford (1-1 tie) and William & Mary (3-2 loss).
All signs point to a Halloween matchup with the 23rd-ranked Harvard Crimson in Cambridge with the winner probably taking home the Ivy championship and the trip to the NCAA Championships.
The Big Green enter the contest as the favorites with their high-octane, yet balanced offense. Nine of the first ten Big Green goals this season were scored by different players.
This offense has allowed Dartmouth to rout teams that used to be on the same level as the Big Green. Brown welcomed Dartmouth into Providence and the Big Green scored six goals to show that they appreciated their hospitality. They had done that only once in their last three years of play.
When necessary, the Big Green has been able to win the close, defensive match such as their 1-0 win against national power Hartford.
Goalkeeper Kristin Luckenbill '01 currently holds a school-record of 704 consecutive scoreless minutes. If and when the opponents have been able to sneak past the stingy Dartmouth defense, Luckenbill has answered the call repeatedly.
The Big Green are the class of the Ivy League, but they are playing on the road against a seasoned team who won the Ivy title a year ago.
Hanover soccer fans need to remember no earlier than a year ago when the Dartmouth men's soccer team dominated Brown in the final game of the regular season, but eventually lost 1-0 on a goal by Bear forward Marcio, despite outshooting Brown, 16-2. Such is the nature of the game.
Nonetheless, a bookie would tell you that you were out of your mind to bet against the Big Green after the way they have been playing.
But, should they triumph in the rest of their games -- which are all very winnable -- and then lose to Harvard, thereby giving the Crimson the automatic bid, they should not even have to sweat out an at-large bid. They will be in the tournament. Here's why:
The Big Green's created a top-25 schedule and then proved that their play merited the toughness of the docket. Credit head coach Kelly Blasius-Knudsen and her coaching staff for having the guts to open their season unranked and in Nebraska against two top-25 teams. Dartmouth forged a tie with Stankford before shocking the then-seventh-ranked team in the nation, Clemson, by a 3-1 margin.
If that wasn't enough, the Big Green blanked a respectable Colgate team and then lost a nail-biter to a top-10 squad William & Mary on neutral turf. Finally returning home, the Big Green dismissed the Hawks of Hartford as well as the Syracuse Orangemen to firmly cement themselves as one of the top powers in both the East and the nation.
In all, Dartmouth is 3-1 against top-25 teams and 4-0 against the teams that are in the top 10 in the Northeast region. Dartmouth sits second in that poll behind only undefeated Connecticut.
Furthermore, the Big Green are undefeated and unscored-upon at home and have slowly risen from out of Top 25 voting into a mainstay in the Top 10.
Should the Big Green win out, they will go down as one of the best soccer teams in Dartmouth history and move onto the NCAA Tournament automatically. If they lose to Harvard, they will lose the Ivy title, but will still be one of the best soccer teams in the College's history and will play in the tournament anyway.
Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, the 1998 team has firmly catapulted Dartmouth women's soccer into the national spotlight.
With the seed now planted, the Big Green can only grow as a program and reap the benefits of its recent success.
