Memo to future opponents of the Big Green women's lacrosse team: school is back in session.
After a difficult spring break schedule that resulted in losses to No. 2 Maryland and No. 10 James Madison, No. 15 Dartmouth bounced back in its first two games of the Spring term. The team taught No. 12 Yale and Columbia a lesson in "Big Green Lacrosse 101," winning by scores of 7-6 and 19-7, respectively, to start the Ivy League season 2-0.
"After having two not-so-good games, we really had to turn it around a little bit," Big Green co-captain Lana Smith '04 said.
"This week, we've worked really hard in practice, and I think we've really just gotten it together."
After dropping home games to a visiting Dartmouth squad, the Bulldogs and Lions would be hard pressed to disagree.
Dartmouth arrived at Yale's Johnson Field on Saturday looking to break a two-game losing streak to the Bulldogs, while Yale looked to extend a five game winning streak that included victories over Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and Penn.
With momentum and a home crowd on their side, the Elis took an early 1-0 lead on a goal from sophomore midfielder Katie Sargent, who scored on a pass from senior Ali Cobbett to open the game's scoring less than three minutes into the game.
Dartmouth's co-captains teamed up to provide a response four and a half minutes later, as Smith found Whitney Jamison '03 for the game-tying goal. The Big Green took its first lead of the day a minute and a half later, as attacker Molly Jenkins '04 scored a free position goal to give her team a 2-1 lead.
The lead lasted just over a minute before senior attacker Clarissa Clarke scored an unassisted tally to tie the game at two. Jamison had a response of her own, however, scoring a solo goal of with 18:38 to play in the first half to give Dartmouth a 3-2 lead.
After scoring a combined four goals in five minutes, the two teams entered a long stalemate, as neither team scored for 13 minutes. Eventually, however, Yale senior attacker Sarah Queener scored on a pass from Sargent to tie the game at three.
Dartmouth was determined to have the last word in the first half, as Jenkins gave the Big Green a 4-3 lead off of a pass from Smith. The remaining 2:54 passed without a goal on either side, and Dartmouth took its one-goal lead into the halftime break.
As the second half began, Dartmouth looked to finish the Bulldogs quickly, as Smith scored an unassisted goal, then assisted on tallies by Jamison and Jenkins to give Dartmouth a 7-3 lead. Jenkins' goal, which came a mere 11 seconds after Jamison's goal, prompted a Yale timeout, as the Elis attempted to regroup and avoid losing on their home field.
What had already been a physical game became even rougher, as two of Yale's three yellow cards were handed out in the second half. The Bulldogs began to rough Dartmouth up on the scoreboard as well, as Queener scored on a free position in between goals from Clarke, and Yale climbed within one goal of the visitors with 5:07 to play.
Dartmouth was able to hold on, however, and the Big Green controlled the ball in the final minutes, denying Yale the opportunity to test goalkeeper Devon Wills '06 (who made 13 saves against Yale), and preserving a 7-6 victory.
After the game, Dartmouth head coach Amy Patton was pleased with her squad and remarked that the Bulldogs were "better than they were last year. They've got a lot of experience on their team, and for us today, I think this was a really big step for our team, with us being so inexperienced, to pull out a game like today's."
For co-captain Smith, the win over a ranked opponent illustrated Dartmouth's underdog role as an inexperienced team.
"This year, we're kind of the underdogs," Smith said. "People don't really see us as being one of the top teams, but it's so much fun when you are the underdog, and you come out there, and prove to people that you can play with anybody."
For Dartmouth, the next "anybody" was Columbia, who brought a 4-3 record into yester-day's game, and looked to end a five-game losing streak to the Big Green. The Lions were quick to show their improvement, scoring the first goal of the game on a tally by junior midfielder Ellen Lowery, then remaining in the game when Dartmouth began to score.
The Big Green took a 2-1 lead on goals from Jenkins and midfielder Kate Killen '04, but Columbia retook the lead with goals by junior attacker Adie Moll and sophomore midfielder Jenny Korecky. Following Korecky's goal, however, the Big Green women fought through the rain that was falling on Wien Stadium to unleash a storm of their own on the Lions.
Columbia's 3-2 lead lasted only 20 seconds before Jamison tied the game on an assist from midfielder Annie Leibovitz '06. The tie was just as quick to disappear, as Jamison assisted on a Lana Smith goal 32 seconds later, then scored on another pass from Liebovitz 42 seconds after Smith's goal.
Katieanne Christian '05 joined the scoring party with 23:03 to play in the first half, as Dartmouth strung together four goals in a span of less than three minutes.
Following Christian's goal, Columbia began to exercise more control, and the next 10 minutes passed without a goal on either side. When the long stalemate was broken, it was Columbia that did the breaking, as sophomore attacker Moira O'Toole cut the Dartmouth lead to two goals on an assist from senior Liz Gilroy. However, two goals was as close as the game would get for the duration of the afternoon.
With 11:26 remaining in the half, Smith scored on an assist from Jenkins, and Christian followed with a free position goal at the 9:40 mark. Columbia head coach Kerri Whitaker called timeout, hoping to stop Dartmouth's momentum.
However, the only thing that could stop Dartmouth's momentum was the halftime whistle, as the Big Green rattled off another five goals, including scores by attacker Elizabeth Right '04 and midfielder Sarah Sanborn '05, along with Killen's second tally of the day and the third and fourth goals from Smith. With a 13-4 halftime lead, the Big Green was halfway to its second Ivy League win in as many days.
The second half, like the first, opened as a fairly evenhanded affair, as Killen traded goals with Columbia midfielder Liz Sanseau before the teams went 13:40 without a goal on either side.
As in the first half, it was the Lions who broke the ice, as Korecky scored her second goal of the day with 11:08 remaining in the game. Rookie midfielder Casey Hazel '06 scored on a Killen pass to give Dartmouth a nine-goal lead, but Moll responded with her second tally of the day.
With only 5:47 remaining in the game, however, a 15-7 Dartmouth lead was insurmountable. Dartmouth proceeded to score the last four goals of the game, as attacker Katie Fahey '06 scored two goals 1:05 apart. Killen notched her fourth goal of the day a minute later, and Hazel closed the day's scoring with 1:20 to play, finding the net off of a Right pass to close the book on a 19-7 Dartmouth victory.
Dartmouth's 19 goals were the most Columbia had given up all season, as Dartmouth topped the 15 goals scored by both Cornell and Princeton in their games against the Lions and the 16 scored by Virginia Tech.
However, the seven goals allowed was some cause for concern, as Killen said, "I think in our transition and our fastbreaks, we had moments of excellence, but I think in some ways, we did play down to Columbia's level, especially on defense."
Despite whatever difficulties existed on defense, Dartmouth's 19 "moments of excellence" on the offensive end represented the Big Green's best goal output of the season, topping the team's previous high score of 18 against UNH on March 1. Smith notched four goals, as did Killen, who wore No. 27 against the Lions instead of her usual No. 26 jersey.
"For some reason, they didn't make a 26," Killen said of the number switch. Despite her four goal performance against Lions, Killen isn't rushing to change her jersey on a permanent basis. "I think I'll stick to 26," Killen said. "I like the even numbers."
On that level, Killen and her teammates couldn't help but be pleased by this weekend's pair of wins, and the next two weekends will present similar opportunities.
This Friday, the Big Green will travel to Boston University to take on the Terriers before returning home for a Sunday matchup against Brown. The following weekend, nationally ranked foes Syracuse and Cornell will visit Scully-Fahey Field for another Friday-Sunday series.
If this weekend's performances are any indication, the Big Green will be ready to double up again in the coming weeks.
