Women’s lacrosse upsets No. 8 Irish
Erin Massimi ’12 scored a goal in the Big Green’s victory over the University of Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon.
By Bianca Zlatea, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Monday, March 8, 2010
The No. 20 Dartmouth women’s lacrosse team upended a comeback attempt by No. 8 University of Notre Dame on Sunday, as Kirsten Goldberg ’12 racked up a career-high five goals en route to a searing 12-8 Big Green (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) win over the Irish.
Head coach Amy Patton attributed the victory to the team’s composure in the second frame after the Irish (2-1, 0-0 Big East) made it a one-goal game.
“For me, the turning point came in the second half,” she said. “We talked at half-time about how [Notre Dame] would try to go on a run. I was really proud of the team and the fact that not only did we stop [Notre Dame’s] run, but then we came back with a run of our own.”
In both halves, Notre Dame’s junior midfielder Kailene Abt tried in vain to mount a comeback for the Irish by whittling away the Big Green’s lead.
Notre Dame’s Maggie Tamasitis scored within the first minute of the second frame and Abt followed up with another goal, shaving the Irish deficit down to one.
Sarah Parks ’12 came through three minutes later and opened up the flood gates on Notre Dame, sending Dartmouth on a five-goal surge that proved to be too much for the Irish women.
Spearheaded by Goldberg’s five goals, six different Dartmouth players found the back of the net during the match. Parks and Greta Meyer ’11 contributed two scores each, while Erin Massimi ’12, Kat Collins ’11 and Hilary Smith ’12 notched a goal apiece.
Notre Dame is a fast-break team with good athleticism and stick control, and Patton said it was the pure team effort by the Big Green that shut down Notre Dame’s play.
Defensively, goaltender Julie Wadland ’10 quelled the Irish’s retort in both halves and anchored Dartmouth’s defense with 12 saves, including two in the last minute of play.
Meyer and Sarah Plumb ’12 also kept cool throughout the game, thwarting Notre Dame’s efforts with only three turnovers each.
Though on paper the game appeared to have a dry start, Patton said Dartmouth fabricated multiple scoring opportunities throughout the opening period, several of which were sidetracked by the post.
“We had some very close scoring chances,” she said. “It was really good to see the kids not get dejected. They hung in there mentally and kept pounding in shots.”
Smith spurred the Big Green into action after posting the match’s first point halfway through the first period.
Goldberg lobbed one in off an assist from Meyer with over 13 minutes left in the first frame. She collected two more points with eight and two minutes to go until halftime, sending the Big Green into the locker room with a 4-1 advantage.
Although Notre Dame held a slim advantage over the Big Green in draw controls, the Irish failed to produce extra shot opportunities, firing only 23 on Wadland’s net. Meanwhile, Dartmouth peppered Notre Dame with 30 shots on goal.
With the impressive victory, the Big Green avenged last season’s 16-11 loss to Notre Dame. In the three-game all-time series, Dartmouth now holds a slim advantage with two games won.