#6 Penn Wins Defensive Struggled Over #7 Dartmouth Women's Lax, 9-6

Saturday, April 17

Hanover, N.H.

12:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Penn

#6 Penn Wins Defensive Struggled Over #7 Dartmouth Women's Lax, 9-6

4/17/2010 7:45:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - In a game in which every possession proved critical, #7 Dartmouth simply did not have the ball enough, seeing its nine-game winning streak snapped by #6 Penn, 9-6.

Penn (10-3, 5-0 Ivy) came out on top in the meeting of the Ivy League's only two unbeatens and two of the top defenses in the nation, primarily using a commanding 13-4 advantage in draw controls to put Dartmouth (9-2, 4-1) away.

On senior day, senior goalie Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.) made seven saves and caused two Penn turnovers, but it was not enough as the Big Green was plagued by its inability to win draw controls. Even with nine more possessions off the draw, Penn still only scored nine goals, including a late one with Wadland out of the cage.

Conversely, Dartmouth had no real trouble with Penn senior goalie Emily Szelest, who did not have a single save on the day, but getting shots on goal proved the problem for the Big Green, as Penn held a 27-14 shot advantage.

Dartmouth opened the game on a positive note when Sarah Plumb (Wellesley, Mass.) scored at 26:44 to get the crowd on its feet, as a sturdy group of Big Green faithful turned out despite the cold and raining conditions.

The Big Green's momentum was short-lived, however, as Penn scored on consecutive possessions, first with Emma Spiro converting on a pass from Giulia Giordano and then Spiro assisting Erin Brennan to make it 2-1 at 23:48. Penn score a third unanswered goal at 16:18 off a Courtney Lubbe free position to go up 3-1.

Neither team could find the back of the net for the balance of the half, though Penn outshot Dartmouth, which struggled to clear the ball out of its defensive end safely, 13-7.

As expected, Dartmouth came out on fire in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals in the first eight minutes to storm to a 4-3 lead at 22:52. Wadland opened the half with a big save and Dartmouth cleared the ball quickly up to Greta Meyer (Denver, Colo.), who fed rookie Hana Bowers (Old Greenwich, Conn.) from behind the cage to make it 3-2 just 56 seconds into the half.

Sophomore Hilary Smith tied the game at 24:32 with a free position goal after a long Dartmouth possession that included two prior shots. The Big Green really kept the pressure on by promptly scoring the third-straight goal after a Penn timeout, an unassisted tally by Sarah Parks (Ellicott City, Md.), her 25^th of the season.

Dartmouth made some great plays and some tough mistakes during the next six minute stretch, in which it failed to get what would have been a crucial 5-3 lead. Turnovers in the Big Green's own defensive end ultimately allowed Penn's Spiro to score her second of the game off a feed from Erin Brennan to make it 4-4 at 16:22.

That goal started a 3-0 run for Penn that gave the Quakers a quick 6-4 lead by 12:53, and all the momentum in the game. Penn continued to win draw controls, and though a Wadland save and a one-on-one eventually led to a score by Plumb to make it 6-5 at 11:24, the game still seemed to be in the visitors' hands.

Penn asserted itself with two more unanswered goals, a free position from Giordano and an unassisted tally by Lubbe, to make it 8-5 with 7:05 to play. Dartmouth called timeout and got just what it needed on the next possession, winning the draw control and scoring quickly to cut the lead to 8-6 with plenty of time, 5:50, to play.

Unfortunately for Dartmouth, Penn won the ensuing draw and was able to maintain possession and work the clock down almost all the way. Maddie Poplawski took advantage with Wadland out of the cage for a split second, scoring with just 11 seconds to play to seal the 9-6 Quaker win.

Defensively, Dartmouth shut down Penn's all-time leading scorer Ali DeLuca, with a well-executed face guard by freshman Kelsey Johnson (Hingham, Mass.), but Penn found other options to get the win. For the second-straight game, Dartmouth was without the services of All-Ivy senior defender Colleen Olsen (Avon, Conn.), also a US National team player.

Prior to the game, Dartmouth honored its five seniors including Olsen, Wadland, goalie Chelsea Kirk (Hunt Valley, Md.), defender Alex Huestis (Swarthmore, Pa.) and attacker Eliza Bennett (Darien, Conn.).

With the win, Penn definitely gained the inside track towards hosting the first-ever Ivy League Tournament. A Princeton loss today at Harvard dropped the Tigers to 3-2 in Ivy play, with Penn (5-0) first and Dartmouth (4-1 second). Both Dartmouth and Penn play Princeton this week, so the Big Green will need some help from the Tigers to hope for a share of the Ivy title. Penn would have to lose its two remaining games, against Princeton and Brown, in order for Dartmouth to have an opportunity to host the tournament.

#7 Dartmouth embarks on one of its most challenging weeks of the season, traveling to Harvard this Wednesday, April 20 at 4 p.m. before making the trek to Princeton for a Sunday game.