No. 16 Dartmouth matched its highest scoring output for the season, which was recorded in a 19-9 early season victory over New Hampshire.
The victory improves the Big Green's overall record to 5-3, and held steady at 2-1 against Ivy League competition. The loss drops the Catamounts to 3-8 overall.
The Big Green broke the game open early, scoring four consecutive goals in the first nine minutes of play. Sarah Szefi '07 came out of the opening face-off ready to play, scoring two goals immediately to provide a spark for Dartmouth. By halftime, the Big Green had built up a 9-3 cushion.
In the beginning of the second half, the Catamounts matched the Big Green shot-for-shot, but they could not put together a rally to close the gap. Instead, it was Dartmouth that came through and scored seven unanswered goals to put the outcome of the game beyond Vermont's reach. The Catamounts closed the game with two goals of their own, but it was too little too late.
After all was said and done, eight different Dartmouth players had a hand in adding to the Big Green's total, whether by scoring or assisting. The offense was firing on all cylinders; all but three goals scored outside of free position situations were assisted.
The team was especially effective in controlling possession; the Big Green enjoyed a big margin in ground balls and draw controls. Dartmouth scooped up twice as many ground balls as Vermont and had a 17-to-12 advantage in draw controls.
Jen Pittman '07 led the scoring for the Big Green, as she had a season-best five goals in this contest. Co-captain Whitney Douthett '07, co-captain Margo Duke '07 and Katherine Chiusano '09 added three of their own to help the cause.
Douthett led the team in assists with four, capping another spectacular day for the seasoned midfielder. Szefi chipped in with three assists, and newcomer Kate Fauth '10 turned in an impressive performance of her own, scoring one and assisting three others for her best performance to date.
Kristen Barry '08 also had a superb game of her own despite not scoring any goals, as she helped the offense out with her exceptional draw control.
"Kristen Barry had an awesome day today because she was awesome on the draw controls," Douthett said. "Also, a lot of younger players like Kate Fauth came in and stepped up so that was great to see."
In goal, Chelsea Kirk '10 was as good as she needed to be and made two saves in the first half, picking up the win. Julie Wadland '10, who replaced Kirk in the second half, made three saves of her own.
Although Douthett was satisfied with the team's win, she saw areas in which play could be improved.
"We had mixed feelings about today's game," Douthett said. "The attack looked really good, but we're still playing in spurts, so we'd like to play more consistently. A win is a win, so we're definitely happy, but we still could've played better."
The Big Green's next game will be on Saturday, April 7, when Dartmouth will take on Cornell in a key Ivy League game at Scully-Fahey Field. The Big Red (2-6, 1-2 Ivy) is coming off of an 18-9 drubbing at the hands of Princeton and is looking to return to .500 in the Ivy League, while the Big Green will look to inch closer to current league frontrunner Penn.
Dartmouth's strategy will be to improve upon Tuesday's game and take their attack to Cornell rather than reacting to the Big Red's game plan.
"We haven't talked specifically about our game plan against Cornell," Douthett said. "Regardless of our opponent, it's going to be important to focus on ourselves and not be bothered by what Cornell is doing."
