This past week, the Dartmouth women’s soccer team faced both Marist College and Ivy League rival Columbia University in two key matchups for the Big Green as their season begins to wind down.
The Big Green faced adversity in its Monday game against Marist early on as the visiting team scored in the 18th minute. Despite the Big Green outshooting Marist 8-4 in the first half, the team struggled to put the ball past the Marist goal keeper. Although players were frustrated by their failure to convert these opportunities, they continued to play solid soccer to keep the score tied at 1-0.
“Going down 1-0 in a game is tough because opponents tend to change their style of play and become much more defensive-minded,” said Remy Borinsky ’19, a veteran and leader of the team throughout the year.
In the early stages of the second half, the Big Green thundered back with an explosion of offense. Ten minutes into the second half, Dartmouth midfielder Zoe Boocock ’20 found the back of the net on a strike assisted by Alyssa Neuberger ’20. The Big Green’s fortunes had changed in an instant, and Dartmouth was right back in the match. The Big Green looked fantastic in the second half, as the team was producing quality chances while also playing solid defense to keep the Marist attackers at bay.
The Big Green wasted no time putting more pressure on the Marist defense after Boocock netted her first goal of the year. Around two minutes later, Borinsky found rookie Izzy Glennon ’22 for a huge go-ahead goal. In the blink of an eye, the Big Green had seized control of the match. The tide of this game seemed to change at breakneck speed, but in many ways these two consecutive goals made the score much more representative of how gritty the Big Green had played throughout the match.
Before the Big Green players had the opportunity to catch their breath and settle back in, Borinsky converted on a penalty kick that came merely 22 seconds after the tie-breaking goal. Dartmouth’s defense was able to hold its own throughout the second half, only allowing two shots on goal and never giving Marist an opportunity to recover from the three goals in three minutes.
“The win against Marist for us was extremely representative of how we’ve developed as a team,” Hayley Soriano ’20 said after the win. “Resiliency has been one of our core values since the first day of the season. After going down 1-0 in the first half, we were able to regroup in the locker room and come out with three goals in a span of less than three minutes. It was just a matter of collecting ourselves, demanding the best of one another, and having the confidence and resiliency to control the rest of the game.”
On Saturday, the Big Green headed to New York for an important matchup against Columbia University in Manhattan. Columbia has proven to be a beatable team this year as its record was below .500, but the Big Green still needed to play a sound game in order to defeat its Ivy League rival.
Saturday’s match proved to be a far tougher experience for the team. Columbia was able to score an important goal late in the first half and never looked back. The Big Green struggled to possess the ball and create chances offensively throughout the entire matchup. Dartmouth was outshot by the Lions 15-2, and the Big Green only mustered one shot on goal each half. Even more telling of how this match went, the Big Green did not take any corner kicks during the game while Columbia took seven. The Big Green did not have a terrible game defensively, but if the team wants to finish the season on a high note, it must do a better job of protecting the ball and consistently building up offensively to create important chances.
Heading into the final two weeks, the Big Green is certainly a bit disappointed that the team has been eliminated from contention in the race for the Ivy League championship. However, this has not kept the team from being optimistic about its final two games against Harvard University and Cornell University.
“These last two weeks, it’s important for us to continue to work to improve, but also just enjoy each other and our seniors,” goalie Mariel Gordon ’21 said. “If we can work hard for each other, play some good soccer and end on a high note, we will close out the season nicely.”
Seniors are particularly sentimental this time of year, as they are approaching their final games of their collegiate careers.
“For me these final two weeks mark the last of my collegiate soccer career, which is obviously emotional,” Borinsky said. “But it is important that I give it everything I have. I will be enjoying every moment and appreciating all those around me, including my teammates and coaches.”
Dartmouth will kick off against Harvard University in Hanover next Saturday for the team’s final home game of the season. The team will then visit Cornell on Nov. 3 to conclude the season.
