Dartmouth women's soccer gave up two unanswered goals to Ivy rival Yale University at Burnham Field in Hanover on Saturday night, failing to record Dartmouth's first Ivy League win this season in a 2-0 loss to the Bulldogs.
The loss brings Dartmouth to a 5-5-1 (0-3 Ivy) record, while Yale (6-5-1, 1-2 Ivy) broke its two-game losing streak and tallied its first conference win on Saturday night. The Big Green is now tied with Cornell for last place in the Ivy standings.
The Big Green has held its Ivy League opponents close but has failed to score in three games this season, losing 1-0 to both Brown and Princeton before falling to the Bulldogs, 2-0.
"[This loss] will definitely affect a lot of things," senior co-captain Becky Poskin '09 said. "[0-3 in the Ivy League] is a pretty tough spot to be in. We may not be playing for the Ivy championship anymore, but we can play for pride and find other ways to get ourselves motivated."
The Bulldogs saw their first opportunity in the 25th minute, with a scramble in the box that the Big Green defense was able to clear.
Less than a minute later, Yale's Miyuki Hino put the Bulldogs on the board with a shot that Dartmouth goalkeeper Laurel Peak '09 nearly saved. After some action inside the box, Peak came out of the goal to tackle the ball and got a hand on Hino's shot but was unable to stop the ball from skidding past her and into the goal.
The Big Green had its first real chance in the 35th minute, when co-captain Emily Forline '09 took possession of the ball outside of the 18-yard line and fired a rocket that Bulldog goalkeeper Ayana Sumiyasu was able to save.
The Big Green nearly gave up another goal a few minutes later, when Peak made a diving save to stop another shot by Hino, and the rebound was put in by a Yale forward.
The would-be scorer was called offsides, and the goal was rescinded, leaving the Bulldogs up by only one goal.
Neither offense was able to consistently break the tough defensive play on both ends, as the first half finished with only two shots taken by each team.
The Big Green saw another opportunity 10 minutes into the second half, when a corner kick from Yale sophomore Melisa Krnjaic was headed at the goal by Peyton Tata '11. Again, Yale keeper Sumiyasu was there to make the save, preserving the shutout for Yale.
The Bulldogs widened their lead in the 76th minute, when Hino scored her second goal of the night off a pass from Yale attacker Emma Whitfield. Peak came out to collect the ball, but Hino beat her to it and put it into the far side of the goal, bringing Yale to a 2-0 lead.
Dartmouth picked up the pace in the last minutes of play, but was not able to get past the Bulldog back line.
Midfielder Kelsey Quick '10 took a long shot from the right side near the end of regulation that missed the top of the goal by inches.
"I think we worked hard, and we actually played pretty well," Poskin said. "Especially in the second half, we strung passes together and attacked well."
Sumiyasu came up big for the Bulldogs, tallying six saves on the day compared to Peak's three stops.
Despite the score, the Big Green outshot the Bulldogs, taking 10 shots while only giving up seven.
"We were absolutely crushed," Poskin said. "It was a really tough loss, but we're going to try to pick ourselves up for the remaining five games of the season."
Dartmouth moves on to non-conference play this week, with a match against Bryant University at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Burnham Field in Hanover.
The Big Green is scheduled to continue Ivy League play next weekend against University of Pennsylvania on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Hanover. The Quakers are tied for first place in the Ivy standings with two wins and a tie in conference play. The match may prove to be a challenge, as the Quakers have given up only one goal in Ivy League play this season.
