For the second consecutive game, senior Katieanne Christian scored five goals to lead the No. 5 ranked Dartmouth women's lacrosse team to a resounding 13-3 victory over the fourth-seeded Georgetown Hoyas (13-5) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament on Sunday afternoon at Scully-Fahey Field. With the win, the Big Green improves to 16-2 on the season and earns a spot in the NCAA semifinals next weekend in Annapolis, Md., where it will face top-seeded Northwestern. Northwestern remains the only undefeated team in NCAA play.
"Georgetown's a really good team. We picked a good day to play our best game of the year so far," Dartmouth coach Amy Patton said. "What we practiced, they executed 100 percent. Everybody played well."
The three Hoya goals are the fewest Dartmouth has allowed an opponent in an NCAA tournament game, a vast improvement from the six goals the Big Green surrendered to Princeton in last year's quarterfinals. Likewise, it is the fewest number of goals Georgetown has ever scored in the NCAA tournament, as well as the fewest goals the Hoyas have scored this season.
Despite the lopsidedness of the final score, the first ten minutes remained a standstill, with neither team able to put one in the net. It seemed more like hours than minutes in the pelting rain and chilly temperatures before Christian scored the first goal of the game with an unassisted tally at 19:42.
"We were a little tentative with our passes in the first 10 minutes, but we gained momentum throughout the game," Patton said.
With a staunch Big Green defense backing the attack, Christian's goal was followed by three more Dartmouth tallies.
"Our defense started us," added Patton. "Our attack was firing, and we were getting good shots, but our defense jump-started us."
Georgetown's Lauryn Bernier finally soiled the shutout with a goal off a free position shot at 5:09, but the Hoyas' momentum was fleeting, as Christian answered right back with just 23 seconds left in the half.
In what appeared more like a gymnastic maneuver than a lacrosse play, Christian managed to get off a shot while completely parallel to the turf. The shot magically found the left corner of the net to add to the Dartmouth lead.
Christian, however, was not finished, scoring her third goal of the game just 16 seconds later to give the Big Green a comfortable 6-1 halftime advantage.
The charging Christian began the second half in the same fashion in which she ended the first, scoring her fourth and fifth goals of the game in the first nine minutes of the period. Annie Leibovitz '06 notched her second goal of the game, followed by freshman Kristen Barry's first on the afternoon.
The Hoyas broke up the Dartmouth run with a goal from Sarah Oliphant with 18:16 left. However, the Big Green answered back less than a minute later as Sarah Szefi '07 scored the second of her three goalsoff a feed from sophomore superstar Whitney Douthett. Douthett then put one in the net herself to increase the lead to 10.
Dartmouth and Georgetown traded two more goals before the clock ticked to zero, locking the final score at 13-3.
In the net, Devon Wills '06 finished with seven saves for Dartmouth, while Georgetown's Sarah Robinson and Maggie Koch combined for 12.