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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Women's lacrosse loses home field advantage with Ivy defeat

With its 7-5 loss to Harvard University, the women's lacrosse team will have to travel to Philadelphia next weekend for the Ivy League Tournament.
With its 7-5 loss to Harvard University, the women's lacrosse team will have to travel to Philadelphia next weekend for the Ivy League Tournament.

The game got off to a slow start in one of Dartmouth's lowest scoring matches of the season,. The first half saw only three marks on the scoreboard two in favor of the Big Green and one in favor of the Crimson (9-6, 5-2 Ivy).

Sarah Parks '12 had the first goal of the game at the 16:59 mark. After a Harvard score at 7:48, Liz Calby '14 responded five minutes later to give the Big Green a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.

The second half opened with a flurry of activity compared to the first, with Sarah Plumb '12 opening the scoring for Dartmouth less than one minute into the frame. The Crimson eliminated the two-goal deficit quickly with two goals by Melanie Baskind. Although another goal by Calby put Dartmouth ahead again, it was met with three unanswered goals by Harvard.

The Big Green was down by two with 12:40 left, and the team tried to work the ball until the players found an opening. Plumb found one such opportunity at 5:59, narrowing the Crimson lead to one.

Although Dartmouth had two separate possessions with a chance to tie the game, Harvard's top-ranked defense protected the backfield before the Big Green could even fire a shot.

In the final minute, Harvard sought to maintain possession and keep it away from Dartmouth's sticks, but a turnover near the Dartmouth goal endowed the Big Green with one final, golden opportunity. The Harvard players, however, not only stifled Dartmouth's final chance just as the ball reached midfield, but they also converted it into an insurance goal of their own, increasing the Crimson lead to two with just eight seconds left to play.

The loss was largely due to a lack of conversion by the offense, according to defenseman Dana Brisbane '12.

"Our defense played pretty much a perfect game, but our attack couldn't convert on the opportunities we had," Brisbane said.

The Big Green saw a lot of support from fans who made the trip to Boston, and Hilary Smith '12 said that the players greatly appreciated the support.

"It was great to see all the support from family and friends who came to watch," she said.

"While the regular season is over, we have a new one to look forward to now that it's tournament time," Brisbane said.

The Ivy League Tournament is scheduled to begin on Friday at Franklin Field, the University of Pennsylvania's home field, marking the third consecutive year the Quakers (8-6, 6-1 Ivy) will host the tournament. Dartmouth is seeded second going into the tournament and will play Cornell in the first round. Penn will face Harvard in the other semifinal matchup.

"We are starting this week like it is a whole new season, and I think the team is really excited to play this weekend at Penn with that mentality in mind," Plumb said.