Strong Rebound After Tough Start Not Enough at Vermont

Sunday, October 23

Burlington, Vt.

12:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Vermont

Olivia Galiotos field hockey action versus the Princeton Tigers

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Strong Rebound After Tough Start Not Enough at Vermont

10/23/2022 3:06:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

The Big Green fired seven of their 12 shots in the fourth quarter

By: Justin Lafleur

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont scored on three of its first four shots before the Dartmouth field hockey team rebounded over the final three quarters, but it wasn't enough in a 4-0 loss on Sunday. Defensively, the Big Green didn't allow a goal for a stretch of 34:49 while offensively, Dartmouth had one stretch of seven straight shots in the fourth quarter, as the team got better as the game progressed.

"We definitely didn't start the way we wanted to," said head coach Mark Egner. "I think that showed in the result coming out of the first quarter, which really put us in an uncomfortable situation. But I have to give our girls credit. We challenged them to pick things up and put the opposition under more pressure and that was a challenge they rose to. They put on a lot more pressure over the second and third quarters; we made progress and changed the momentum of the game, which we were proud of."

The Catamounts opened the scoring just 2:11 in, as Alina Gerke made a move to free herself at the end line, and her shot from a tough angle beat Dartmouth goalkeeper Hatley Post for the early 1-0 lead.

Vermont's second goal came at the 9:01 mark, as Sophia Lefranc made a move around Post before firing into the open cage. The Catamounts then made it 3-0 just over two minutes later via a penalty stroke.

Dartmouth's first shot on goal came off the stick of Myah Pease in the final minute of the first quarter, a high shot off a penalty corner in which Sierra Espeland made a strong save with her blocker. By far, the Big Green's best chance of the half, and game, came in the final two minutes of the second quarter. Zoe Schaffer carried in down the right side and made a centering feed to Holley Cromwell, point-blank in front of Espeland, but the UVM goalkeeper made the impressive stop to keep her team in front, 3-0.

The Big Green dropped a 4-0 final at Vermont today. Take a look at Dartmouth's best chance, a point-blank opportunity from Holley Cromwell in which the keeper made an incredible stop pic.twitter.com/kjdQh5Q2Uf
— DartmouthFieldHockey (@DartmouthFH) October 23, 2022

UVM added insurance 1:22 into the fourth quarter, off the stick of Maddie Priestly. However, from there, the Big Green responded with the game's next seven shots (five on goal), but couldn't get one past Espeland.

"Going into the fourth quarter, we had nothing to lose and we changed things up and threw more people forward in the attack," said Egner. "The pressure intensified even more. The girls did everything we asked of them for three quarters of today's game. The challenge is to do it for four quarters – to play with intensity and the confidence that we need."

Final shots were 14-12 in favor of Vermont while Dartmouth held a 7-5 edge in penalty corners. Post finished with six saves, across Espeland, who made seven.

After UVM scored on three of its first four shots of the day, the Big Green defense held the Catamounts scoreless for the next 34:49 and allowed just one goal over the final 3+ quarters. pic.twitter.com/7umMxveG2Q
— DartmouthFieldHockey (@DartmouthFH) October 23, 2022

The Big Green are set to return home for the final two games of the season, beginning with a showdown vs. Yale on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 12 p.m. and will be part of homecoming and a 50 Years of Women's Athletics at Dartmouth celebration.