Dartmouth Women Fall in Battle with Maryland, 2-1

Friday, September 12

Charlottesville, Va.

4:30 PM

Dartmouth College

Maryland

Dartmouth Women Drop 1-0 Heartbreaker to Brown in Ivy Opener

Dartmouth Women Fall in Battle with Maryland, 2-1

9/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ? The Dartmouth and Maryland women's soccer teams have developed quite a spirited rivalry of late and tonight's 2-1 Terps' victory was no exception.

ACC foe Maryland (3-2-1) held a 15-8 shot advantage in the game, but Dartmouth (1-1) had its chances particularly in the second half.

“I was disappointed that we didn't perform to our abilities tonight,” said head coach Angie Hind. “We didn't get off to a good start and Maryland came out well. I was pleased that we rallied to get a goal but we couldn't keep it together after that.”

The Terps had no shortage of scoring opportunities in the first half, outshooting the Big Green 9-3, but a tremendous four-save effort by senior goalkeeper Laurel Peak (Redding, Conn.) kept the game scoreless.

The Big Green took the game's first shot on goal in the 19th minute when Becky Poskin (Leawood, Kan.) fired one in but Maryland keeper Mary Casey made the save. Dartmouth kept the pressure on with Myra Sack (Wynnewood, Pa.) shooting just wide in the 28th minute.

It took until the 33rd minute for Maryland to have its first shot on goal, a Nataly Arias attempt saved by Peak, but it would be the start of an exciting end to the period. The Terps' offense came to life in a two-minute flurry in which it took five dangerous shots but Peak put on a show defensively. Arias started it all with a shot at 38:52 that was saved by Peak, and followed that with a rebound that was blocked. Dominique Vellutato had a shot saved by Peak before Annesia Faulkner had two attempts, one saved and one blocked by the defense in the 41st minute.

Maryland put the pressure on early in the first half and it paid off with a quick goal. Erika Theisen converted with a header off a cross from Faulkner to put the Terps up 1-0 at 50:56.

The Big Green did not back down, though both offenses quieted a bit until Maggie Goldstein (Hillsborough, Calif.) had a shot saved by Casey in the 68th minute. Six minutes later, however, it would be a converted set piece sophomore Peyton Tata (Virginia Beach, Va.) that put the Big Green on the scoreboard in her home state. Sophomore Melisa Krnjaic (Washington, D.C.) sent in a corner kick that Tata found with a header to tie it at 1-1 at 74:40.

Just when it seemed Dartmouth was poised for a late-game run, Maryland took the momentum on the restart. The Terps went ahead less than three minutes later when Danielle Schulmann got the better of Peak one-on-one from 10 yards out off a cross from Ashley Grove at 77:03.

Peak kept the Terps from really putting it away with another save at 82:13 off an attempt by Grove and Tata followed with an attempt at the equalizer saved by Casey at 85:45. Overall, both defenses buckled down in the final 13 minutes, with the teams combining for just three shots.

Peak finished the day with five saves in goal while Casey had four for Maryland including three in the second half. Dartmouth received a solid effort defensively from Krnjaic and Emily Forline (Bethesda, Md.) while Poskin ran the offense well.

The Dartmouth women will need to regroup quickly before squaring off against #9 Virginia on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.