The members of the No. 10 Dartmouth women's lacrosse team stayed busy over spring break, remaining in Hanover to build and refine their skills. The strenuous practices in unseasonable heat bore no resemblance to the typical March vacation, but they proved advantageous for the Big Green, as the team won four of its five contests over spring break. Dartmouth now boasts a 6-1 (2-0 Ivy) record on the season.
"We feel great coming off of spring training because we have a firm grasp on our strengths and what we still need to work on," Kirsten Goldberg '12 said.
Dartmouth hosted the University of Vermont on March 14, trumping the Catamounts and their powerful offense by a score of 13-9. Goldberg was the individual star for the Big Green with six goals, while goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello '14 recorded a career-high 17 saves.
Goldberg started the game with guns blazing, scoring four first-half goals and helping the team take an 8-0 lead after 13 minutes. Shortly thereafter, Vermont went on a run of its own to narrow the deficit to 8-5. The Big Green responded by tightening up on the defensive end and continuing to press on offense.
Giovanniello was key to the victory, as Vermont outshot the Big Green 39-26 during the game and 22-7 in the second half. Along with Giovanniello's career-high save total, Goldberg also tallied career highs with her six goals and eight points.
"Kirsten did a really good job of getting to the net [against Vermont]," Dartmouth coach Amy Patton said. "She really hung in there even when they were playing her tough and putting a lot of pressure on her defensively."
Patton was also impressed by Giovanniello's work in goal.
"Obviously that was one of the best games I've ever seen her play," Patton said. "I thought she was stellar for us [against Vermont]."
Just three days later, No. 3 Duke University traveled to Hanover to square off with the Big Green on St. Patrick's Day. The Big Green snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Blue Devils (8-4, 2-1 ACC), prevailing 9-8 in a double-overtime epic. It marked Dartmouth's first victory over Duke since 2003.
Dartmouth took the lead right away and carried it through to take a 6-3 advantage into halftime. Ten minutes into the second half, Dartmouth still held a three-goal lead at 8-5. Duke showed why it was ranked No. 3 in the country entering the game, however, tying the game at eight with 4:35 to play. The teams remained knotted at the end of regulation, sending the game into overtime.
After a scoreless overtime period, Hilary Smith '12 won a pivotal draw control to start off the second overtime with Dartmouth in possession. With 1:30 left in double-overtime, Liz Calby '14 rebounded a shot by Courtney Bennett '13 and found Sarah Plumb '12 with a pass. Plumb dashed to the goal and drove the ball into the upper right-hand corner of the net to give Dartmouth a huge victory. "This was a game that means so much to our program, and to win it after these last three years is so special to the seniors and the entire team," Plumb said.
Patton added that the team's composure was critical to the win.
"I was impressed by the team's demeanor on the field all day," Patton said. "We were in it to win it, not just play Duke, but play them to win."
Despite two big wins, Dartmouth was unable to transport its victorious momentum down to Gainesville, Fla., where the team took on the University of Florida on March 20. The No. 4 Gators (9-2) handed the Big Green its first loss on the season by a 20-4 margin.
Florida jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, and for the first time all season, Dartmouth found itself behind at halftime.
The 17-4 halftime deficit was an intimidating one to tackle, but the Big Green came out a new team when the whistle blew to begin the second half. Dartmouth outshot Florida 11-9 and won three-quarters of the draw controls after the break.
Unfortunately, it was too little, too late, as Dartmouth could not make up for a large first-half deficit.
"They jumped out on us in the first five minutes, and we were never really able to recover," Patton said. "I know what kind of team we are and, unfortunately for us [against Florida], we weren't able to show them what Dartmouth lacrosse really is."
Despite the loss, Plumb saw a moment of glory when her five draw controls gained her entry into the 100-draw controls club. She is the fourth player in program history to break 100, and her current total of 103 ranks her third overall.
The Big Green made up for its loss against Florida with a huge win against Columbia University on Saturday. Although the Lions scored the first goal of the game, Dartmouth went on to score the next 15 goals en route to a 15-4 win.
Goldberg and Plumb both achieved hat-tricks with three goals each, while three other Dartmouth players scored two goals.
Patton said Dartmouth exhibited solid play all around against Columbia.
"I thought we played very well defensively and created many of Columbia's turnovers," Patton said. "It was great to see a lot of players scoring and getting points."
Now 2-0 in the Ivy League, the women will take on Brown University on Saturday in Providence, R.I.
