"Maine brought a structure and a level of play that we haven't seen in a while and we came out a little flat against them," Rebecca Hu '15 said. "In the second half, we definitely tightened up and made some improvements."
The loss puts the Big Green (4-7, 1-2 Ivy) over their loss total from last season, in which an 11-6, 6-1 Ivy record was good enough for second place in the Ancient Eight. This season, the team is tied with Yale University for the worst overall record in the league with just six games left.
"We knew their record but we didn't know much about their team, so we had to sort some things out in the beginning of the game," Sam Anderson '14 said.
After a quick flurry of shots in the third minute by the Big Green, Maine freshman Sydney Veljacic scored off the corner to put the visitors up a goal in the sixth minute. Just over three minutes later, fellow freshman Danielle Aviani doubled the Black Bears' lead.
"I think we just got caught on our heels a little bit and we were playing a little soft in coverage," captain Jenn Weissbach '14 said. "Our marking was a little loose. Once we tightened that up, we definitely had more scoring opportunities."
Janine Leger '15 did her best to bring the Big Green back into the game, ripping three of the home team's five shots in the first half, but one was blocked, another went just wide and the last was stopped by Black Bears senior and keeper Sydney Kolysher.
After giving up goals on her first two shots, goalie Ellen Meyer '15 turned away everything that came her way in the half, notching two saves in the frame. The visitors outshot the Big Green 9-5 by the half.
The Dartmouth women began the second half with an early penalty corner that led to a shot by leading scorer Ali Savage '15. The junior's shot missed wide and, just over two minutes later, the Black Bears extended their lead to 3-0 on a goal by junior Holly Stewart.
The Big Green did not give up, however, as in the 43rd minute they began their comeback by increasing the pressure. The team won another penalty corner that led to a shot and save. Another penalty corner just 30 seconds later was met by another save by Kolysher.
At the very end of the 44th minute, Olivia Quaglia '14 was awarded a penalty shot, which she calmly deposited in the back of the net for the Big Green's first goal of the afternoon.
"We just needed to put one in and we knew that it would keep coming for us," Weissbach said. "In the second half, we definitely had more scoring opportunities."
The home team was not done then, as they kept up the pressure. In the 47th minute, Dartmouth was awarded its fourth penalty corner of the half and produced a goal. Hu took the corner and directed the ball to Leger, who found Quaglia. The senior slid the ball to Eliza Becker '16, who found the back of the net to pull the Big Green within one.
In an attempt to stop the home team's momentum, the Black Bears called a timeout. Coming out of the game break, the visitors turned up the pressure, ripping three shots and a penalty corner. The third shot, at the 48:10 mark of the game, found the back of the net and increased Maine's lead to two.
"Even though they quickly retaliated after we scored our two goals, we never lost hope and continued to fight," Anderson said.
The rest of the game, while producing no goals, was back and forth, with both teams sustaining pressure and sending shots on the other's net. The final horn blew after a three-shot frenzy by the Dartmouth women produced no goals.
The final shot total fell in favor of the Black Bears, 20-14. Meyer stopped six shots in the losing effort.
The team returns to action this Saturday against Yale, who is also 4-7 and 1-2 in the Ivy League, in New Haven, Conn., before facing the University of Vermont on the road next Wednesday.
"We have four Ivy League games left so we're really trying to focus on those," Anderson said. "We're really trying to build off of some of the awesome defensive play we had against Maine and put that into our game this weekend against Yale."
