"Obviously we would have liked a win and we certainly had the opportunity to score, but that's soccer -- sometimes you outshoot a team but still come out with a tie or a loss," Becca Poskin '09 said.
It is the first tie in the Dartmouth-Syracuse series history. Despite the draw, the Big Green (5-3-1, 1-0 Ivy) maintained its No. 5 ranking on Soccer Buzz's Northeast regional polls.
Dartmouth played a mediocre but evenly matched first half with the Orange (1-8-2, 0-3 Big East). Both defenses were effective in blocking opponent attacks while the offenses shared identical statistics in the half.
The two sides each recorded six shots and one corner in the first half.
Big Green goalkeeper Amanda Webb '08 kept the scoreboard blank with two saves while the Orange's rookie goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan recorded three saves in the half.
Laurel Peak '09 replaced Webb in the second half when Dartmouth returned to the field with a new formation.
A staunch Syracuse defense fended off every Dartmouth advance. The Big Green outshot the Orange 9-1 in the second half but could not finish.
In the first overtime, Dartmouth had three corner kick opportunities, but was unable to convert. Sarah Johnson '07 almost tapped the ball in on a cross from the left side of the field, but the attempt narrowly missed.
In the second overtime, Emily Tracy '07 threatened the tie when she gained possession of a loose ball 10 yards from the Syracuse goal, but her shot sailed wide.
"I thought we played better as the game went on," Poskin said. "Unfortunately, we didn't start the game off strong and so that really hurt us. But we came around eventually and had a good performance at the end."
Dartmouth has struggled tremendously this season to find the back of the net. While the team has created an abundance of scoring chances, finishing is becoming a recurring problem. In the 1-0 loss to Minnesota, the Big Green outshot the Golden Gophers 18-3 and held a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks. Against Maryland, the Big Green managed a slim 1-0 win despite outshooting the Terrapins 22-7.
More recently, Dartmouth didn't score the game-winning goal against Brown until the closing moments of the game. The Big Green recorded nine shots to the Bears' four in the second half.
Poskin and Myra Sack '10 each recorded four shots against the Orange. The Big Green took seven corner kicks in the game to Syracuse's one.
Webb and Peak shared three saves in goal. The Orange goalkeeper Bennet-Hattan recorded an impressive nine saves. Bennet-Hattan's second shutout performance of the season helped end Syracuse's four-game losing streak.
"Even though we were disappointed that we didn't win, we have to focus on the next game," Poskin said. "There is no use in dwelling. It's done."
Dartmouth will take on Princeton at Lourie-Love Field on Saturday. The Tigers will look to capture their first Ivy win of the season against the Big Green after dropping a 2-1 match to defending league champion Yale last weekend.
"Princeton is a huge game for us," Poskin said. "We want to get a win and we want to play well. One thing that we are really focusing on is starting the game off strong because we have struggled a little bit to do that in the past couple of games and so we really want to set the tempo of the game against Princeton."
