Dartmouth (11-8, 5-2 Ivy) upset the No. 19 Eagles (12-8, 3-2 ACC) 11-8 in order to advance to the second round against Syracuse (17-3, 8-0 Big East). Last year when Dartmouth and Syracuse met in the first round of the tournament, the Big Green fell 15-5. This year, in the second round, the Orange increased the deficit with a 21-8 victory. Syracuse will host the University of Florida in the third round next weekend.
"It made me so proud to see everyone fight hard to the end," defender Kyra Hansson '13 said in an email. "Even though the Syracuse game didn't go our way, our win against BC showed everyone that we can win in NCAAs."
Sunday's game against Syracuse seemed like it would be a closely fought battle, but after the Orange managed to run off seven unanswered goals in 15 minutes in the middle of the half, the Big Green struggled to come back.
Co-captain Hana Bowers '13 started off the game with a rip past the Syracuse goalie off a feed from Liz Calby '14. Following up a pair of Syracuse goals, Dartmouth rallied and scored three in a row. Calby dodged her defender behind the cage and hit Sarah Byrne '15, who finished with a shot into the upper right corner and then scooped up the rebound off an eight-meter shot and slotted the ball in for a second tally. Jaclyn Leto '16 just managed to bounce an eight-meter over the goal line with 22 minutes to play.
Syracuse then went on its seven-goal run, tallying goals off of fast breaks from the draw controls, one-versus-one crease rolls and settled offensive sets. With just under eight minutes remaining, Bowers caught a pass from out high and then spun around in front of the net until she had enough room to get her stick free to place the ball in the upper ninety for her second goal of the game and 51st of the season.
Syracuse ran in, scoring on a low shot and another on a fast break. Courtney Bennett '13 took possession near the restraining line, ran in and fed Gabby Starkey '16 on the crease who tallied Dartmouth's sixth goal. A Syracuse attacker forced her way through the Big Green defense to net the team's 12th and final goal of the half.
In the second half, Syracuse ran off eight unanswered goals in the first 15 minutes to extend the margin out to 20-6. The final two Dartmouth goals came from Byrne, who finished with four in the game and eight in the tournament. She ran in and finished over the goalie's shoulder and then cut until she got free on the crease, caught the pass and rocketed the ball in. The Orange got the last look for the day to bring the final total to 21-8.
As with the rest of the Big Green's season, winning the draw controls was the crucial factor that determined the game.
"Once we stopped getting the draw control, they were able to get the looks on attack and build momentum which meant less chances for us," Bennett said. "When we won the draw and had the ball in the first 10 minutes we were able to score at will. The pressure built to make stops and get the ball over the line and we were starting to get tired. When we were able to win the draw again was when we started to score."
Leto and Byrne led the charge against the Eagles, tallying four goals apiece in the victory. The usual offensive spark from Calby and Bowers supplemented the remaining three goals.
Leto fed Calby in the second minute of play to open up the lead for the Big Green. Boston then netted a pair of goals to pull ahead. The Big Green changed the momentum of the game with a four-goal run midway through the half to extend the lead out to 5-2. Leto, Byrne, Bowers and Calby each netted a goal in the streak. Boston managed another goal followed up by Leto and Byrne each adding their second goals. Boston mustered up two more opportunities, leaving the Big Green up 7-5 at the break.
Back on the grass for the second half, Byrne and Leto again contributed a back-to-back pair of goals. Boston scored twice within 40 seconds to narrow the margin back to two. An eight-meter by Leto and Byrne's fourth goal secured the victory for Dartmouth. The last goal came with nearly 13 minutes remaining, but Boston was unable to finish late in the game.
Goaltender Kristen Giovanniello '14 faced 14 shots in the second half alone and turned away 12 shots in both halves combined. The Eagles topped the Big Green in draw controls, securing 15 to Dartmouth's six.
Bennett felt both attackers and defenders played well against Boston.
"In practice we worked on dodging hard and shooting like you mean it, which we were able to do in the game," Bennett said. "We have also been doing an eight-meter drill for the last two weeks and were converting on those. We played good, solid one-v-one defense, sent slides when we needed to and went in and out of a face guard. We tried a lot of different things and our success speaks well to how versatile our defense is."
Co-captain Kelsey Johnson '13 said the momentum from the BC win carried over but was hard to maintain once Syracuse started scoring.
"We not only stayed with Syracuse in the first 15 minutes of the game, we were outplaying them," Johnson said in an email. "Things changed when they started getting the draw and got a couple of deflating goals. We lost the edge we had in our game against BC and in the beginning of the Syracuse game."
Bennett expressed her pride with the season.
"This team is a special group of girls with an incredible bond," Bennett said. "As a senior class, we wanted to build a strong team dynamic and I am proud that we were successful in doing so. There were definitely some disappointments this year with not winning or hosting Ivies, but winning in the first round of the NCAAs was amazing. It is something unique to this group of girls that hasn't happened since 2006."
Johnson likewise felt the accomplishment was special for this squad.
"Being a part of the Dartmouth team that won its first NCAA game in seven years was really special," Johnson said. "We definitely hadn't planned on ending with a bad loss to Syracuse, but our team has a lot to be proud of."
