The Eagles (9-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) held a 15-to-3 shot advantage over the Big Green (3-7, 2-1 Ivy), and a 14-to-1 advantage in penalty corners, but the Big Green kept the game close.
BC opened up the scoring in the second period when forward Kathleen Murphy found fellow senior Bob Dirks to give the Eagles a lead. Dartmouth responded quickly with a goal from Kelly McHenry '11.
The retaliatory strike occurred less than a minute after BC took the initial advantage.
"We scored literally 30 seconds after they did," co-captain Kristen McCormick '09 said. "It shows how far we've come and how much we're progressing. We sometimes get flustered after they score a goal like that, but today we were able to shove it right back in their face."
The Big Green was able to hang in until the finish with the Eagles, who were not able to take the lead for good until late in the game. With 3:57 left to play, Dirks converted for the second time off of BC's 14th penalty corner of the afternoon.
While it was a close loss, Dartmouth was able to find some positive aspects about its play against the Eagles.
"BC is one of the top teams in the country," co-captain Ashley Hines '09 said. "I felt like we played really well today."
The senior midfielder, who also plays lacrosse for Dartmouth, was impressed by the way the team was able to go toe to toe with BC.
"We kept our composure and stuck to our game plan," Hines said. "I take a lot of confidence out of this game. Every game it feels like we're getting better and better."
The Big Green hopes to bring the same level of competitiveness to the rest of Ivy League play.
"BC competes in the ACC, which is the second best, if not the top conference in the country," head coach Amy Fowler said. "Knowing we can hang in there with an ACC school is nice, and it seasons what is a very young team. The kids have a lot of confidence right now."
While the score only had the Eagles on top by one, Dartmouth found itself playing defense for most of the game. At the half the Big Green had only managed one shot on BC goalie Julie Berkowitz, who would finish the game with only one save.
Throughout the game, the Big Green had trouble sparking its offense, due to an inability to create chances and capitalize on them.
"We generated some attack, but they didn't result in nearly enough shots or penalty corners," Fowler said. "Our corners are pretty dangerous, and if we'd have had a few more attempts I think we definitely would have had a few more goals."
The Dartmouth coach did make a point of saying that part of the lack of offense was due to a strong BC defensive front, and that she expected her team to have more opportunities against divisional opponents.
"I'm not worried about our ability to generate more corners," Fowler said.
The Big Green came close to taking the lead when it nearly missed another goal on its only corner attempt of the game, when Kelly Hood '12 ricocheted a shot off the crossbar and out of play with 19 minutes remaining in the first half.
Dartmouth's next tasks include an Ivy League game against Yale and another tough non-conference match-up against No. 11 University of Louisville.
"After the [BC] game, we talked about setting a standard for the rest of the season," Fowler said. "We need to be able to play all teams like they are top-10 teams and have the same level of play versus every opponent."
The Big Green faces Yale University and Louisville on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The games will be played at 12 p.m. both days in Hanover.
