Coming off an impressive road victory against nationally-ranked Syracuse, the Dartmouth field hockey team looked poised to overtake the University of Massachusetts Wednesday. The Big Green showed tremendous grit and determination, but the Minutewomen proved to be too much for Dartmouth, grinding out a 2-1 victory.
The first half was dominated by UMass, who kept offensive pressure on Dartmouth the entire half. UMass scored on its first shot 8:45 into the game as Gina Sanders knocked one passed Dartmouth goalie, Lauren Balukjian '06. UMass also bested Dartmouth in penalty corners in the first half, 7-4.
With the game remaining tight, Dartmouth demonstrated tremendous tenacity by coming out firing in the second half. With five straight penalty corners, they didn't let the ball touch their defensive end until eight minutes into the second half. Dartmouth had 12 shots on goal before the Minutewomen even made one in the second half. But despite Dartmouth's constant barrage of shots, senior goalie Christine Tocco made 10 tremendous saves to prevent Dartmouth from tying up the game.
With 10:15 left to go, senior Adrianne Monaco scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for UMass. Dartmouth immediately fired back as Jessica Saraceno '06 scored late in the game. In one last dramatic effort to tie up the game, Nina Fulmer '06 blasted a corner as time was running out. Saraceno got the deflection, but came up short and UMass came away with the victory.
"If we had played with the effort we played with in the last 10 minutes of the game, we would have definitely come out on top," Fulmer explained. "It was frustrating for us that we couldn't get it together until the end of the game."
Balukjian said this loss will make them stronger going into the weekend, when they will face Columbia in New York on Saturday: "I really believe that this loss is only going to make us go into this weekend that much more fired up."
If Dartmouth shows the same effort they demonstrated in the second half today, they have tremendous potential to cause damage during the remainder of the season.
Saraceno said, "I think that going into this weekend, knowing that we are playing a league game, this loss will definitely fire us up. Our record is very important to us, and it's gotten to the point in the season where each game becomes pivotal in determining our postseason play. We will definitely keep fighting."
With just four games remaining, Dartmouth hopes to come out on top in Ivy League play against Columbia, Harvard and Cornell.
