Dartmouth women's soccer improved to 6-2 with a 1-0 win over Brown Saturday. The game opened Ivy League play for the Big Green, who will face other Ivy League opponents in six of their final nine games.
The match extended Dartmouth's win streak to four straight.
The only goal of the game came from senior co-captain Megan Wijas in the 29th minute. Sarah Johnson '07 took a free kick from 25 yards out and Wijas capitalized on the offensive opportunity by putting the ball in the net. The goal was Wijas' first of the season. Johnson, the teams leading scorer with four goals, tallied her third assist on the play.
Though Dartmouth only scored once, they did put pressure on Brown's defense and forced Brown goalie Hilary Wilson to stop five other shots. Amanda Webb '08 only had to make two saves en route to her first shutout of the season.
"Defensively we played well. We were strong in the air and didn't give them too many opportunities," Webb remarked. "In goal I only had to deal with a few crosses and a couple of easy shots."
Most of Dartmouth's scoring opportunities came in a dominant first half on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, but in the second half some Big Green players admit they did let up a little in the second half.
"In the first half we defended well and in turn created good offensive chances," Wijas said. "But in the second half we got away from what was giving us success in the first half. We dropped to their level of playing kickball."
Brown's play improved from last year when Dartmouth won 2-0, but the players still expected to win and felt they were the better team.
"Brown was a really physical team, but I think we were much better technically and tactically," co-captain Jennie Tonneson '06 remarked.
"They had a few good players, but we were the better side. We should have been able to beat them by a lot more than a goal."
The team feels that they have a chance to compete for the Ivy League title this year and opening conference play with a win was very important.
"Opening Ivy play with a win was extremely important for us. We've done well so far in the season, beating some really good teams," Tonneson added. "But the Ivy games are the biggest for us now, so winning the first one is a great start."
Halfway through the season, the Big Green are looking to improve while staying positive and continuing their winning ways. With so many Ivy opponents coming up, along with postseason play, the pressure will only increase from this point on.
"We feel good about where we are right now. We have met our expectations. With that said, we still have half the season to go," Wijas added.
"I don't know that we have any glaring weaknesses at this point, but we can definitely improve in a few areas including team defending, winning more balls, and creating more scoring opportunities."
The team could certainly use more scoring opportunities as they have faced a series of very close games. Only two of their six victories resulted in the Big Green winning with a two-goal lead and the other four wins came in over time.
Dartmouth continues play this Sunday at home against Princeton (1-4-2, 0-1). The Tigers reached the national semifinals last year, but have began this season on pace to finish last in the Ivy League. It's a trend that continued in their 2-1 home loss to Yale in their Ivy League opener on Saturday, the third one-goal loss in the last four games for the Tigers.
The game should be a sign of things to come and perhaps solidify the direction that the two teams will be heading in the standings.
