#16 Dartmouth Women's Lacrosse Upends #6 Syracuse, 17-10

Wednesday, March 24

Syracuse, N.Y.

3:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Syracuse

#16 Dartmouth Women's Lacrosse Upends #6 Syracuse, 17-10

3/24/2010 5:00:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Syracuse, N.Y. - The 16th ranked Dartmouth women's lacrosse team got a huge win at #6 Syracuse, storming back from an early 2-0 deficit to take a convincing 17-10 victory.

The Big Green (4-1, 1-0 Ivy) likely turned a few heads with its fourth straight victory and second of the season against a top-20 team - with both today's win and the win over then #12 Notre Dame coming on the road.

Dartmouth got a balanced scoring effort, led yet again by junior Greta Meyer (Denver, Colo.) with five goals and an assist and sophomore Sarah Parks (Ellicott City, Md.) with four goals and two assists. But all started and ended with senior goalie Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.), who put forth yet another impressive performance in cage, making seven saves, including five in the second half, and grabbing two ground balls.

The 10 goals were the most allowed this season by Dartmouth, which leads the NCAA in scoring defense. It was of little matter, however, as the offense completely rattled Syracuse (4-3) keeper Liz Hogan, scoring 17 goals on 25 shots, putting all but two of those on goal. The Big Green also won 17 draw controls to the Orange's 12.

The game did become increasingly physical as play went on, with Syracuse whistled for 39 fouls to Dartmouth's 15. The Orange was also given seven yellow cards including five in the last 8:23 of the game.

Syracuse, fresh off a one-goal loss to #1 Northwestern, did set the tone early with a 2-0 lead just 1:15 into the game, with scores by Tee Ladouceur and Tegan Brown, but Dartmouth was not to be denied.

The Big Green responded with an amazing run of four goals in the span of just one minute, 32 seconds (1:32), to take a 4-2 lead at 24:07. Sophomore Sarah Plumb (Wellesley, Mass.) started the scoring at 25:39 off a pass from classmate Erin Massimi (Westwood, Mass.) and then returned the favor, feeding Meyer who found the back of the net at 25:06. The next two goals came quickly for Kat Collins (Darien, Conn.) as Dartmouth won the draw and went straight at Hogan. Collins scored an unassisted goal at 24:43 and then made good on a free position for the 4-2 lead.

Things cooled down a bit until Syracuse put together a modest 2-1 run with rare unassisted goals from Halley Quillinan and Jackie DePetris around a Meyer score off a feed from Collins to make it a 5-4 Big Green lead at 12:45.

Kirsten Goldberg (Cockeysville, Md.) won the draw and Dartmouth extended the lead with a Meyer free position goal at 12:14, starting a 5-0 run that including a tally from Hillary Smith (Bronxville, N.Y.), another goal by Meyer and two straight from Parks to go up 10-4 with 5:34 left in the first half. The second Meyer score marked Dartmouth's eighth shot of the game, and eighth goal.

Sophomore Sarah Parks

Syracuse ended the half on a bit of a run as Christina Dove scored one and assisted another for DePetris to make it 10-6, Dartmouth at halftime.

The Big Green had absolutely no let down in the second half, coming out blazing to score five goals in the first six minutes of the period for a 15-6 lead at 24:08. Impressively, five different players got in on the scoring action, started by a Smith free position at 29:07. Just like in the first half, Plumb, Massimi, Meyer and Parks all scored within a 2:16 window for that lead.

The Orange finally got on the board in the second with an unassisted tally by Dove with 21:23 to play, but Dartmouth answered right back as Parks fed Massimi to take it back to 16-7 at 18:32. In perhaps the defining sequence of the game, Wadland came up with two huge saves in an 11 second span, the second off a free position. Rookie Kelsey Johnson (Hingham, Mass.) quickly cleared it up field to Parks, who put the Green up, 17-7 with 16:30 to play.

Syracuse would only have to endure the running clock (10-goal lead) for one minute before Sarah Holden scored, but it would ultimately be too little too late. The Big Green was patient on its offense and surrendered two more Orange goals, but none in the final 11 minutes of play, a stretch in which Syracuse committed 16 fouls.

Plumb's effort was well-rounded for Dartmouth, adding two goals and two assists to her team-high four draw controls. Smith also had a stellar defensive game, tracking down five ground balls and causing three turnovers.

#16 Dartmouth is back in action at home this weekend, hosting Yale in just its second Ivy League game of the season. The Big Green is 2-0 on Scully Fahey Field and has surrendered just three goals on its home turf to date. Dartmouth puts it on the line against the Bulldogs with a 1 p.m. draw on Saturday.