#16 Dartmouth Rolls Columbia, 15-1, in Ivy Opener

Wednesday, March 17

Hanover, N.H.

12:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

COLUMBIA

Offense Comes Alive as #20 Dartmouth Tops Vermont, 22-2

#16 Dartmouth Rolls Columbia, 15-1, in Ivy Opener

3/17/2010 3:15:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Hanover, N.H. - The 16^th ranked Dartmouth women's lacrosse team started the Ivy season on the right foot with a 15-1 victory over Columbia this afternoon.

Dartmouth (3-1, 1-0 Ivy) got yet another balanced offensive effort, with eight players recording a point and seven goal scorers. Chief among those was junior standout Kat Collins (Darien, Conn.) who asserted herself with five goals and an assist to lead the Big Green past the Lions (2-2, 0-2 Ivy). Classmate Greta Meyer (Denver, Colo.) continued her solid play as well with two goals, three assists and two ground balls.

Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.) nearly picked up a shutout in goal, with her second career one-goal game, recording six saves. She kept the Lions off the board until 12:56 left in the second half, and, sharing duties with classmate Chelsea Kirk (Hunt Valley, Md.), held them scoreless down the stretch.

Dartmouth and Columbia players dedicated the game to the memory of Maureen O'Shea, coach of the Connecticut Lacrosse Futures club team, who passed away last Friday after a battle with cancer. Players from both teams, nine in total, who played for O'Shea wore red armbands (color of CTLF) in her memory.

One of those O'Shea coached players, Dartmouth senior Colleen Olsen (Avon, Conn.) played an inspired game on defense. In addition to her three ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls, Olsen shut down Columbia's top goal-scorer, Gabrielle Geronimos, holding her to just one shot for the entire game.

Dartmouth held a 30-11 shot advantage and picked up 29 ground balls to Columbia's 19. The Big Green won 10 of 18 draw controls.

Dartmouth set the tone early in the contest, building a 2-0 lead within the first 1:05 off a free position goal by Kirsten Goldberg (Cockeysville, Md.), her first of three, and a slick low shot by Meyer off a feed from Erin Massimi (Westwood, Mass.). Columbia had its first real possession of the game in the fourth minute of the contest, but Wadland saved an attempt by Brittany Shannon to maintain a clean sheet. Meyer added to the Dartmouth total, making it 3-0 with a helper from Collins at 25:44, forcing Columbia to call timeout.

The break proved futile for the Lions, who gave up three more goals in the next five minutes, starting with Meyer returning the favor with a pass to Collins for her first goal of the day at 24:24. Massimi got on the board herself just over a minute later, connecting on a free position, before Collins made it 6-0 at 20:07 with a nice move off a strong play by Dana Brisbane (Locust Valley, N.Y.).

Columbia finally managed to slow the Dartmouth attack, and the teams played nearly 20 minutes of scoreless lacrosse in the middle of the first half. During the stretch, Wadland made saves on two free positions, including one with 4:36 to play. The Lions earned another eight-meter attempt seconds later, but the defense collapsed and Shannie MacKenzie (Greenwich, Conn.), another CTLF alum, caused a turnover.

Dartmouth finally scored its seventh goal of the game with 36 seconds to play when Collins took matters into her own hands and went strong to goal for a 7-0 lead at halftime.

The Big Green opened the second half much like the first, scoring four goals in the first 10 minutes to build an 11-0 lead. Sarah Parks (Ellicot City, Md.) scored an unassisted goal to open the run at 25:49. Just a minute later, Meyer found rookie Courtney Bennett (Darien, Conn.), who whipped one past Karlee Blank for her first collegiate goal and a 9-0 lead.

Collins scored her fourth goal of the game at 22:49 before Meyer fed Parks for her second, putting the Big Green up 11-0 at 20:31. The Big Green countered with a deliberate offense and Golberg earned a free position shot that she rocketed past Blank to go up 12-0 at 16:21. Less than two minutes later sophomore Sarah Plumb (Wellesley, Mass.) got in on the action, weaving through the Lions' defense for an unassisted tally and a 13-0 advantage.

Columbia won the ensuring draw and maintained possession, finally getting on the board at 12:56. Brittany Shannon made a pass to Taylor Gattinella in front of the goal and she slipped one past Wadland to make it 13-1. Dartmouth answered back just over two minutes later, however, when Collins simply imposed her will on the Lions defense, surging through for her fifth goal of the day.

Wadland saved yet another Columbia free position shot at 6:31 before turning things over to Kirk for the final 5:03. Goldberg iced the scoring for Dartmouth with her third tally with 4:47 to play, ahead 15-1. Each team had a few more scoring opportunities, and Kirk made a nice point blank saved against Shannon to hold the Lions to one goal.

For Dartmouth, 20 players saw action in the win including the collegiate debut for Ellie Clayton (Hingham, Mass.) and the return of Broghan Cully (Duxbury, Mass.), who missed all of last season with an injury. In addition to her three goals, Goldberg added a team-high three draw controls and two ground balls. MacKenzie caused three turnovers and had three ground balls.

Dartmouth heads south this week for spring training in Florida and will be back in the Northeast for its next game at #8 Syracuse on Wednesday, March 24 at 3:00 p.m.