The Dartmouth women's soccer team, unbeaten in the six games played this month, will try to keep its perfect October record when it travels to New York to take the field against the Columbia Lions tomorrow.
The Big Green (9-3-1 overall, 3-1-0 Ivy League) currently sits second in the Ivy League standings behind unbeaten Princeton. Dartmouth has won the past eight games in a row, allowing only two goals in the stretch, an average of 0.25 goals per game while scoring 17 goals.
The Columbia Lions (4-6-2 overall, 0-2-2 Ivy League) have suffered through a mediocre season and a terrible start, enduring a seven-game winless streak early in the season in which they lost six and tied one.
However, the Lions seem to have recovered in the recent games, not dropping a single match in the past four games, compiling a record of 3-0-1. The Lions are on the prowl for their first league win against Dartmouth.
Although the Lions have an experienced roster, with eight returning starters, they have been inconsistent all season. The highlight of the weak roster is the Lions' strong defense, which has kept opponents' shot attempts to less than 10 per game.
The Big Green offense, characterized by aggressiveness, speed and the opportunities created, could struggle against the veteran defenders.
But once it penetrates Columbia's backs, scoring goals against Columbia's goalie tandem -- splitting time at goal as Dartmouth's goalies do -- should be easier than usual.
Although they have compiled a seemingly impressive 1.19 goals against average, Columbia's goalies have benefited from the strong defense that does not allow opportunities to the opponents.
The pair's save percentage is a mere .694, far lower than that of their Dartmouth counterparts. Big Green's Anne Marbarger '05 and Julia Shields '03 have combined for a GAA of 0.95 and have the save percentage to back it up, saving 79.7 percent of shots coming their way, shutting out opponents on seven occasions.
The Lions are led by a rookie phenom, freshman Courtney Nasshorn, who has scored four goals and two assists to lead the team with 10 points, and by an experienced midfielder Tara David who has anchored the offense with five assists.
The Big Green's latest outing was a huge victory against the Northeastern Terriers. In the dominant 5-0 showing, co-captain Mary McVeigh '03 lead the way with two goals and two assists. McVeigh now has eight goals and four assists for the game, her 22 goals and 15 assists on her career placing her fourth on both all-time charts.
Janet Light '04 was named to the Ivy League weekly honor roll for her performance against Cornell, in which she scored the first goal of her career in the closing minutes of the game to hand Dartmouth the victory.
Columbia had a pair of honor roll players as well. Sophomore fullback Eva Gudbjornsdottir, a member of Iceland's national soccer team, was honored for her tying goal against Penn that handed Columbia the rare league tie.
Freshman fullback Courtney Diamond was honored for her full-time effort in both games that Columbia played last week as a member of the potent defensive line that stifled the opposing forwards.
