After scoring just two minutes into the game and playing a strong first half, Dartmouth field hockey withstood a late University of Pennsylvania surge to beat the Quakers, 3-2, Saturday afternoon in Hanover.
The victory gives Dartmouth (2-6, 2-1 Ivy) its second straight Ivy League win, while Penn (2-8, 1-2 Ivy) has lost eight out its last nine contests.
Co-captain Ashley Hines '09 commented that while the game certainly showed marked progress, the team still has some work to do.
"Each game we've seemed to be playing a more complete game," Hines said. "We still have yet to play 70 minutes of really good field hockey, but today we got closer. We played a really good first half, but then in the second half we had a couple letdowns."
Head coach Amy Fowler echoed many of the same sentiments, adding that she was very pleased with the progress the team is making this season.
"We have mostly rookies and sophomores on the front line," Fowler said, "[There is just] one junior, and just a lot of inexperience, so over the course of the last four games, I think the kids have really come along in terms of their finishing capabilities. We're spreading out the scoring, which is nice to see, so if someone's having an off day, someone else is there to pick them up. We're scoring from the field, we're scoring from corners, so we can mix it up, and that's a huge threat when we go into the remaining half of the season."
The Big Green started off with a bang, out-shooting Penn 7-0 in the first five minutes of the game. Aided by an assist from Hines, Sarah Aldeman '12 put in the first tally of the game and her first collegiate goal two minutes into the opening half.
With six minutes left in the half, Virginia Peisch '11 scored unassisted after a blocked corner. The Big Green ended the period with a score of 2-0, putting up some key defensive plays while out-shooting Penn in the half, 14-4.
Peisch, as well as Kerry Bracco '11 on defense, particularly stood out to Fowler. She was also impressed by Alanna Butera, Penn's goalie, who put on an impressive show in the face of a very aggressive Dartmouth offense.
"I think our attacking corner did very well with the options that we threw at Penn," Fowler said. "Kerry Brocco in the defense played very well with her stepping. She played very pro-actively, and I thought she had a pretty good game. I think Virginia Peisch, both attacking and defensively, helped us gain momentum on the attacking side and by throwing some really strong aerials out of the back field. I thought she had a really good game, a very solid performance."
Dartmouth continued to carry momentum in the beginning of the second half, dominating the field position game and putting up another goal under five minutes into the half. Co-captain Kristen McCormick '09 stick-stopped Peisch's pass during a penalty corner and slid the ball to Hines, who put up the Big Green's third unanswered goal.
Down 3-0, Penn finally responded midway through the final period, aggressively pushing the ball to Dartmouth's half. With under 10 minutes left to play, Penn's Margaretha Ehret put in the Quakers' first goal from the center of the circle.
While the play was mostly dominated by the Big Green for the remainder of the game, Penn got the ball down to Dartmouth's end to score with only six seconds remaining. It proved to be too late for the Quakers to attempt to tie up the game and go into overtime, however, giving the Big Green a 3-2 victory.
Penn also closed the shot margin by the end of the game, recording 11 shots to Dartmouth's six in the second half.
Goalie Meagan Vakiener '12 helped keep the Quakers at bay, racking up eight saves over the course of the game.
To Hines, Penn's late surge is a reminder of what the team needs to improve upon in the coming days.
"I think what we need to work on is keeping our composure when the other team is rallying," Hines said. "They got it into our end a lot in the second half, and we hit the ball right at them. We need to be composed enough to be able to get the ball out of our end."
The Big Green's first half, on the other hand, seemed to illustrate the range of the team's potential.
"When we play our game, it is so beautiful and so unstoppable, and we need to have confidence in that and really bring it into the next couple of games," Hines said.
The Big Green faces in-state rival New Hampshire (4-7, 0-1 America East) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Durham, N.H.
