In a dominating first-half display, the Big Green consistently dictated the pace of the game and scored from a variety of situations. Sam McPherson '13 opened the scoring for Dartmouth in the 10th minute of play with her second goal of the season, but the Bulldogs responded just 52 seconds later with a tally by Brooke Gogel.
Ali Savage '15 knocked home two goals in the 26th and 29th minutes, the first on a sliding deflection and the second on a well-executed penalty corner assisted by Olivia Quaglia '14. Factoring in an earlier goal by co-captain Lisa Masini '13, who finished her own corner play in the 25th minute, the Big Green appeared to be in solid control of the game heading into halftime with a 4-1 lead.
"Ali's goals definitely gave us a little bit of a cushion, a little bit of security," co-captain Maya Herm '13 said. "We were excited by our success, but we still had a talk at halftime about how it wasn't a time to let up."
Despite the halftime talk, the Big Green suffered a few lapses in concentration in the second half, allowing the Bulldogs to score in the 46th minute on an unassisted goal by Jessie Accurso and again in the 62nd minute when Accurso assisted teammate Erica Borgo on a fast break.
"We had some lulls in the second half," Masini said. "But at the same time, we had some really good opportunities which we could have converted on."
With the game now far from a comfortable win, the Big Green settled down and defended its goal successfully in the final minutes, ensuring the one-goal victory.
"It was great to get the monkey off our backs," head coach Amy Fowler said. "A lot of alums were sending me text messages congratulating us on the win."
Masini, who had never beaten Yale in her career, was also thrilled by the win.
"As seniors, we were all really excited to beat them for the first time in our four years here," Masini said. "It was exciting for the whole team."
The win against Yale was even sweeter in light of the outcome of last season's contest in which the Bulldogs defeated the Big Green, 5-1, in New Haven with the Ivy League title hanging in the balance. The Bulldogs went on to share the Ivy crown with Princeton University, and the Big Green had to settle for third in the league.
The Bulldogs arrived in Hanover with their confidence shaken, having lost their last three games and not having found the back of the net since winning 3-1 against Sacred Heart University on Sept. 23. As of this weekend, the Bulldogs also had the worst goals against average in the Ivy League.
Having fallen, 6-0, to No. 2 University of North Carolina last weekend, the Big Green also came into the game with a slight knock to its confidence but was happy to see its execution pay off against Yale. Results aside, Fowler said that the Big Green has benefited greatly from playing top-ranked teams outside of the Ivy League.
"I think for our kids, the biggest positive is playing with the pressure," Fowler said. "Those games have taught us about composure, and while we may not win [against top-teams], we can compete at that level."
Moving forward, the Big Green will host the University of Vermont on Wednesday at Chase Field before heading down to New York City to face Columbia University, with whom the Big Green is currently tied for second place in the Ivy League.
"UVM and Columbia are both teams that can be fairly unpredictable," Herm said. "We're going into both of those games with a little bit of caution, but we set a high with our level of play against UNC, so we hope we don't let our guard down like in the second half against Yale."
A win against Columbia, plus solid results in the final Ivy League games, might be enough to secure second place in the league, or even first if Princeton drops a game.
"Obviously we take one game at a time, but if we maintain the level of play we've displayed against top-ranked teams, we can win out the rest of our season," Fowler said. "We have that ability."
