Big Green Battle Back in Second Half to Beat UNH, 11-10

Tuesday, February 23

Hanover, N.H.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-0

New Hampshire

1-2

New Hampshire

Dartmouth

Big Green Battle Back in Second Half to Beat UNH, 11-10

2/23/2016 5:07:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – The Dartmouth women's lacrosse team owns Granite State bragging rights once again as it defeated New Hampshire, 11-10, Tuesday afternoon at Scully-Fahey Field.

In the 40th all-time meeting between the two New Hampshire Division I teams, the Big Green came out on top for the fifth straight time and now own a 24-16 edge in the series.

The Wildcats led for most of the game, but a second-half surge allowed the Green to take its first lead of the day and then build on it as they managed to hold off their rivals from Durham for the final 18 minutes.

The win helped Dartmouth improve to 2-0 this season with both wins coming at home. UNH falls to 1-2 overall with its second straight defeat.

The visitors had a 5-4 lead at halftime and built the lead to two in the opening minutes of the second frame. That's when the home team began to chip away at the deficit.

“I thought we were lucky to be in the game after the first half. We came out so flat and weren't executing any of our plays,” head coach Amy Patton said. “But this game was a tale of two halves. We stepped up and were more aggressive on defense. Attacking, we just moved the ball better in the second half. Not much more to it than that.”

After Dartmouth tied the score at 6-6 on Taryn Deck's second goal of the day just under four minutes into the second half — the first time tied since 2-2 midway through the opening frame — UNH responded with a Laura McHoul marker just a short time later to regain the advantage.

That would be the last edge the Wildcats held in the contest as the Green and White notched the next four goals to build up a 10-7 lead. The Cats mounted a comeback bid of their own in the final minutes, but Sophie Davidson's second-career tally late proved to be the game winner.

New Hampshire pressed to get the equalizer in the final two minutes, but an outstanding defensive play from freshman Elizabeth Mastrio caused a UNH turnover and saw the rookie run the field with the ball, taking precious seconds off the clock that had just dipped under two to play in regulation.

Classmate Charlotte Wahle picked up her second career win in as many starts, turning aside seven in her most impressive outing yet. Several of her key saves denied Wildcat attackers right on the doorstop and helped her team to the one-goal victory.

Once again, the Dartmouth attack ran through Leto, who finished the game with another five goals, while adding her first assist of the season. Deck posted her second three-goal, two-assist contest of the spring as she has proven to be a strong cast member alongside Leto and Courtney Weisse, who also had a pair of helpers.

UNH's goalkeeper Kate Clancy put forth a solid individual effort, making 12 saves, including 10 in the first half that allowed the Wildcats to play with the lead throughout.

The game's lone fault seemed to be in that it was marred by fouls and cards. In all, 60 fouls were called in the game along with five yellow cards assessed to each team.

For the game, Dartmouth outshot UNH, 29-24, and held a 14-8 edge in draw controls, a critical fact considering the eight in the second stanza helped the Green maintain possession cap the comeback bid.

“We've worked on draws more than any other skill set this year,” Patton said. “This team has got some real fighters out there who have a ton of quickness out there doing everything they can to come up with the ball.”

The Big Green head to Gainesville to take on No. 3 Florida Saturday at noon.