Senior women’s lacrosse players led their team to a thrilling 9-8 win against Harvard University (9-6, 4-3 Ivy) in their final game for the Big Green (6-8, 3-4 Ivy). While the Harvard senior players were honored before the game in their home stadium, it was Dartmouth’s seniors who clinched the match.
“It was really fun having all the seniors start and knowing that we won the game together,” co-captain Liz Calby ’14 said.
The Big Green was led by a stellar performance from goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello ’14, who stifled the Crimson offense by stopping 16 shots, one short of a career high. Giovanniello stopped 13 of 22 attempted shots just in the first half.
“She played a great game and was seeing the ball well,” co-captain Bailey Johnson ’14 said of Giovanniello. “It made everyone want to play harder because she was coming up with all these great saves. It really sparked the team.”
Her big saves kept the game close before a late goal by Lindsey Allard ’14 allowed Dartmouth to finish the season on a high note.
It was a game of massive momentum shifts and big runs, as both teams battling for the lead. Both the Crimson and Big Green scored five unanswered during the contest.
“A game like that is definitely hard because at times you’re feeling good and at others you feel like you need to pick your play up,” Johnson said. “We’ve had a lot of games this year determined by runs, so it was nice to see the game decided in our favor.”
Harvard, which had already secured a spot in the postseason tournament, scored eight goals on 32 shots.
The Crimson went up early, scoring twice in the first five minutes, but the Big Green responded with five straight goals. Four more goals from the home team gave Harvard a 6-5 lead going into halftime.
“We definitely knew we would have to come out and play a clean second half to come back,” Johnson said. “We knew that we had to play really energetic and really well. Even though we were down by one, it was motivating for us that we could come out and take the game from them. It’s nice to play as the underdogs a little bit.”
The teams traded goals early in the second half, and the Crimson led 8-6 with 9:30 to play.
Calby scored with 9:26 remaining, pulling the Big Green within two and starting a three-goal run that would propel Dartmouth to the victory. Jaclyn Leto ’16 scored a free position shot with just over four minutes left to play.
With a little over 1:20 to play in a tie game, Sarah Byrne ’15 came into the top of the box. Allard saw the junior driving and cut around the crease. She caught Byrne’s pass, pumped high and shot low at the far post. The entire team celebrated as the ball crossed the line.
Calby led the Big Green offense, scoring four times with five points. Leto had two goals in the game, while Ingrid Hermanson ’16 and Samantha Schiff ’15 each had a goal off the bench. Danielle Lisovicz ’16 had two assists in the winning effort.
“I think the exciting thing about attack is that we play really well as a unit,” Calby said. “Some people step up any time but that’s the product of all seven of us working together the entire game.”
The victory snapped a four game losing streak for the Big Green.
Giovanniello finished her career with 529 career saves, third in program history, and Calby finished her career with 137 points, good for 15th overall, and with 95 goals, 21st in program history. Both seniors have had huge impacts on the teams since their first year in Hanover, Giovanniello starting all but one game in her Dartmouth career. Although Calby began her Dartmouth career coming off the bench, she had an immediate impact, scoring 14 points in her freshman year.
