The Dartmouth women's water polo team established its title-contender status with a 3-1 record at the preseason Yale Invitational on Saturday. Led by phenom Samantha Klau '05 with 15 goals, the Big Green outscored its opponents 45-20.
Disciplined training paid dividends from the start. Columbia opened the first game with two quick goals. Dartmouth fought back with two of its own, only to let Columbia score a third goal with only seven seconds left in the first period. But within the first minute of the second period, Klau scored her second of the game, this time on a perfect cross-cage pass from team co-captain Michelle Steed '00.
The third period started with the game knotted at 4-4. That did not last long as Columbia tired and the Big Green took control. First, Misa Grannis '05 converted a Klau pass into a goal. Then Klau scored on a picture-perfect pass combination. At the start of the fourth period, Lauren Wondolowski '04 added another from three meters after using her signature power turn to escape a defender. A Big Green goal by Lindsey Pryor '05 and two by team co-captain Kristi Esmiol '02 sealed Columbia's fate and Dartmouth's 11-5 triumph.
Host Yale proved more formidable. The Elis drew first blood with a lob just past the outstretched arms of last year's All-New England goalkeeper Gillian Morshedi '04. Steed fired from about five meters out to even the score at the first period's end. Yale pulled ahead at the end of the second period and extended its lead to two at the beginning of the third.
But the Big Green refused to go gently into that good night. A vocal cheering contingent of nearly a dozen, including last year's captain Aki Naito '01 and other supporters from as far as away as California and Michigan, kept the Big Green in the fight. Dartmouth made it 2-3 midway into the period, and with 40 seconds left, Klau tied the game on a steal in front of the Bulldog goalie.
Yale could not be denied in the fourth period, however. Three Eli goals went unanswered, and the Big Green succumbed 3-6.
Despite having played two games with much shorter rest periods than usual between games, Dartmouth proceeded to roll easily over Penn, 15-5, and Wesleyan, 16-4. Both games gave Dartmouth head coach Jim Wilson opportunities to experiment with different plays and player combinations. The Big Green bench enjoyed extended playing time.
Overall, Dartmouth exhibited a lot of strength and showed the potential it has for success over the rest of the year. There are two more weeks of practice for further development before the Big Green's first regular season tournament on March 2-3, again in New Haven at Yale.
BGSW Staff Writer Dan Weinberg contributed to the report.
