The women's water polo team captured the New England Division Championship over the weekend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Big Green held the top seed going into the tournament and played the sixth and seventh seeds in the first round of play.
In the first game, against seventh-seeded Wesleyan, Lauren Wondolowski '04 drew a kick-out and made a pinpoint pass to Samantha Klau '05 for a goal within the first 15 seconds of play. This quick-strike offense set a precedent for the rest of the tournament.
The team capitalized on man-up situations throughout the game, scoring on more than half of its opportunities. The defense remained strong to conclude the game with a 15-3 win.
The Big Green also posted a significant victory against Boston University with a final score of 15-2. Consistent with her performance throughout the weekend, Lindsey Pryor '05 drove her defender in toward the goal and tipped a pass from co-captain Michelle Steed '00 in past the Terriers' goaltender. The team maintained a high standard of play and made use of the scenarios practiced during the season.
Dartmouth faced off against the host team, second-seeded MIT, for the championship on Sunday afternoon. Going into the game the team knew that MIT would do everything in its power to utilize the home-pool advantage. MIT also boasted a victory over the Green from a scrimmage over the training trip.
Furthermore, last year the Big Green lost to MIT in the semifinal round of the New England Championships. This year, however, the Big Green pulled together to bring home a decisive 10-2 victory over the Techs.
Just over two minutes into the game, Dartmouth scored the first goal of the game with a no-look shot by co-captain Kristi Esmiol '02. Despite giving up four ejections, the Big Green retained the lead finishing the quarter ahead by the score of 2-1.
In the second quarter the Big Green took control of the game by maximizing upon MIT's kickouts and scoring three unanswered goals. On a man-up play, Kelly Cameron '04 opened the streak a minute into the quarter with her second of four goals in the game. Lauren Wondolowski '04 also took advantage of MIT's scrappy play by drawing a four-meter foul and following up with a successful penalty shot. The third goal of the quarter was scored by Suzanne Wendelken '01 off of a cross pass in the final seconds of the quarter.
While no goals were scored in the third quarter, it was representative of the team's cohesive defense. Over the course of the game 10 ejections were called against the Big Green, but the Dartmouth defense prevented MIT from converting any of them into goals. Goalie Gillian Moreshedi '04, New England Division Player of the Week earlier in the season, was an integral part of Dartmouth's defensive success with solid and reliable play throughout the game.
Dartmouth sealed the win in the fourth quarter, outscoring MIT 5-1 in the last frame. With 31 seconds remaining, Molly Turner '05 put in the final goal of the game making the score 10-2.
In the coming weeks, the Big Green will continue its rigorous training in preparation for Nationals, which will be held May 3-5 at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
The championship gives Dartmouth the seventh-seed New England berth for Nationals. Playing at Nationals for the third consecutive year, the Big Green brings an impressive Collegiate Water Polo Association season record of 11-0 in which it has outscored its opponents 121 to 19 and never allowed more than four goals in a game.
Kelly Cameron '04, Melissa Sogard '04 and Lauren Wondolowski '04 are members of the Dartmouth women's club water polo team.
