"It was really fun, especially coming off a tough loss this weekend," captain Colleen Olsen '10 said. "It really showed what our team is capable of. It was so satisfying, and we definitely needed it."
The win came after a 9-8 upset loss to the University of New Hampshire in the season opener last weekend.
The loss to the unranked Wildcats resulted in the Big Green dropping from No. 16 to No. 20 in the IWLCA rankings.
Against the Catamounts, 10 different Dartmouth players turned in a goal or assist. The Big Green dominated the field from the start, scoring five goals before Vermont even gained possession.
At halftime, the score was already 13-2 in favor of Dartmouth after a goal each from Vermont's Emma Kelly and Samantha Stern squeaked past goalie Julie Wadland '10 in the closing minutes.
The Catamounts' momentum didn't carry over, however, and they failed to score again for the rest of the game.
"It was a product of playing loose," Olsen said. "People were really coming into their own and first-game jitters were gone."
Greta Meyer '11 led all scorers with three goals and five assists. Kat Collins '11 also had an impressive game, notching six goals three of which came in a span of two minutes and one assist.
Rookies Kelsey Johnson '13 and Courtney Bennett '13 clocked their first collegiate points after securing an assist each. The defense also demonstrated fierce play, with Hilary Smith '12 acquiring seven draw-controls and Olsen turning in five.
Dartmouth will take to the road this weekend to face the University of Notre Dame this weekend for the third time in program history. The first game between the two in the 2006 NCAA semifinals ended in a Big Green win.
In a meeting last season, however, the Fighting Irish (2-0, 0-0 Big East) defeated Dartmouth, 16-11, in Hanover.
Olsen said the team plans to buckle down at practice this week to prepare for the challenging game. The team also intends to continue to tackle its competition on a game-to-game basis and work on connecting on the field.
"Notre Dame is a great opponent," Olsen said. "It will be a good challenge for our team, and we're ready to step up to it. We're not looking at rankings. We're looking at each team the same."
Notre Dame has already won two games this season, defeating both Hofstra University and Duquesne University. The Irish return eight starters this year but are without star player Jillian Byers, who scored 111 points last season.
After a break for exams next week, Dartmouth will begin conference play with a home matchup against Columbia University.
The Big Green travels to South Bend, Ind., to take on the Fighting Irish at noon on Sunday.
