It turned out Dartmouth supporters saw neither. Despite outshooting Columbia and having more penalty corners than Columbia did shots on goal, the Big Green could not capitalize when it mattered most, falling 2-0.
Co-captain Whitney Waugh '08 was disappointed with the final result.
"We fought hard today, but the game just didn't fall our way," Waugh said. "We outshot and out-cornered them, but we just couldn't put the ball into the net."
One of the keys to success for the Big Green in its past three games has been controlling the tempo and forcing the other team out of its game plan. The team has shown some signs of life lately after struggling to keep contests close in previous weeks. Dartmouth needed to keep the Lions at bay early and not let up the pressure.
However, the Lions did not take long to make some noise. After Jacqui Munro whipped a shot from the top of the circle through traffic, the ball managed to find Lauren Hanna's stick and got tipped past goalkeeper Ashley Heist '08, providing Columbia with an early 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.
The rest of the opening half was full of frustration for the Big Green. Failing to convert on a number of opportunities severely diminished the team's chances of winning. Dartmouth had a 9-3 advantage in shots, as well as five on goal, but just could not find a way to get the ball past the Lions' keeper Gena Miller and put itself on the scoreboard. The Big Green also had four more penalty corners in the half than the Lions, but was not able to finish with at least one score.
In the second half, the Big Green still could not find a way to get something going. With about 22 minutes left in the game, Christine Buszczak gave the Lions a 2-0 lead with an insurance goal when she redirected a Julia Garrison shot off of a penalty corner.
Heist played the entire game in goal and was able to make two saves. Miller was spectacular for the Lions and made seven saves.
The loss was a letdown for a team that had shown inklings of significant improvement against UNH, Davidson and BC over the previous two weeks. Nevertheless, co-captain Megan Strout '08 is determined that the team will put the pieces together before its next game.
"I think that we are going to learn from this experience once we watch some video and have a few days of practice," Strout said.
This Wednesday, Dartmouth will be traveling to Amherst, matching up against the University of Massachusetts for a 6 p.m. encounter. The Big Green hopes to turn its season around heading into another weekend of Ivy play.
"I think that we are going to be able to put up a good fight," Strout said. "Every year that we play UMass it's always a battle. We have a lot of injuries on our team, so hopefully we will be able to nurse those wounds and get people healthy again. We still have four games left in the season, and our team is going to fight for each one to make it a win."
Dartmouth resumes its Ivy League schedule next Saturday in Cambridge, Mass., against Harvard. Face-off is set for 12 p.m.
