After handily defeating interstate rival the University of New Hampshire 2-1 last Sunday at Burnham Field, the Dartmouth women's soccer team fell 5-1 in a crucial Ivy League match against the University of Pennsylvania yesterday in Philadelphia.
In yesterday's tough loss, four of the Quakers' (8-3-2, 2-2-0 Ivy) goals came in the first half, with the lone Big Green (6-6-0, 2-2-0 Ivy) goal coming from Myra Sack '10 in the 17th minute off an assist from Ali Hubbard '10. Dartmouth did, however, outshoot Penn 19-12.
The defeat drops Dartmouth to fourth place in the Ivy League.
Last Sunday's victory over New Hampshire was a team effort for the Big Green, with 18 women getting playing time, marking the first collegiate starts for three of the athletes.
Dartmouth opened the game in its usual manner, coming out strong and carving holes in the Wildcat defense less than 10 minutes into the first half. Multiple scoring opportunities materialized for the Big Green around the 20th minute, with both Libby Hamlin '13 and Aly O'Dea '12 getting good looks at net.
New Hampshire (3-11-1, 2-3-0 America East), however, managed to hold off this initial barrage and escape unscathed.
In the 26th minute, however, Hamlin bested the Wildcat defenders and put Dartmouth ahead, 1-0. After receiving a through-ball from Ally Dutton '12 and getting around the defense, Hamlin fired a shot past New Hampshire netminder Ally Yost.
The goal was Hamlin's first as a member of the Big Green.
"The one thing I felt when I scored was relief," Hamlin said. "I felt like it was taking me so long to score my first goal."
Despite being down early, the Wildcats came close to scoring multiple times in the first half. Only two minutes after Hamlin's goal, New Hampshire had an opportunity to tie the game when a breakaway developed and Dartmouth netminder Anna Chinco '12 found herself in a one-on-one situation a New Hampshire's striker. Fortunately for the Big Green, Chinco made it to the ball first and eliminated the threat. In the 38th minute, Dartmouth had another scare when Wildcat sophomore Alyssa Michel got past the Big Green's defense, but Aurelia Solomon '13 and Erin Fleischli '12 managed to get back in time to clear the ball.
Not to be outdone, the Big Green pushed back and had multiple opportunities to increase its lead before the break. Both Dutton and Becky Poskin '09 found shots but could not turn their chances into points. At the whistle the Big Green had seven shots to New Hampshire's three, two of which were on goal.
Dartmouth did not waste any time at the start of the second half, with Kelsey Quick '10 scoring in the 53rd minute to put the Big Green up 2-0. Quick received a pass from Hubbard and looped the ball into the net from the right side, beating new Wildcat goalie Sarah Dobush.
New Hampshire made an immediate attempt at a comeback, putting numerous shots on goal. At one point Wildcat freshman Drea Noqueira was able to get a good look at the Dartmouth net, but Chinco made a great diving save and negated the threat by clearing the corner kick that immediately followed.
On the ensuing counterattack Hamlin was able to get clear along the left side, but Dobrush was there to make the save. Poskin also had her eye on getting a third goal for the Big Green in the 65th minute, but her shot bounced off the far post and was cleared from the goal line.
Ten minutes before the final whistle, the Wildcats began a desperate attempt to claw their way back into the game. Their efforts paid off with eight minutes to go in the game, when senior Shaunna Kaplan played the ball up to wide open sophomore Brooke Duchaney, who arched the ball over Chinco's head and into the net to make the score 2-1.
Both teams played hard for the rest of the game, but Dartmouth's one-goal lead held up, and in the end, the Big Green walked away with a 2-1 victory.
Dartmouth outshot the Wildcats 13-10 over the course of the game, although both teams tallied five shots on goal.
"It's always a very, very intense game," Quick said.
After yesterday's loss to Penn, the Big Green will attempt to rebound with a win against the University of Vermont (1-10-3, 1-3-2 America East) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Burnham Field. The last time Dartmouth played the Catamounts was in 2006, winning 2-0.
