The Dartmouth women's soccer team is in the Midwest today for first-round NCAA action against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. This is Dartmouth's fourth straight appearance in the tournament and its seventh overall.
The game, which will take place at 5 p.m. at Marquette University's Valley Field, will be the first-ever clash between the Big Green and the Panthers.
After getting off to a slow start at 1-2, the Big Green responded by winning six of its last seven games to finish at 9-4-1 (5-1-1 Ivy). This will be the fourth trip to the NCAA tournament for seniors Shannon Agner, Jamie Lang, Katie Price, an unprecedented feat at Dartmouth.
The Panthers went 15-4 (6-0 in the Horizon League) this season and didn't allowed a goal in league play.
However, UWM plays in a relatively non-competitive league.
Butler finished second behind the Panthers at 13-7 (4-2), but the Panthers were the only team in their league to make the tournament.
Contrast that with the hyper-competitive Ivy League in which Dartmouth split the Ivy Crown with Princeton and Penn.
Each of the three Ivy champions had 5-1-1 records; fourth place Harvard joins them in the NCAAs.
In the past two years, the Big Green has done extremely well in first-round play, defeating Boston University last year and Colgate the year before.
In 1998, Dartmouth's best season ever, the team received a first-round bye after posting a 16-2-2 record. The Big Green finally lost to the University of North Carolina in the Elite Eight of the NCAAs.
That defeat snapped a 15-game unbeaten streak that is still a Dartmouth record.
If Dartmouth beats UW-Milwaukee, it will face either Michigan or Marquette, two more teams that the Big Green has never faced.
The second-round match will take place 1 p.m. Sunday at Marquette.
"We could not have asked for a better draw," said Annie Peick '04.
"We are playing teams we have never played before and we expect to play some good games. We are ready to play."
Marquette hosts Michigan in another first-round game at 7:30 p.m. following the UWM vs. Dartmouth game.
Michigan is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The team went 8-2 in the regular conference season and finished second in its league.
The Wolverines have a 3-4 record in NCAA action, with first-round wins at home the past three years.
Marquette is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Golden Eagles have won five of their last six games, but are coming off a 1-0 loss to Cincinnati in the Conference USA championship game.
They are 16-5 on the season and 8-3 at home. Marquette has outscored its opponents 35-14 this season.
Dartmouth is traveling a fair distance for the tournament and is one of only a handful of teams that have to fly to first-round games.
However, Dartmouth has done extremely well on the road this season, garnering a 6-1-1 away record.
"Although we are only one of eight teams out of 64 that has to fly this weekend, we're taking it as a positive," said Meaghan Kelly '03.
"Our record when traveling is very strong, and this gives us an exciting opportunity to play teams outside of our region that we've never played before."
