The Dartmouth women's lacrosse team traveled to the University of Pennsylvania this weekend to finish its regular season and came away with second place in the Ivy League Tournament after falling 9-8 to the Quakers in the championship game. The Dartmouth women's post-season tournaments hopes are not dashed, however, as they still have a chance at securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
Going into the tournament as the number two seed, the Big Green opened with a semifinal game against third-seeded Cornell University, and won by a score of 10-8 in a hotly-contested battle. The win advanced Dartmouth to the final against the number-one seeded Quakers, during which the Big Green's comeback effort fell short.
Co-captain Julie Wadland '10 said she believes the team had the potential to be play better than it did in the tournament, and the manifestation of such potential would have resulted in more team victories.
Wadland added that such a transformation begins at the individual level.
"It starts with each individual's own belief that when we put on our Dartmouth uniforms, it's time to perform like we know we can," she said.
The Big Green started slow against Penn with tentative and shaky play resulting in 11 turnovers, which allowed the Quakers to maintain possession of the ball and assume a 15-2 shot advantage in the first half.
Dartmouth, however, managed to score on both of its shot opportunities. After the Quakers established an initial 1-0 lead, Greta Meyer '11 took and sunk the Big Green's first shot to tie the game at 1-1.
Following a four-goal run made by Penn, Kat Collins '11 stopped the Quakers' momentum and reduced Dartmouth's deficit to three going into the half.
"The mistakes we made in the first half were basic, and our turnovers proved costly," Wadland said.
Wadland saved seven shots in the first half and 10 overall, keeping Penn's score to only five before halftime.
The Quakers reclaimed the momentum at the start of the second half, however, scoring two more goals and building a 7-2 lead.
Dartmouth then brought in Courtney Bennett '13 to take the draws which freed up Sarah Plumb '12 to manage the controls. Immediately after the switch, Plumb took one straight to net for the Big Green's third goal.
This was the catalyst for Dartmouth's comeback effort as the Big Green proceeded to score four more unanswered goals amassing a five-goal run that tied the game at seven apiece.
Penn then earned several free positions and although Wadland saved one of them, two shots made their way to the back of the net, giving the Quakers a 9-7 lead.
Kirsten Goldberg '12 fought for a free position of her own, however, and succeeded in draining her shot, tightening the score to 9-8 with 5:16 left on the clock.
The Big Green's energy and talent that drove the comeback, however, were not enough to make up for the team's slow start.
"We are disappointed with the way we came out in the UPenn game," Wadland said. "We shouldn't be making those mistakes this late in the season."
Though Dartmouth won the following critical draw, Collins was called for a charge, which granted the Quakers possession. Penn maintained possession long enough to run the clock out, preserving its lead and capturing the Ivy League Championship. The win means that the Quakers have earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, which takes place in two weekends in Towson, Md.
Over the course of the weekend Collins, Goldberg, Kelsey Johnson '13, Shannie MacKenzie '11, Plumb and Wadland were all selected for the All-Tournament Team.
In the semifinal round of the tournament, Dartmouth walked away with the victory even though the Big Green defense had difficulty containing Cornell's offense. Dartmouth ultimately pulled through during the second half, however, and completely denied the Big Red in the last 18 minutes, sealing the win.
Wadland amassed six saves while defender MacKenzie caught three ground balls and forced three Cornell turnovers. One of MacKenzie's forced turnovers, which came with two minutes left to play in the game, prevented the Big Red from calling what could have been a crucial timeout.
On the offensive end, Goldberg racked up a hat trick, while Plumb and Meyer added two goals and an assist each.
The Big Green started off strong, jumping onto the scoreboard with the game's first goal when Meyer fed Goldberg at 25:18.
The Big Red's Olivia Knotts fought back, not only scoring two goals and putting Cornell up by one at 16:48, but also sidelining Goldberg who was penalized with a yellow card.
Collins roared back into action after missing eight games because of a knee injury and tied the game back up at 15:30 after putting away an assist from Plumb.
Before the end of the half, the teams traded goals two more times, with Goldberg and Meyer notching goals, while Libby Johnson and Shannon McHugh scored for the Big Red.
Eleven seconds before the end of the first half, Wadland denied a free-position shot, possibly boosting Big Green morale going into halftime.
The first half was evenly matched, with the score tied at 4-4 as the women headed into the locker room. Both goalies recorded five saves, while Dartmouth held a 12-10 shot advantage.
After the break, Sarah Parks '12 gave Dartmouth a 5-4 edge just two minutes into the second half, but Cornell's Morgan Axenfeld retaliated two minutes later. Meyer and Parks then struck back within 36 seconds of one another to establish the Big Green's first two-goal lead of the game.
Meyer capitalized on a ground ball and drilled it into the net, unassisted, before Parks scored on a defensive clear from Johnson.
The Big Red caught up with Dartmouth, tying the game at 7-7 by 20:49 in the second half. Each team then added one more.
Late in the second half, the Big Red won an important draw, but the Big Green defense forced a Big Red turnover. Dartmouth then moved the ball into its own offensive territory, allowing Goldberg and Plumb to notch goals within nine seconds of one another, giving Dartmouth a 10-8 lead.
The defense controlled the Big Red offense for the rest of the game, holding on to the lead and earning the semifinal victory.
Despite failing to capture the Ivy crown, Dartmouth is back in action next Saturday.
"I think we'd all be feeling extremely disappointed if this was the true end to our regular season," Wadland said.
Wadland added that she thinks the team showed how good it has the potential to be, and hopes that the Big Green is able to show its true talent next weekend against Maryland. A win against the No. 1 ranked Terps would significantly help the team's chances of securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
"The way we gutted out the Cornell game and came back in the second half of the Penn game speaks to our true potential," she said. "Our biggest hope is that we can simply show up ready to play at the start of each game."
The team will hit the road to take on the University of Maryland at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
