Co-captain Liz Spence '08 attributed the women's strong performance this week to increased focus in practices.
"I think we really just took one practice at a time, and focused each practice trying to get a little bit better, step-by-step," Spence said. "[We] worked into the games those things that we had practiced on, and were able to make progress in the games and in the practices we had after Syracuse."
On Thursday, the Big Green upset No. 12 James Madison in a close 9-8 double-overtime win. Co-captain Kristen Barry '08 scored the game-winning goal, breaking through the JMU defense to give Dartmouth a sudden-death victory.
Greta Myer '11 scored the first point, her first collegiate goal, to put the Big Green on the board at 1-0. Despite Dartmouth's strong start, the Dukes scored four goals in the next eleven minutes of the game, building a solid 4-1 lead. Eliza Bennett '10 stopped the JMU surge, scoring the last goal before halftime to bring the score to 4-2.
Dartmouth came out strong after halftime, with two goals by Katherine Chiusano '09 and Kathleen Wallace '11, Wallace's first point in collegiate play. JMU then scored another goal to take a slight 5-4 lead, but the Big Green came back to score 4 goals in a row in just over five minutes. Wallace, Barry, Chiusano and Meyer each scored to give Dartmouth a solid 8-5 lead with just under twelve minutes left in the game.
After a time-out, however, JMU rebounded solidly, scoring two goals under a minute apart, and putting up a final point with just over a minute left in the game, tying the score up at 8-8, only to succumb to the Big Green in the second period of a contentious overtime.
Julie Wadland '10 finished a solid game in goal with seven saves. Kate Labrum '08 was also impressive on defense with four groundballs and four caused turnovers.
On Sunday, Dartmouth put up another solid performance, scoring its 13th straight win over UNH, beating the Wildcats 14-10. Bennett and Barry were particularly impressive on the scoring front, scoring five and four goals, respectively.
The Big Green started the game strong, with a goal from each Barry and Bennett in the first four minutes to give Dartmouth an immediate 2-0 advantage. Bennett scored another goal before UNH rebounded with two back-to-back goals, leaving the Big Green with a one-goal lead at 3-2. Barry scored her second goal of the game to make the score 4-2 before the Wildcats put up another point, keeping the score close at 4-3. Dartmouth outscored UNH 3-0 in the remainder of the half, with goals from Meyer, Colleen Olsen '10 and Broghan Cully '11, to take the team into halftime with a 7-3 lead.
The Big Green continued its unanswered scoring streak into the second half with four more goals from Bennett and Barry, bringing the score up to 11-3 after only six minutes. Dartmouth was stopped, briefly, by back-to-back goals from the Wildcats, putting the score at 11-5. The surge continued, however, with another goal from Bennett, followed by scores by Kathleen Wallace and Chiusano, bringing the the Big Green lead to an impressive 14-5. Despite a five-goal surge from UNH, the Wildcats were not able to surmount the deficit, and ultimately surrendered to Dartmouth 14-10.
In goal, Wadland made seven saves, earning her second win of the season. Olsen and Meyer also proved to be forces away from the goal, with five groundballs and two caused turnovers from Olsen, and five draw controls from Meyer.
In preparation for their next game, Spence said the team will continue their day-by-day focus in practices.
"[We need to] just keep setting a solid foundation in the basics. Attack-wise, keep getting in flow and working on our passing, hard passing," Spence said. "Honestly, we're just taking it one day at a time."
Dartmouth will face the University of Massachusetts at home next Wednesday.
