The women’s soccer team wrestled to a 2-2 draw at Princeton University Saturday, keeping both squads’ Ivy loss columns empty. The team’s third straight overtime game featured 13 saves and 34 shots. Despite holding the lead twice, the Big Green (3-3-3, 0-0-2 Ivy) could not snatch a win against the Tigers (2-3-3, 1-0-1 Ivy).
The Big Green came out firing, notching quality chances from the word go. In the first 10 minutes, the Big Green quickly tallied three shots without conceding any to the Tigers. After the barrage of chances, leading scorer Lucielle Kozlov ’16 notched an assist in the 13th minute, sliding the ball across the end line to Corey Delaney ’16, who deposited the ball inside the post for her first goal of the season.
“I’ve been looking for that goal for a while for the season, so it was really exciting to get that one in the net,” Delaney said. “It was a good team goal.”
About 10 minutes later Dartmouth gave up a penalty kick, which Princeton sophomore Tyler Lussi converted on to tie the game.
“Being a goalkeeper, you don’t really want a penalty called against you because the chances of you saving it are very slim,” Tatiana Saunders ’15 said, “But I think the team’s response to the penalty kick was phenomenal. We scored just a few minutes later, and that’s the best response that we could have as a team.”
Princeton kept its foot on the gas pedal after knotting the contest at one, notching four shots to zero for Dartmouth over the next 10 minutes.
The momentum swung back in the Big Green’s direction quickly, as Tasha Wilkins ’15 scored off a two-v-two play with Jessica Lukas ’17 in the 36th minute — just one minute after the senior entered the game.
Lukas dribbled down the left side of the field and crossed it to Wilkins, who found the back of the net for her third goal of the season.
The first half ended with the Big Green up 2-1, though the Tigers tallied 10 shots to Dartmouth’s six. The Tigers also had six corner kicks in the first half, to the Big Green’s zero. Saunders notched four saves in the first half.
“We did a nice job of beating people out wide, and the runs in the box were very good to allow us, with the cross, to eliminate the keeper, and then people were real composed in the finishing,” head coach Ron Rainey said. “It was exciting to get those chances.”
Princeton continued to heap on second-half pressure, outshooting the Big Green 8-3 in the half. The Big Green was efficient with its chances, as all three of the team’s shots hit the target. But senior goalkeeper Darcy Hargadon stood tall, stopping each shot she faced in the half to keep the game close. The best chance the Big Green had was a 49th minute chance by Kozlov, but Hargadon turned it aside.
Lussi scored her fourth goal of the season in the 62nd minute to tie the game back at 2-2, where it would stand through 100 minutes of play.
The Big Green picked up the pressure in the second overtime, notching four shots, but Hargadon and the Princeton defense turned them away to preserve the tie.
The match, which Rainey said was not abnormally physical, featured several Princeton cards, including a red card to senior Gabrielle Ragazzo. Rainey attributes these cards to good plays by Delaney that beat the Princeton players, leading them to foul her.
Now just past the season’s halfway mark, the Big Green is looking to turn its even record into a winning one. The team has a week to prepare for its Saturday match-up against Yale University at home, where Dartmouth has not lost since October 1, 2012.
Rainey said the team will watch film of the Bulldogs to see how they are playing, and will work on better defensive play in the 18-yard box.
“I think it [the season] is going great,” Saunders said. “Its our first season with Ron and I think he’s doing great things with this team. We’re getting shots on goal we’re possessing the ball, we’re dominating these teams and, as the season goes on, we’re going to start finishing and getting more goals. I think the team is really excited about the transition with Ron, and I think the next half of the season is going to be great. I think we’re going to finish our chances and continue to be strong defensively.”
The second half of the Big Green’s season will unfold over the next month in a packed Ivy schedule that ends Nov. 8. The team waspositioned similarly this time last year, when it was 1-1-0 in the Ivy League and 4-4-1 overall. The team ended 4-3-0 in conference.
“We want to put together a full 90 minutes, both offensively and defensively, to where we can play that great game and get some of those results,” Rainey said. “We want to win some of those close Ivy League games for sure.”
Delaney said she is optimistic about how the team is performing.
The Big Green will take on Yale under its home lights Saturday at 7 p.m.
“Yale is a phenomenal team,” Saunders said. “They just tied Harvard, who won the Ivy League and ended up going 7-0. Every Ivy League game is gonna be a battle and I think we are disappointed with losing to Sacred Heart, tying Brown, tying Princeton, and I really think we’re going to use that energy and disappointment to really get us motivated for this week of practice leading to the game because we’re hungry.”
