The Dartmouth women's soccer team bounced back from a frustrating loss to Princeton on Saturday to win 3-1 over the Syracuse Orange. The win raised Dartmouth's record to 7-3 (1-1 Ivy) and dropped Syracuse to 3-6-4 (2-0-3 Big East). The Big Green rode the individual of leading scorer Sarah Johnson '07 to victory. Johnson scored her first ever hat trick.
"It was very important for us to bounce back from our loss against Princeton and we knew that going into Syracuse," captain Megan Wijas '06 said. "Princeton was a tough loss because we worked hard and didn't feel we got the result we deserved."
Johnson opened the scoring immediately when her own corner kick found its way into the net only 1:11 into the game. The goal, so early in the game, allowed Johnson and the forwards to breathe a sigh of relief. Princeton shut out the Big Green on Saturday, and Johnson, personally, was stifled by their physical play.
"Syracuse gave me so much more space and time than Princeton did," Johnson commented. "Their backs were not nearly as aggressive as Princeton's were; no one got pummeled to the ground in this game."
Dartmouth did not let up the pressure and Johnson scored her second goal soon after in the 16th minute. With her back to the net, Johnson received a pass from Colleen Kelly '07, turned and fired the ball past Syracuse keeper, Candice Hofmann, to give Dartmouth a 2-0 lead.
The increase in offensive output was due partly to a strategic adjustment made by head coach Angie Hind, who instructed the forwards to play higher up and closer to the goal. Hind also told the team to put as much pressure on the Syracuse goalkeeper as possible.
"Before the game Angie stressed that we needed to just shoot as much as we could and promised that the goals would come," midfielder Emily Tracy '07 remarked.
The team did just that and fired off 20 shots, 13 of which were on goal, a vast improvement from Saturday, when the team only put four shots on goal against Princeton.
The Big Green continued to dominate the first half, keeping the ball trapped in Syracuse's defensive zone. However, the Orange did put together a solid counter attack at the end of the half and taking advantage of a foul from 25 yards out, Lauren Cappelli took a free kick to put the ball past Amanda Webb '08 in the 38th minute. Though Webb did improve from her performance Saturday, the goal was the second off of a free kick in the past two games.
Dartmouth did not let the Orange's momentum dictate the pace of the second half, and the Big Green quickly began dominating the game again. Syracuse only managed one shot in the second half.
Johnson rounded out her hat trick in the 67th minute when after being fouled in the penalty box she was awarded a penalty shot. Capitalizing on the opportunity, Johnson put the ball low in the left hand corner to score her seventh goal of the season. Coming into the game, Johnson was only two goals back of the Ivy League lead.
"It was just one of those days where SJ was definitely feeling it," Tracy said of her teammate's career day.
"We needed a big win after a tough loss to Princeton," Johnson added. "Now our confidence is high and we are ready for Yale."
The entire team is looking to the Yale game to prove themselves to the rest of the Ivy League.
"Getting a win against Syracuse has restored in us the confidence we need to win on Saturday as well as the rest of our Ivy games," echoed Wijas. "It was nice to get some momentum behind us before we play Yale."
The Bulldogs sit atop the Ivy League with a 2-0 record. A win over Yale would put Dartmouth at the top of the Ivies, where as a loss would push them to two games back.
"We know that this is the most important game of our season. We have worked so hard from day one for a game like this," Tracy remarked with determination. "Our team has more heart than any other team in the Ivy league. We are just going to go out there, play our game and work harder than them."
