In the loss, co-captain Whitney Douthett '07 took sole possession of the all-time assists record at Dartmouth. The previous record was held by Jen Green '98 with 92 assists.
It was certainly not a lack of effort that caused the loss. The Big Green (7-5, 4-3 Ivy) was never really in sync.
"We got outplayed today," head coach Amy Patton said. "It wasn't so much their pressure that was throwing us off of rhythm, but we kept making mistakes today, and it was really a gut-wrenching loss."
With the loss, the Big Green's hopes for a NCAA tournament bid have become much slimmer. Princeton (7-5, 3-2 Ivy) holds sole possession of third place in the League, and its two remaining Ivy League games are against Columbia and Brown, teams with one conference win between them. Barring two major upsets, the Big Green will have to settle for fourth in the Ivy League behind Penn, Yale and Princeton. The Quakers have already earned an automatic bid by becoming the conference champions.
The first half of the game against Princeton started poorly for the Big Green, as the Tigers came out firing on all cylinders and raced out to a 5-1 lead in the first 15 minutes of the half, prompting the Big Green to call a time out in an effort to regroup. During its 5-1 run, Princeton dominated Dartmouth with solid ball control, avoiding turnovers and creating many scoring chances. Although the Big Green defenders were swarming to ground balls, the Tigers seemed to be in the right places at the right times.
Out of the time out, Sarah Szefi '07 scored twice in less than two minutes to cut the deficit to two goals and shift the momentum towards the Big Green. However, the Tigers roared back with a 4-1 run before the half, and Princeton held a comfortable 9-4 lead heading into the break. Princeton outshot Dartmouth 15-8 in the first half and 30-18 in the game.
The second half started much better for the Big Green, with Douthett scoring on a breakaway goal less than ten seconds in. Unfortunately, the early goal was not enough to start a Dartmouth rally, and Princeton responded with two goals of its own to take an 11-5 lead with 25 minutes left.
The second half was filled with frustration for the Big Green women. They possessed the ball more than in the first half, but could not turn possession into goals. Princeton's stifling defense did not allow anyone to make a move towards the goal, and Dartmouth had to settle for passing around the perimeter. With a six-point deficit, the Big Green could not afford to see precious time tick off the clock, but the Tigers would not allow any quick goals.
It also seemed as if Douthett would not get her record today, but the record-breaking assist came with less than a minute remaining and the Big Green down 13-7. Douthett dumped the ball off to Chiusano, who slotted the ball in the goal for the record.
"It's really phenomenal for her to get this record because she's a midfielder, and usually it's attackers who hold the ball low that get these records, and she only saw spotty time when she was a freshman," Patton said.
Chiusano, who had three goals and an assist, led the Big Green in scoring on the day. Szefi chipped in with two goals and an assist of her own.
Goalkeeper Julie Wadland '10 made two saves while allowing six goals, and was tagged with the loss. Fellow freshman Chelsea Kirk '10 came in relief of Wadland and made five saves while allowing seven goals.
On Wednesday, April 25, the Big Green women will travel to Boston, Mass. to take on Boston University. The Terriers (9-5, 5-1 America East) are coming off of a 7-5 win over New Hampshire, a team that Dartmouth crushed 19-9 earlier in the season.
