With a 2-1 victory over Bryant University on Tuesday, the women's soccer team bounced back from the weekend's tough loss to Harvard. The win ensures that the Big Green will finish the season with a winning record.
Aly O'Dea '12 scored both of the Big Green's goals, and the game-winner, her ninth of the season, gave her the 10th most goals in a season by a Dartmouth player.
She is the first Dartmouth player to score nine goals since Sarah Johnson '07 in 2005.
Despite the one-goal differential, Dartmouth (9-7-0, 3-3-0 Ivy) dominated Bryant (4-13-2, 2-6-2 Northeast-10), notching 26 shots to the Bulldogs' four. Twelve of the Big Green's shots were on goal.
The game got off to a relatively slow start, with few shots taken in the first 25 minutes of play. Dartmouth's attempts to put pressure on the Bulldogs were foiled by multiple offsides calls, with five going against Dartmouth in the first 28 minutes.
Bryant did what it could to take advantage of these calls, and in the seventh minute Dartmouth netminder Anna Chinco '12 made a save on a shot from sophomore defender Mary Green.
The Bulldogs capitalized on the Big Green's slow start in the 24th minute, when freshman Jennifer Harding's shot found the back of the net. Harding intercepted a pass between Dartmouth defenders and beat a charging Chinco with a shot fired to the upper left part of the goal.
"We came out a little tired," Aly O'Dea '12 said. "We didn't have the best first half."
The goal served as a wake-up call for the Big Green, which controlled the remaining 66 minutes of the game. Bryant, however, managed to keep its lead nearly until halftime.
Dartmouth finally broke through the Bulldog defenses in the 43rd minute, when O'Dea put the ball past Bryant's senior keeper Katie Mitchell to tie the score at 1-1. Myra Sack '10, registering the assist, passed a through ball to O'Dea, whose shot found the right side of the net.
At the end of the half, the Big Green had already taken five times as many shots as the Bulldogs, outshooting Bryant 10-2.
Dartmouth kept Bryant on its heels throughout the second half, bombarding the Bulldogs with 16 more shots.
Another goal by O'Dea in the 55th minute gave the Big Green a 2-1 lead.
This time, the assist came from Kelsey Quick '10, whose shot was saved. O'Dea scored off the rebound before Mitchell could gain full control. It was the team-leading fifth assist of the season for Quick.
The Big Green stayed on the attack throughout the second half, but Mitchell made several key saves for Bryant. In the 63rd minute, she managed to stop consecutive shots by Libby Hamlin '13 and Becky Poskin '09.
The Bulldogs' best scoring chance came 25 minutes into the half, when senior Alex DiPippo fired a shot over the Dartmouth net.
Ali Hubbard '10 led a counterattack, but Mitchell prevented her from increasing the Big Green's lead.
Further attempts by O'Dea, Quick and Hubbard were all thwarted by Mitchell's efforts in goal. Mitchell would finish with 10 saves on the day.
One of the best scoring opportunities for Dartmouth came in the last five minutes of play, when Poskin streaked past defenders but was taken down hard. No foul was called.
Bryant had one last gasp near the end of the game when the team took a few shots and even a free kick in Big Green territory. The Bulldogs, however, came up empty-handed.
"It's nice to win regardless of the score, but it would have been nice to have put more balls in the net," O'Dea said.
The Big Green hopes to build off of this success to win its final game of the season, a home match against struggling Ivy League rival Cornell (1-12-1, 1-5-1 Ivy). Last season, Dartmouth registered a 3-2 overtime victory over the Big Red.
"It's a little sad that it's the last game," O'Dea said. "We have a great team this year. We want to play as hard as we can and have fun."
Dartmouth will play Cornell at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Burnham Field.
