Big Green women's water polo went undefeated Saturday and Sunday in the New England Regional Qualifying Tournament held at Middlebury College. The team, led by head coach Jim Wilson, beat Wesleyan, Williams, Yale and host Middlebury by a combined score of 53-13.
The most rewarding win of the weekend was over rival Yale, who beat the women in a regional tournament during winter term. However, "for this game, we had just returned from training trip, had our three players back and completely out-swam and out played them," said Molly Turner '05. A second quarter brutality ejection of one of Yale's leading players galvanized the victory.
The win, however, did not come easily. The first quarter minor exclusion of Lauren Wondolowski '04 gave Yale a window of opportunity, but a crushing Big Green defense closed it down. A quick and powerful counterattack put the ball in the hand of Kristin Simunovich '06, who put Dartmouth on the scoreboard.
Sam Klau '05 then capitalized on a man-up situation a minute later, putting the Big Green ahead by two. The exclusion fouls continued, as back-to-back man-up situations resulted in Yale getting its first goal, trailing Big Green 1-3. That score held to the end of the quarter, after Big Green defense shut down two more man-up situations.
The break at the quarter gave both teams a chance to settle down, and Yale came out firing, bringing them with one goal of Dartmouth. Another minor exclusion of Wondolowski gave Yale the chance to tie it, but Big Green defense buckled down and kept the ball out of the goal.
On the other side of the pool, however, tensions began to rise as Sarah Rosa '07 went head to head with senior Lady Bulldog Galen Main in the hole. According to Rosa, when Main attempted to hold her in place by her two-foot long hair braid, Rosa subtly retaliated and broke free, putting in Dartmouth's fourth goal. The next time the two were matched up things went full circle.
Rosa explained, "When she tried it a second time, I basically had to pull her out of the water by my braid to show the referee her childish antics."
Main was expelled from the remainder of the game for brutality.
The Big Green took advantage of the opportunity, out-swimming and out-playing the cowering Lady Bulldogs. Klau led the women in goals, putting away five, while Gillian Morshedi '04 protected the net, allowing only one more goal during the remainder of the game. At the final whistle, Big Green walked away ahead 15"3.
The Big Green took on Williams on Saturday as well, not hesitating to flex its muscles and demonstrate the skills and stamina developed during its training trip. Their defense stole the show en route to a 15"2 victory.
Dartmouth took on Wesleyan and Middlebury on Sunday, winning 8"3 and 15"5, respectively. Wesleyan fought hard, keeping within three goals of Dartmouth until the end of the third quarter, where Big Green's superior stamina became evident as the Cardinals wore out.
In the final game of the weekend, Middlebury struck first against the women. The Panthers' momentum did not hold, however, as five different Big Green women found the back of the net in the first quarter, contributing to a 6"3 lead going into the second quarter.
Both teams focused on defense during the second quarter, though the Dartmouth women were more successful, allowing only one goal while scoring three. The Big Green never looked back on its comfortable lead, giving up only one goal en route to a 15"5 victory.
The weekend's performance gives the women confidence going into Division Championships in two weeks. With the full squad back on campus, and a grueling but beneficial training trip to Hawaii behind them, Big Green will train hard with the goal of a fifth consecutive trip to National Championships, where they placed third last year.
"The solid playing of all team members will ensure success. We have three hole-sets, four people with great outside shots, and a man-up offense that can't be beat," said team president Kelly Cameron '04.
