Despite a loss to the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils Sunday afternoon, the No. 4 Dartmouth women's lacrosse team, 12-8, will be advancing to the NCAA tournament this week.
The Big Green will compete this coming Thursday, May 12, at the Dartmouth's own Scully-Fahey Field against Syracuse. The women's laxers beat the Orange 13-8 earlier this season.
Though they outshot Duke 27-25, the Big Green were unable to silence the Blue Devils.
Duke began the first half of the game with six straight goals, three of which came from sophomore midfielder Leigh Jester, with just ten minutes off the clock.
The New Jersey native put the first number on the board just over three minutes into the game as she ripped one, unassisted, past Dartmouth goalkeeper Devon Wills '06.
Jester's first goal was followed almost immediately by Kristen Waagbo's goal, assisted by Katie Chrest.
Michelle Menser, with 25:14 left in play, sent a free position shot to the back of the net, followed by teammate Jessica Adam's free position goal.
Jester contributed to Duke's six goal spree with two more goals.
Senior Katianne Christian, Dartmouth's leading scorer and contender for the Tewaarraton Trophy, put the Big Green on the board for the first time with an unassisted goal.
The Blue Devils fired back with a goal from senior Stefanie Sparks.
Dartmouth sophomore Whitney Douthett, who leads the league in both assists, with 24, and groundballs, with 49, gave Dartmouth its second goal and brought the Big Green within five.
Once again, Jester hit the back of the net, with her fourth goal of the half, assisted by Katie Laschinger, sending Dartmouth into the locker room trailing 8-2.
Duke's Blue Devils opened the second half with a goal from Katie Chrest, her only goal for the day.
Dartmouth then made a valiant comeback, scoring the next four goals of the game, slicing Duke's lead to 10-6.
In fact, Dartmouth outshot Duke 17-10 in the second period.
The Big Green saw three goals from freshman Kristen Barry and one netted by sophomore Jen Pittman.
Duke's Waagbo scored the Blue Devil's fourth free position.
With less than four minutes left in play, Menser ripped her final goal of the game.
However, with 1:27 one the clock, Christian netted an unassisted goal, giving her a hat trick for the day.
Christian's final tally of the game closed out the scoring for both teams and solidified her as the league's leading scorer, with a whopping 53 goals on the season.
In the net, Wills had six saves on the day.
Sunday closed out Dartmouth's regular season play, giving them a season record of 14-2.
Later that night, the Big Green learned that it had been award the fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Big expectations surround the Dartmouth women as they set their eyes on the Final Four, which will be held at Army on May 22.
