Lea Kiefer '04 scored two goals and kept two streaks alive yesterday afternoon at Chase Field. With her first goal, the senior forward extended her point-scoring streak to six games. With her second, Kiefer extended the Big Green's unbeaten streak to six, as Dartmouth (6-5-1, 3-0 Ivy) came away with a 3-2 double-overtime victory against Syracuse (8-5-1) in a non-conference matchup.
"Today's huge," said Big Green head coach Ben Landis. "We had a team meeting on Monday, saying we don't care about rankings. We don't care two through eight, what's going on in the League. As long as we're one, we'll take care of ourselves, and that's our focus. But certainly, realistically, that's a huge win. Syracuse has been ranked in the region all year. They've done well, it's a Big East team, and that will play well for us."
The Big Green got an early boost 10:23 into the game, when Kiefer dribbled in from the left side of the box and put the ball past Syracuse goalkeeper Emily Kowalczyk. The goal was Kiefer's eighth of the season, as the Fort Washington, PA, native leads the Big Green in both goals and points.
Dartmouth had an opportunity to extend its lead in the 17th minute, when Christina Ferraris '06, the hero of Dartmouth's 1-0 overtime win over Yale on Sunday, slid past Kowalczyk to put her foot on the ball, but Ferraris's shot went just wide on the right side of the net.
The Big Green would eventually push the lead to 2-0, as Roxanne Davis '07 found the back of the net with a high shot from the top of the box for her second career goal. The Orangewomen struggled with both the Dartmouth defense and a strong wind, and Dartmouth went to the locker room with a two-goal advantage.
As the second half began, Dartmouth seemed firmly in command of the game, though the Big Green could not solve substitute goalkeeper Shannon Myers, who entered the game at halftime. Still, Dartmouth maintained control of the action through the first 25 minutes of the half. Shortly thereafter, though, things turned in favor of the visitors, thanks largely to the play of senior midfielder Anne-Marie LaPalme.
LaPalme gave the Orangewomen a shot in the arm in the 73rd minute, when she put the ball in the net on an assist from junior forward Helen Fox. Three minutes later, LaPalme served up an assist of her own, as junior forward Natalie Galas headed a LaPalme cross in to the back of the net. Within three minutes, Dartmouth had gone from a comfortable lead to a tied game against a fired up opponent.
When asked about the sudden turnaround, Kiefer said, "Wednesday mid-day games, especially ones that are home, when you're not on the road, where you're coming directly from and class and you're having to squeeze in a quick lunch, it's very easy to lose your focus, and I think that's sort of what we did in the second half. We got up 2-0 then we relaxed and lost focus."
With less than 14 minutes left in the game, the Big Green women struggled to regain their focus. Landis attempted to give Dartmouth a boost by returning both Ferraris and Kiefer to action, but the Big Green could not manage a go-ahead goal before the buzzer sounded to send the game to overtime.
In the first extra session, the Orangewomen threw everything they had at Marbarger. However, Marbarger stood tall in net, and even got a little help from the goal itself, as a shot from senior Erica Mastrogiacomo struck the right post, a near miss that would come back to haunt the Orangewomen.
As the second overtime began, Dartmouth attempted to create a chance for Kiefer right away, but Syracuse was able to deny her. The Big Green kept on the attack, however, and in the third minute of double overtime, Ferraris found Kiefer for a breakaway opportunity. Kiefer headed straight for the goal and powered the ball into the back of the net for the game-winning score.
With the goal, Kiefer notched her ninth goal and nineteenth goal of the season, while Ferraris' assist served as payback for Kiefer's assist on Ferraris' game-winner at Yale. "I was happy that Christina got me the pass," Kiefer said. "I was happy to turn the tables [from the Yale game]. It was just a nice ball."
On the remainder of the season, Kiefer said, "I don't think there's a team left on our schedule that we're not capable of beating. It's up to us."
Kiefer and the Big Green will look to prove that statement true on Saturday, as the team heads to Kiefer's home state of Pennsylvania for an Ivy League contest against the Quakers (5-2-3, 1-1-1 Ivy). Penn's Katy Cross is tied for the league lead in points per game with 1.9, while goalkeeper Anna Halse has the Ivy's third-lowest goals-against average at 0.72. Dartmouth will look to increase that average, control Cross, and improve to 4-0 in Ivy play when the Big Green takes on the Quakers at 2:30 on Sunday, in Dartmouth's first contest at Penn's brand new Rhodes Field.
