On the University of New Hampshire's Senior Day, it was the Dartmouth seniors that had a field day. With seniors scoring both of the Big Green's goals, the No. 13 Dartmouth women's soccer team broke its one-goal win spell on Wednesday afternoon. The Big Green (10-3-1, 4-0 Ivy) defeated in-state rival UNH Wildcats (5-10) in a dominant 2-0 effort at Lewis Field.
"We have outshot every one of our opponents by a significant amount and we want our score to better reflect how much we have been dominating games," Emily Tracy '07 said. "The score could have been more than 2-0 today, but we are getting there."
After two 1-0 wins last week over then No. 10 Boston University and Ivy rival University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth cracked into the top 25 of three nationally respected polls. The NSCAA/Adidas poll ranked the Big Green No. 13 in the nation, Soccer Buzz No. 20 and Soccer America No. 24.
With the win over UNH, Dartmouth extended its unbeaten streak to nine games.
"We are definitely excited to get this win," said Head Coach Angie Hind. "UNH is always a tough game because there is a lot of local pride at stake."
Dartmouth's defense, which hasn't allowed a goal in nine games, showed little mercy for the Wildcats in the win. Led by co-captain Colleen Kelly '07, who was named to the latest Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week on Tuesday, the Big Green defensive line did not give UNH any window of opportunity to shoot on goal in the first half.
Although Dartmouth held a 6-0 shooting advantage in the first half, the team had trouble finding the back of the net. The score was knotted at 0-0 at halftime.
The Big Green didn't get on the scoreboard until the 70:30 mark. Tracy scored Dartmouth's first goal of the game after receiving a quick pass from classmate Sarah Johnson '07. Tracy struck the ball to the left corner of the goal from 15 yards out, registering her second straight and third game-winner of the season.
Less than seven minutes later, Megan Wijas '06 scored Dartmouth's insurance goal unassisted. The senior midfielder scored from 25 yards out, positioning the ball in the upper left corner.
Dartmouth limited UNH to just three shots in the game, none of which came dangerously close to the Big Green goal, and held a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Dartmouth managed a total of 15 shots on goal for the day. Nicole Cameli '07 led Dartmouth in shooting with four.
"Our defense was outstanding throughout the game and I think that there were spurts in both halves where we generated some great opportunities to score," Tracy said.
Laurel Peak '09 guarded the Big Green goal for 90 minutes straight and earned her first shutout of the season while the Wildcats' goalkeeper Lynn Gugliuzza made nine tough saves in the game. Hind noted Gugliuzza's efforts in a post-game interview.
"[Gugliuzza] made some great saves, she put forth a good effort out there today," said Hind.
Dartmouth will play the Columbia Lions, the only other undefeated team in the Ivy League, on Saturday under the lights at Columbia Soccer Stadium.
"Columbia is second in the league right now, and just like every other Ivy, it is going to be a tough game," Tracy said. "They are having a good season but so are we so it should be a great match."
Dartmouth will look to extend its unbeaten and shutout streaks to double-digits against Columbia in New York.