The Big Green women's lacrosse team stunned Virginia, ranking third in the nation, with a convincing 12-10 win Saturday at Chase Field. It was Dartmouth's seventh straight victory.
Despite giving up 10 goals for just the fourth time this season, Dartmouth never trailed the Cavaliers and led by two or more for most of the game.
"We don't like to give up 10 goals, but given the circumstances, it was a great team effort on defense," co-captain Jana Friedman '94 said.
The "circumstances" Virginia brought to town were three of the nation's top 10 scorers in Kelly Daddona, Anna Yates and Cherie Greer.
Greer was unquestionably the biggest challenge. She scored four goals on the afternoon, including one on a particularly awe-inspiring end to end rush.
"She has so much speed, it's scary," Friedman said. "Kim Cohen '94 had to make some great saves for us."
"Greer is a great all-around player," Cohen said. "But we're a better team. We're better than we've showed at times this season and today we played up to our ability."
In the end, Dartmouth's dynamic duo of Sarah Devens '96 and Lauren Holleran '95 each scored four times, outdueling Virginia's talented threesome eight goals to six.
Kim Mendelson '97 added a pair of goals for the Big Green.
Devens opened up the scoring seven minutes into the game by running from behind the Cavaliers' goal and whipping in a low shot from 12 feet away.
Co-captain Margaret Field '93 made it 2-0 after firing a loose pass into the top corner of the net 12 minutes later.
With nine minutes remaining in the first half, Holleran widened the gap to 4-0 with two quick goals.
First she circled the goal closely and scored low. Then 30 seconds later she buried a free position shot after the shot on her initial rush hit the post.
The tenacious defense of Mya Mangawang '95 and Wally Cook '95 on Greer helped keep the Cavaliers scoreless until four minutes remained in the first half.
But suddenly Greer's dramatic goal on a solo rush broke the ice and Virginia scored twice more in the next minute to cut Dartmouth's lead to 4-3.
Dartmouth led 5-3 when Devens gave the Big Green a boost heading into halftime by duplicating the move she used to score her first goal and scoring with seven seconds on the clock.
"Devens' goal at the end of the half was huge," Friedman said. "That felt really good to be up 6-3 at the half against a team like Virginia."
"That set the tone for the second half," Holleran said. "We came out and showed that we were ready to play in the second half."
Virginia scored the first goal of the second half to bring it to 6-4, but the team would never get closer.
With 18 minutes remaining, Greer scored her second dramatic goal for Virginia, weaving through three Dartmouth defenders to keep the Cavaliers close at 8-6.
"Even when [the Cavaliers] had their moments, our players would pick it up and put it in the goal," Cohen said.
Cohen sparked Dartmouth with a big save on Virginia's leading scorer, Yates, at the 14 minute mark.
That set the stage for freshman Andrea Krumholz's first collegiate goal one minute later, which brought the team and the crowd alive.
Virginia crept back to within 9-7, but Dartmouth again responded by picking up the pace. This time it was Devens' scoring two pretty goals in a 40 second span to give the Big Green a more comfortable 11-7 lead.
The Cavaliers controlled the ball for most of the remaining 10 minutes, but Dartmouth's defense clamped down and Cohen made the necessary saves to preserve the 12-10 win.
With the victory, Dartmouth may jump to as high as fifth nationally.
The top six teams qualify for the NCAA playoffs, so the Big Green look to close out their season on a strong note with games this week against the University of New Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts.
The season finale will be this Saturday against the talented Harvard Crimson, currently ranked fifth in the nation.
