Dartmouth Women's Lacrosse Runs Record to 12-0

Wednesday, April 20

Hanover, N.H.

TBA

Dartmouth College

HARVARD

Dartmouth Women's Lacrosse Runs Record to 12-0

4/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Dartmouth

Dartmouth Women's Lacrosse Runs Record to 12-0

April 20, 2005

HANOVER, N.H. -- With senior Katieanne Christian (Agawam, Mass.) pacing the attack, the Dartmouth women's lacrosse team ran its record to a perfect 12-0, defeating Harvard by a 13-4 margin on Wednesday evening.

In a steady rain on Scully-Fahey Field, the Big Green set the school record for consecutive victories, beginning the season more than six weeks ago with a 13-3 win over New Hampshire. The 12 wins in a row broke the mark of 11 set by the 1998 Dartmouth team.

Christian netted three goals, improving to a team-high 42 on the season along with four assists. With 124 points in her collegiate career, she moved into 13th place on Dartmouth's all-time list and needs just two to move up one more spot.

The Big Green took command by scoring the first five goals of the game, including the first two within the opening 34 seconds. Sophomore Sarah Szefi (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored 20 seconds in, before Christian followed 14 seconds later.

Junior Annie Leibovitz (Boulder, Colo.), Szefi and senior Sarah Sanborn (Owings Mills, Md.) pushed the Dartmouth lead to 5-0 before Harvard's Allie Kaveney broke through with 10:45 on the clock.

Dartmouth held an 8-2 lead at the break, and after the Crimson's Margaret Yellott made it 8-3, the Big Green answered with three straight from 18:38 to 17:01 -- a span of a little more than a minute and a half -- to push the score back to 11-3.

The Big Green held a 32-14 advantage in shots as Harvard lost its eighth in a row to go to 2-10 on the year and 0-4 in the conference.

The Dartmouth victory sets up a monumental game on Saturday, April 23 at the Big Green's Scully-Fahey Field. No. 4 Dartmouth (6-0 Ivy) will host No. 3 Princeton (5-0 Ivy) as the Ivy League title and the automatic NCAA bid are on the line.

"It's probably going to rain Saturday," said Dartmouth coach Amy Patton, "so in a sense it's probably good that it rained tonight. Harvard played well. They have some really good young kids and they challenged us. It's great to come out of a game like this feeling challenged."

In addition to Christian's three goals, five other Big Green players each scored two goals apiece -- Sanborn, Leibovitz, Szefi, freshman Kristen Barry (Duxbury, Mass.) and junior Margo Duke (Englewood, Colo.).

Sophomore Whitney Douthett (Newtown, Pa.), Dartmouth's overall point leader, had two assists to push her season total to 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists).

In the nets, Dartmouth junior Devon Wills (Denver, Colo.) made seven saves, while Harvard's Kristin Demorest and Caitlin Cahow each played a half and combined for seven saves.

Dartmouth and Princeton are fierce rivals, and in recent years, the two schools have been the perennial favorites for the Ivy League title. The Big Green last claimed a share in 2003 and has won nine total. The Tigers won the outright titles in 2002 and 2004 and shared the 2003 crown with Dartmouth and Yale. Overall, Princeton has eight championships.

"Saturday's going to be a great game," added Patton. "It will be one of the best games in Division 1 lacrosse this year. Two great teams and either team can win."

Game time is 3:30 pm and the matchup will be televised by CSTV.

SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 Tot
Harvard 2 2 - 4
Dartmouth 8 5 - 13
Harvard SCORING: GOALS: Schoen, Tara 1; Kaveney, Allie 1; Simmons,
Caroline 1; Yellott, Margaret 1.
ASSISTS: Curtis, Natalie 1.

Dartmouth SCORING: GOALS: Christian, Katieanne 3; Sanborn, Sarah 2;
Leibovitz, Annie 2; Barry, Kristen 2; Duke, Margo 2; Szefi, Sarah 2.
ASSISTS: Douthett, Whitney 2; Osborn, Erin 1; Pittman, Jen 1; Sanborn,
Sarah 1; Zimmer, Kristen 1.