The Dartmouth field hockey team finally proved last Saturday at Yale that it could play and compete for an entire game. The only thing still missing was that elusive victory.
The team got it on Wednesday at home against a University of New Hampshire (7-6) team that was also coming off of a double overtime thriller -- two of them, in fact. This one needed more than just both overtimes: It wasn't decided until the final stroke-off.
Ashley Heist '08 sealed the win by making three straight stops in the shootout, propelling the Big Green to a 3-2 victory over UNH. The win halted a six-game slide by the Big Green and improved its record to 3-7 on the season.
Captain Whitney Waugh '08 was thrilled to finally be back at home in front of a Dartmouth crowd.
"It felt really good after a long strip of away games," Waugh said. "The fans were really supportive, which helped get us through the triple overtime."
Dartmouth started off the game by playing strong defense, constantly frustrating the UNH attack and containing play up the middle. Even when it looked like UNH was about to break the tie on a few open drives, the Big Green defense stayed focused and was able to fend off some dangerous challenges.
Both teams had close calls around the goal. Just under 30 minutes into the game, forward Lizzie Bildner '08 got the scoring started by tipping in a shot from Waugh on the Big Green's first penalty corner of the game. The lead didn't last long though, as UNH was awarded a costly penalty stroke with less than a minute left in the first half, converting it for a 1-1 tie heading into the half. Videos reviewed after the game showed that the officials called an illegal hand contact that never actually happened.
The Big Green could have become discouraged after that play and might have stumbled to open the second half. But this was a different team from the one that struggled to play for 70 minutes only last week. Dartmouth came out firing very aggressively in the second half and had a couple of near misses early when the ball just curved to the side of goal. It all paid off when Stef Miller '09 fed Ashley Hines '09 off a penalty corner and put the Big Green back on top.
Right then, there was anticipation that Dartmouth would be able to pull off a victory, but the UNH Wildcats simply would not go away. With 8:53 remaining in the second half, Sophie Ostroski broke into the circle from the left side and was just able to tap it in past goaltender Jordan Sedlacek '09 to draw the game even at two goals apiece.
The end of regulation and both overtimes were filled with solidly even play. The teams matched one another with exactly 22 shots apiece. The Big Green had a huge chance to put away with under 10 seconds left in the second overtime. Bildner was able to drive through the UNH defenders and broke into the offensive end for a one-on-one face off with the UNH goalie. However, goaltender Margaux Shute was just able to step out and get a hand on the ball before making a legal contact move that tripped up Bildner as time expired.
It turned out Shute was only preventing the inevitable.
"When we made it to strokes, I was really confident that we were going to win," Waugh said. "Heist did a great job stopping their strokes, and we were able to take an early lead. It was a long and hard-fought game, from both sides, and it was great to come out with a win."
Heist took over for Sedlacek in the shootout and was dazzling. She stopped the first shot she faced, firing up her teammates, and then made the final three saves to clinch the game.
"It was a tremendous team effort," Head Coach Amy Fowler said. "This win does a lot for us mentally, and my hope is that we are able to use it as a springboard into this weekend. We have two big games against a decent out-of-region-opponent in Davidson and a 12th-ranked team in Boston College, and they are all big at this point in the season. When we play our game and play it at speed, I believe we can stay with any opponent."
The Big Green faces Davidson College at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Boston College at 3 p.m. on Sunday at Scully-Fahey Field.
