By beating Tufts 15-1 in the game-to-go at North East Regionals Sunday in Rhode Island, Dartmouth won its first-ever bid to Nationals. Stifled by a feisty Big Green defense, Tufts never had any offensive momentum.
Dartmouth received to begin the game, and Brooking Gatewood '05 immediately scored Lakshmi Narayan '06 deep with a huck that sailed full-field into the endzone.
Tufts then answered back by breaking through Dartmouth's zone defense to tie it up 1-1. After that wakeup call, Dartmouth played with newfound fervor, and scored 14 consecutive points.
Co-captain Liz Gannes '04 came up with nearly a dozen defensive blocks, beating her opponent to the disc and snagging errant discs from the air. Ariel Dowling '05 shut down Tufts' best handler by effectively marking against her deep throws. To finish the first half, Aekta Shah '05 had a full-extension lay out to catch a throw from Narayan.
With quick feet and hot hands, co-captain Lorraine Ferron '05 was incredibly effective at the dump position. Her fluid break-mark throws jump-started each offensive drive.
To bring Dartmouth to game point, the handlers used short, fast open-side cuts. Then Gannes put out a loopy forehand with enough spin for Narayan to just barely snag it in the endzone with an incredible horizontal bid.
At 14-1, Dartmouth had trouble with its endgame, but used a calm dump-and-swing offense to pull out the win. Gatewood had another scoring huck to bookend the game.
"It's amazing to play on a team where you trust everyone on the field to come up with amazing plays and stay solid," Gatewood said.
After the Tufts game, Dartmouth played MIT -- a team predicted to win Nationals this year -- for the championship and lost 15-4. Thus, Dartmouth took the second seed.
Highlights from this game included a catch by 5-foot-2-inch Sarah Markus '07 against her nearly six-feet-tall defender, and two scores from Orsi Kuti '05.
Earlier in the weekend, Dartmouth went undefeated, with key victories over Williams, MIT and Boston University that gave it the top seed going into elimination play.
The 10-7 MIT victory was a remarkable coup for the program, generating momentum that gave Dartmouth the confidence to believe that it could possibly earn one of the three nationals bids. Despite coming into the tournament ranked third of 14, the team as a whole was insecure about its chances, as going to Nationals has not been within the realm of possibility since 1998.
Key to the win was the defense of Gannes and Tiffanie Gallo '05 and the offense of Ferron, Narayan and Liz Middleton '06.
Gatewood commented, "Dartmouth Ultimate is on a roll. Last year the men made it to Nationals. This year it's the women's turn."
The top 16 men's and women's teams in the country will compete at Nationals May 28 through May 30 in Seattle, Wash.
Ferron said, "We've been stepping it up in each successive tournament this spring, culminating in this last weekend. I'm really excited to see what we can do at Nationals."
Liz Gannes is a member of the women's Ultimate Frisbee team.
