Dartmouth (2-6-0) returned to Hanover for some orientation week action, falling 1-0 to the University of Massachusetts last Thursday and defeating the University of New Hampshire 2-0 this past Tuesday.
The Big Green made a strong offensive showing early against the Minutewomen of UMass. Dartmouth let seven shots fly in the first half, resulting in four saves by Kristin Walker '07. She finished the contest with five saves.
The Big Green defense played well most of the game, holding UMass to only five shots on the game. In the 84th minute, UMass senior Britt Canfield broke away in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Laurel Peek '09 and found the net for the game winner.
"They broke our back line and then slotted the ball on the ground into the far post," Maggie Goldstein '10 said. "Such an unlucky end to a game that we should have won two or three to nothing."
The Dartmouth women rebounded from the home loss to the Minutewomen with a solid victory over the Wildcats of New Hampshire. Rookies Sarah Bromley '11 and Peyton Tata '11 both scored their first collegiate goals within 1:13 of each other to propel the Big Green to a 2-0 victory.
Peek was flawless in net, making two saves as the Big Green defense held the Wildcats to just four shots.
Tata opened the scoring just past the midpoint of the first half when her header found the net off of a 30-yard free kick by Myra Sack '10. Bromley knocked her own rebound in just over a minute later after a corner kick by Kelsey Quick '10.
"It was really nice to have a win against UNH. We played really well, it was a team effort," captain Annie Stanley '08 said. "Everyone put something into it."
Dartmouth's success in the recent home stand comes after some heartbreaking losses on a pair of 0-2 road trips.
"It has taken us some time to get it together," Goldstein aid.
The team opened the season with a trip to College Station, Texas, where they fell 2-0 to Texas A&M on August 31, and 3-0 to Rice on September 2. Texas A&M is currently ranked third in the nation.
Dartmouth had its first win of the season at home against California Polytechnic 1-0 on Sept. 7. Goldstein netted her first goal of the season by beating two defenders and unleashing a shot from the top of the box in the fifty-fourth minute.
After falling 4-1 to Minnesota at home, the Big Green embarked on a tough ACC road trip, taking on Maryland and Duke.
The 1-0 loss to Maryland in two overtimes was particularly crushing. With the Big Green just 51 seconds away from earning a draw, Maryland's Nataly Arias knocked a header past Peek for the victory.
"That game we fought really hard. We left everything out on the field, that was a big heartbreaker for us," Stanley said.
Dartmouth finished the trip with a 3-1 loss to Duke the next day. The Blue Devils (6-1-3) jumped out to an early three-goal lead and Stanley's PK goal at 82:09 was not enough to bring the Big Green back into the contest.
"[Duke] was a tough game as well," Stanley said, "but since then we've come together as a unit, and we've done better in our last two games."
"We've played some really tough teams that we probably should not have lost to as badly as we might have," said captain Monica Martin de Bustamante '08, who returned last week from a knee injury that cut short her 2006 season.
Dartmouth opens Ivy League play, the most important part of the season, this Saturday against Princeton.
"We're going to focus on ourselves and what we are going to do and what we did in UNH and what we did against UMass," Martin de Bustamante said of the practices leading up to the Princeton game. "We're going to come out and play hard."
The Big Green women are 13-13-1 all time against Princeton, and will look to break that tie at 7:00 on Saturday at Burnham Field.
