Unfortunately for the Dartmouth women's soccer team, however, the Big Green fell to University of Massachusetts in the first play of their game, when UMass senior Julie Morrissey scored on a turnover in the defensive zone. The 1-0 loss on Tuesday night marked Dartmouth's first home defeat of the season.
The team's mentality after the goal was one of retaliation, co-captain Ally Dutton '12 said.
"We all knew we had to get over it, things happen," Dutton said. "You just have to go after it anyway and keep pushing."
UMass (5-2-1) played a defensive game, however, making it challenging for the Big Green (2-7-0, 0-1-0 Ivy) to bounce back despite its many attempts to score.
With 18 minutes left in the first half, Emma Brush '13 recovered the ball and passed to Marina Moschitto '14. Moschitto sliced through the defenders, but could not find the net.
The Big Green athletes played well around midfield and managed to pressure the Minutewomen with their spry footwork. In the first half, Brush kicked the ball down centerfield and Aly O'Dea '12 rushed to retrieve it. O'Dea brought the ball into the goal box, but sent it over the net.
"We fought and created a lot of chances, but we just could put anything away," Dutton said.
With four minutes left in the first half, defender Erin Fleischli '12 stopped a UMass attack in its tracks, forcing the ball out of bounds. Although UMass received the throw-in, Dutton battled with the UMass midfielders and brought the ball back into play.
Dartmouth attempted to fire up its offense in the second half, with O'Dea cutting up the middle and squeezing around defenders with her footwork. She sent off a short pass to Moschitto, but Moschitto was swarmed by defenders, disrupting her shot.
Big Green goalie Tatiana Saunders '15, who had an impressive performance against Brown University last weekend, played well again on Tuesday, even diving underneath a UMass attacker to snag the ball out from under her feet.
Although Dartmouth had 11 corner kicks in the second half alone, none resulted in a goal.
In the last four minutes, Kelly Brait '14 took the corner kick and Chrissy Lozier '14 almost managed to tie the game on the receiving end. Lozier shot a ball on the ground and caught the UMass goalkeeper off her line, but a defender managed to clear the ball.
With two minutes remaining, another corner kick missed the mark and was headed away by a Massachusetts defender.
Moschitto said the team cannot blame the loss on UMass' early goal.
"We have to be ready from the get go you can't use that goal as a wakeup call," she said.
Head coach Theresa Wagner said that although the Big Green manages to create opportunities, it ultimately must find a goalscorer. This is the second consecutive match in which Dartmouth has failed to score, and the team has tallied a combined four goals in nine games this season.
"Over the whole season, we need someone to step up and be a goal scorer for us," she said. "We have had many chances for it, but were struggling to have someone to put the ball in."
Wagner added that there have been defensive setbacks this season.
"We've had a lot of injuries this season, so we've had different backlines, but we still can't allow easy goals," she said.
Grace Best '13 said she hopes the UMass match will help prepare Dartmouth for League play, which the team resumes this weekend.
"They were very physical and defensively they knew how to mark up," she said.
The Big Green faces Princeton University in its home League opener on Saturday at 1 p.m.
