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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Women's lax cannot get past Orange

The women's lacrosse team's season came to a close after a 15-5 loss to Syracuse University on Sunday.
The women's lacrosse team's season came to a close after a 15-5 loss to Syracuse University on Sunday.

Dartmouth (12-5, 5-2 Ivy) kept the score close for the majority of the game, never trailing by more than two goals until the latter parts of the second half. After playing to a 3-3 draw in the first half, the Orange outscored the Big Green, 12-2, after halftime to claim the victory.

"We had a great first half, executed the game plan well and had some awesome goals," defenseman Dana Brisbane '12 said. "Unfortunately, though, we lost our focus for about 15 minutes in the second half and that was enough for Syracuse to pull ahead."

The two teams previously squared off in a regular season game on April 9, in which Dartmouth lost to Syracuse, 22-4, in the worst defeat of the season for the Big Green.

On Sunday, Dartmouth implemented a new game plan that effectively stifled the powerful Syracuse offense for the first part of the game. Goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello '14, who was named Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player last weekend, stopped a total of 11 shots, including six in the first half.

Kirsten Goldberg '12 opened the scoring 4:03 into the game following a drawn-out Dartmouth possession. She buried the ball in the back of the net on a draw control after Syracuse fouled her in the arc.

The teams battled for the lead during the entire first half, with back and forth possessions translating into back and forth scores. After Syracuse took a 3-2 lead late in the half, captain Sarah Plumb '12 notched a goal with only six seconds left on the clock to send the game into halftime at a 3-3 tie. It was her 37th goal of the season and the 98th of her career.

Syracuse quickly regained the lead in the second half with goals from Sarah Holden and Amy Cross. Dartmouth's Hana Bowers '13 responded with a goal of her own to trim the deficit back to one.

Dartmouth tried to hang on for the next few minutes, but Syracuse managed to win several crucial draw controls, creating opportunities on the offensive end. The Orange capitalized on these chances and took advantage of Big Green mistakes, systematically setting up its offense, creating openings to the goal and finding the back of the net.

Syracuse scored the next six goals in the contest and built an insurmountable 11-4 lead. Attacker Alyssa Murray and midfielder Holden were both crucial to the Syracuse effort, contributing four goals apiece.

"We played Syracuse well in the first half, but we made some mental mistakes in the second half that they were able to capitalize on and use to pull themselves ahead," Plumb said.

Nine different players scored for the Orange as Syracuse outshot Dartmouth, 34-16, in the game. The Orange also led in draw controls, 15-7, and won the forced turnover battle, 9-6. Goldberg and Bowers paced the Big Green with two goals each and finished the season with 39 and 22 tallies, respectively.

The defeat marked the second year in a row that the Big Green's season came to a close after a loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Dartmouth lost to the State University of New York at Albany in the first round, 10-7.

"We are obviously very disappointed by the final outcome, but I think we still have a lot to be proud of from this season," Plumb said.

Despite the loss, Dartmouth women's lacrosse still had one of the best seasons that the program has seen, distinguished by its first ever Ivy League Tournament win last weekend.

"Overall we had a great season," Hilary Smith '12 said.