Tough times continued for the Big Green field hockey squad in the final homestand of the year at Scully-Fahey field, as the team dropped a pair of matches over the weekend. On Saturday, the squad lost to its Harvard rival with a score of 2-0 in the midst of pouring rain and cold temperatures. The team took on the Lady Orange of Syracuse on Sunday, when the squad dropped a heartbreaker in overtime, 3-2. The pair of losses means Dartmouth will finish the season in the bottom spot of the Ivy League standings.
Dartmouth never got things going against Harvard, and squandered an opportunity for a win. The Big Green looked to be the better team on Sunday against Syracuse, but couldn't break out of its eight-game losing streak.
With Princeton having already clinched the Ivy League title for the 12th time in 14 years, Saturday's game was all about pride for both the Big Green (3-13, 1-5 Ivy) and the Crimson (4-12, 3-3 Ivy).
Dartmouth looked sluggish on Saturday, while Harvard came out of the gate firing. Senior Aline Brown scored her first goal at the 16:36 mark off of a corner. Junior Devon Shapiro's shot was knocked down, and Brown hit a high shot into the goal. Brown wasted no time in scoring her next goal, as she struck once again at the 26:14 mark, as she maneuvered past some Dartmouth defenders and hit a screamer from the right side to score. The Big Green was never able to get much going offensively. Harvard held the edge in corners 7-5 and Dartmouth was only able to register three shots on goal as the team failed to test sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Knoche.
"The team came out a little flat on Saturday, because everyone was playing individually and not as a cohesive unit. Things were not quite clicking for us," head coach Amy Fowler said.
Although Harvard has struggled this season, the victory was their third straight Ivy League win.
On Sunday, senior day, the squad came out ready to play. The team had Syracuse (10-9, 2-4 Big East) and its hall-of-fame coach Kathleen Parker on their heels the entire day. The team played very well in the first half, controlling possession effectively. Lizzie Bildner '08 wasted no time in getting on the board, as she scored on a corner deflected by Waugh at the 1:31 mark to give the Big Green the early edge. However, Syracuse countered 13 minutes later when sophomore Alison Babbitt scored to tie the game.
In the second half, the teams played fairly evenly. The Big Green played stingy defense and held the Orange to only one score for the half, a shot in the left corner by senior Jess Wreski at the 43:50 mark. Soon after, Bildner was able to notch the equalizer, as she slotted in a goal off of a Hines shot at the 56:01 mark to take the game into overtime. Bildner, the team's leading scorer now has nine goals for the season. Dartmouth created a number of quality scoring chances in this game, earning six corners, twice as many as Syracuse.
"In the Syracuse game, we played 10 times better than we did against Harvard. The team played as a cohesive unit, and everyone was working together really well ... . Everyone played really well today," Fowler said.
During overtime, a controversial call was made against Dartmouth goalkeeper and co-captain Ashley Heist '08. Heist came out to make a save, and in the process a Syracuse forward tripped over Heist. Although it looked like a legal save, it led to a foul. Wreski slotted the resulting penalty shot into the corner. Although the Dartmouth women outplayed Syracuse, the Big Green was unable to pull out the win, and it was especially painful to lose on a controversial penalty.
"Nineteen out of 20 times, the referee would have called that save legal, but unfortunately it was called a penalty. However, the penalty shouldn't take away from Ashley's performance, as her effort is definitely worth mentioning," Fowler said.
The Orange seem to have a knack for pulling out overtime wins as, Syracuse improves to 4-1 in extra time.
Despite the tough loss, the players were pleased with their performances.
"Against Syracuse we stuck to our game plan of passing and really came together as a team. I think we played very well today and even though we lost, I am very proud of the way we played. Some of the positions were switched around which I think helped us out. Some of the team's hopes for next week are to play our hardest and play the game we played today, united and connected, and to have fun," Bildner said.
The Big Green will close out its season next Sunday as it travels to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Cornell (6-9, 3-3 Ivy). Cornell is coming off a 3-2 overtime defeat to Colgate at home.
