The game started off back and forth, with both teams alternating the first six goals in the opening 12 minutes of play. The Catamounts pulled ahead by two, but the Big Green was quick to answer back and net the score at 5-5 with 5:30 left in the half. Falling behind by two, Dartmouth once again responded with a pair of goals to end the first half tied at seven.
Liz Calby '14 came around the crease and scored the game opener off of a feed from Jaclyn Leto '16. Hana Bowers '13 recovered a missed shot and ran in and rolled the crease to net her first of three goals. Kelsey Johnson '13 finished an eight-meter penalty shot to secure the third goal for the Big Green. Bowers connected with Gabby Starkey '16, with a pass to the crease off an eight-meter and then Leto finished after a series of quick passes. Calby hit Frances Bird '15, who was running in from up top, and finished with a quickstick shot. Calby passed from behind to find Starkey in the middle of the arc, and tied up the game before the half.
Coming back out onto the field, the Catamounts took control and scored three unanswered goals. The Big Green responded with an impressive seven-goal streak, all coming in only six minutes. Leading by four, with 10 minutes left in regulation, UVM tallied four goals to tie up the score 14-14 and send the game into overtime.
During the first set of two three-minute overtime periods, both teams managed to score, sending the game into a second set of three-minute overtime periods. This time, nobody scored in the first part, but the Catamounts netted the game winner 39 seconds into the fourth overtime to take the game 16-15.
Calby, Starkey, Courtney Bennett '13, Leto, Bird and Bowers all contributed to the total in the second half and overtime, repeating earlier standout performances.
The Big Green's roster boasts numerous offensive weapons, Johnson said.
"It is great to have so many threats, because if someone is having a good day we can run plays for them, and if someone is having an off day they can help set up the plays and run picks. There is a role for everyone and we love it when there are five or six girls scoring and assisting in a game," Johnson said.
The Big Green outshot the Catamounts 41-33, and goalie Kristen Giovanniello '14 stopped seven shots, but the women could not clinch the win.
Johnson and Bennett agreed that the team stuck to the game plan well, despite a negative outcome.
"We wanted to get back to playing Dartmouth lacrosse and attack from the start," Johnson said. "We did a good job pushing the ball on attack and were aggressive on defense. There were some unlucky calls and the game just got away from us."
The Big Green played aggressively on offense, Bennett said.
"We were successful when we were pushing the ball hard, had a potent offense and were coming up with big plays," she said. "We showed that we can fight until the last minute. This week we will work on being more disciplined on defense, doing what we want to do when we have the ball and rallying back when we are down. Today was a game of runs and we need to figure out a way to stop other teams' runs and to answer back when it does happen."
Kyra Hansson '13 felt there were bright spots despite the loss.
"In the middle of the second half, our attack was able to calm down and really started to flow and click," she said. "It was really impressive to have so many different girls score. We have had a lot of close games recently so I think this was a wake up call that our luck was starting to run out."
The team will be back out on its home turf this Saturday for an Ivy game against Brown University.
"The pressure is on us now to come out and win the Ivy games," Johnson said. "We have won a lot of games this season by only one goal, so this is a call for us to step up."
