Dartmouth began the game aggressively, controlling possession from the first minute of play. About four minutes into the contest, the Big Green had its first scoring opportunity when Chrissy Lozier '14 shook her defender and fired a shot from about 30 yards out, just missing the upper right corner of the goal.
In the next minute, Emma Brush '13 beat two defenders in the corner and dribbled to the top of the penalty area, just missing a shot over the crossbar. Dartmouth continued to put relentless pressure on the Bulldogs' defense, setting an attacking pace and creating numerous scoring opportunities. In the 10th minute, Brush and Lozier each had shots that barely missed goal.
Finally, in the 14th minute, the Big Green capitalized on its offensive pressure. Aurelia Solomon '13 passed the ball upfield to Kelly Bach '16, who crossed the ball into the penalty area. The ball bounced around in front of goal before Brush volleyed it into the back of the net past Yale's diving goalkeeper.
With a 1-0 lead, Dartmouth continued to dominate. In the 20th minute, Yale cleared the ball out of its own half and gained control in Big Green territory. Bulldog senior Kristen Forster controlled a loose ball in the penalty area and slipped a shot past Dartmouth goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders '15 to pull the Bulldogs level. It was Yale's first shot of the game.
The Big Green refused to let Yale's goal overshadow its play and continued to apply offensive pressure. This year, Dartmouth has focused on bringing the ball to the goal line before crossing it back across the penalty area to create goal-scoring opportunities.
"It's not just the forwards taking [the ball upfield], it's an outside back or an outside [midfielder], so we have numbers forward," Brush said.
At the end of the half, Yale gained some momentum and fired its second shot of the game, which was stopped by a diving save from Saunders. The Big Green responded with pressure of its own, firing a shot as the halftime whistle sounded. Though Dartmouth outshot Yale, 11-2, in the first half, Dartmouth coach Theresa Romagnolo said she would have liked to have seen more of those shots result in goals.
"In the first half, we created a lot of chances for ourselves and didn't capitalize on them," Romagnolo said. "That's something we talked about. We're not just shooting to shoot, we're shooting to score a goal."
Dartmouth came out with intensity in the second half and capitalized in the 48th minute of the contest. Marina Moschitto '14 split two defenders in the corner and sent a cross into the penalty area, where Corey Delaney '16 held off her defender and sent a shot into the back of the net.
As Yale upped the intensity facing a 2-1 deficit, the Big Green continued to initiate possessions from the back.
"Our outside backs started a lot of the attack for us," Solomon said.
In the 69th minute, the Big Green capitalized once again, this time with an unassisted goal. Lucielle Kozlov '16 held the ball on the right corner of the penalty area with her back to the goal and a defender on her. She feinted right and turned left, firing the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal. With two goals from freshmen and four first-year starters on Saturday, the Big Green's youngest players were a key component of the victory.
"With every Ivy game, they just keep stepping up more and more," Brush said. "They're starting to understand how much it means to everyone on the team and how much it means for them, too."
The Bulldogs fought until the very end, but Saunders made a few tough saves and Dartmouth's back line maintained its usual resilience to fend off Yale's attacks in the last 20 minutes of play.
The match marked the Big Green's first victory against the Bulldogs since 2007. Dartmouth returns to action tomorrow against Brown University in Providence, R.I., in a game that will not count toward the Ivy League standings.
