After leading by three into halftime, the women’s lacrosse team fell to the potent offense of the University of Vermont 12-10 on Wednesday afternoon in Burlington. The Catamounts (9-2) ended the game on a five-goal run to seal the victory.
“Similar to our other games throughout the season, we are great at coming out strong and starting the game with real intensity,” co-captain Kara Lehman ’14 said. “I think for whatever reason we struggle to maintain that same fight throughout the entire game.”
Midway through the UVM run, midfielder Jaclyn Leto ’16 scored a free position shot to put the Big Green (4-4, 1-1 Ivy) back on top 11-10 with 14:36 left in the game. However, the goal was taken off the board after the referees ruled that the stick had an illegal pocket.
Leto, attacker Liz Calby ’14 and attacker Danielle Lisovicz ’16 ran the offense for the Big Green. Calby and Leto scored four goals each over the course of the game and Lisovicz had one tally and five assists.
“This is a team that thrives on momentum,” Calby said. “What we need to do better is to seize the critical moments and capitalize on them instead of letting them slip like we did in the second half.”
Lisovicz’s five assists were the first of her career, and the highest number of assists for a Dartmouth player in a single game in the last three years.
After another offensive outburst, Calby now has 83 career goals and 120 points, just three points shy of breaking the top-20 scorers in program history.
The team’s leading goal-scorer, Sarah Byrne ’15, was held scoreless for the first time all season but contributed to the offense with a team-high five draw controls in the game.
The Big Green went into the half with an 8-5 advantage, limiting the Catamounts’ strong offense. UVM ranks second in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 16.9 goals per game. UVM and Dartmouth exchanged tallies to open the second before the Catamounts netted the final five of the contest to secure its win.
The team has displayed spurts of great play throughout the season, Lehman said, but has been unable to perform for a full game. The players are focused on countering offense early, Calby said.
In Wednesday’s game, UVM’s Sydney Mas scored the 11th goal with 9:36 remaining in the second half, becoming became the first player in UVM’s women’s lacrosse program history to score over 200 goals.
Dartmouth will return to the field Saturday against Brown University at noon in Providence.
