It has been a disappointing year for the Big Green women's soccer team. The team is struggling despite eight starters and 16 letter-winners returning from one of the most successful campaigns in its history, one that led the squad to an NCAA tournament berth last year.
A series of tough losses against 16th-ranked Virginia and 23rd-ranked division rival Princeton have dropped the Big Green's record to 2-3-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the Ivy League.
As the team dropped important matches, its ranking dropped as well; ranked No. 21 in the preseason poll, Dartmouth failed to garner a single vote in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America polls.
Forward Laura Ashley '03 identifies inability to finish scoring chances as the key problem thus far.
"Our record through the first five games did not reflect how well we have been playing at time we need to finish the chances that we create for ourselves in order to get the wins," she said.
This season, however, is far from lost, and the players are far from giving up. The team savored a 2-0 victory against Hartford on Wednesday and looks for another strong performance when it hosts Colorado College (2-4-1 overall) this Sunday at noon on Chase Field, the first game in front of a home audience for the 2002 Big Green squad.
"We had a couple tough losses early on, but we are coming off a huge win last night against Hartford and look forward to continuing our success this Sunday against Colorado College," co-captain Meaghan Kelly '03 said.
"[Our team has] a lot of depth this year, evidenced by every player contributing to get the win over Hartford," she continued.
Ashley remains positive, confident that experience will carry the Big Green back into the postseason.
"We will have a successful season and make a run at the Ivy League title as well as advancing in post-season play."
"[Against Hartford] we moved the ball well as a team and picked up our intensity on the field," Ashley said. "We have a great deal of momentum going into this weekend against Colorado College."
The remainder of the season looks promising for the women's soccer team. An easier schedule awaits the squad and seven of the 11 remaining games will be played in Hanover.
In addition, if the first month of play is any indication of the team's success, a collective sigh of relief can be heaved as last year's squad also suffered through some early season struggles.
