In its Saturday game against Princeton University, the women’s lacrosse team came away empty handed, losing 12-10 after a second-half rally.
The Tigers (10-4, 6-1 Ivy) came into the game off of a 9-5 win against the University of Pennsylvania, which allowed Princeton to clinch the Ivy League regular season title with Saturday’s win. The game’s significance, coupled with the team’s history, including a double-overtime thriller in last year’s Ivy tournament, provided the Big Green (5-8, 2-4 Ivy) with extra motivation.
Princeton started the game with momentum from its Wednesday night win over Penn. On attack, the Tigers scored four consecutive goals before Sarah Byrne ’15 netted the Big Green’s only first-half tally.
“Their speed did take us a little by surprise,” co-captain Kara Lehman ’14 said. “We didn’t expect them to come out that quick.”
Although the team went into the second half down 4-1, the Big Green’s resolve did not waver. Lindsay Allard ’14 described the team’s attitude as “positive” going into halftime.
The team has managed to make large comebacks in past games, so it was not worried about the score, she said.
The Big Green outscored Princeton 9-8 in the second half.
The team focused on moving the ball quickly on attack and increasing its possession time, Allard said.
“We definitely made a lot of improvements in the second half,” she said. “We were getting the draw controls and holding the ball longer.”
Dartmouth nabbed more opportunities to score, with a second-half 11-7 lead in draw controls. This shift in momentum came with improved play on both ends of the field.
Goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello ’14, attributed the second half success to the team’s focus on limiting easy shots.
“We tried playing to prevent cutters from getting into the box,” she said. “We wanted them to earn their goals by passing around, as opposed to off of one quick touch.”
Giovanniello also had four saves in the second half, giving her a total of five which she attributed to the efforts of the defense.
“Our defense really stepped up and gave me a chance to save the ball,” she said. “It’s a testament to them and their effort.”
Facing a five-goal deficit with 8:09 to go in the game, the Big Green pushed on. Racing against the clock, the Big Green ended the game on a 4-1 run but ran out of time to fully capitalize on the late-game surge.
“We are a team that always fights to the end,” Allard said. “There was no question in our minds that we weren’t going to fight on the end.”
Despite the loss, the team took pride in its performance and toughness, Giovanniello said.
The team’s record pushed it out of the top four, so Dartmouth will not qualify for the Ivy League tournament for the first time since it was established in 2010.
Dartmouth will look to finish its season with a win at Harvard University on Friday.
“We’ve been through a lot, we’ve had a lot thrown to us,” Lehman said. “To put that all behind us and finish with a win would be huge.”
