Big Green Fall Short at Penn, 4-1

Saturday, October 7

Philadelphia, Pa.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

(4-5, 1-3Ivy League)

Penn

(6-5, 4-0Ivy League)

Dartmouth

Penn

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

10/7/2023 4:30:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

Emma Reynolds scored her first collegiate goal in the defeat

By: Justin Lafleur

PHILADELPHIA — Penn opened the scoring just 4:14 into Saturday's game off a penalty corner, and scored two more early in the second quarter, which proved too much for the Dartmouth field hockey team to overcome as the Big Green fell to the Quakers, 4-1. The Big Green had a strong second half, outshooting Penn 4-3 over the final 30 minutes, which included the first-career goal from freshman Emma Reynolds in the fourth quarter.

With the loss, Dartmouth falls to 4-5 and 1-3 in Ivy League playing. Following a Wednesday win at Princeton, Penn improves to 4-0 in league play (6-5 overall).

"Coming into today, we knew that Penn was going to be very strong," said Dartmouth head coach Mark Egner. "They were coming off a big win midweek and they presented a lot of things that we expected. In the first quarter, unfortunately, they got a goal on the board that took the wind out of our sails a little bit. But I was proud of the team, especially in the second half, for increasing our fight and finding ways to get ourselves back into the game.

"Not thrilled with the result, but there are some aspects of the process that we can take pride in for sure."

Penn generated two early penalty corners. The first saw Carlson make a strong stick save, but she couldn't stop the second as Allison Kuzyk gave the Quakers a 1-0 lead less than five minutes in.

That score stood throughout the first quarter, with Dartmouth nearly pulling even in the final minute. Sophomore Florentina Terra took a hard shot from a dangerous place in front of the goalkeeper, but it sailed just wide of the far post.

In the second quarter, the Quakers scored twice in less than a minute to open a 3-0 advantage. Later in the stanza, senior Lila Browne rocketed a reverse shot that looked ticketed for the far post, but Penn goalkeeper Frederique Wollaert made a strong stop to keep the margin three heading into halftime.

Dartmouth held a 2-1 edge in third-quarter shots, but the Quakers' only chance found the back of the cage at the 41:50 mark, making the score 4-0 heading to the fourth.

The Big Green kept the pressure going in the fourth, turning it into a goal. Less than five minutes into the quarter, freshman Lucia Campaño made an impressive move near the end line to get herself free, Wollaert came out strong to kick the ball out. But fifth year Meg Barnes collected it and fired the ball towards cage, where Reynolds made the deflection into the back of the net to pull within 4-1.

"It was really a team effort," said Reynolds. "Our whole team came together in full transition and Meg gave me a great ball. I was there, but it really was a team effort all around."

Check out multiple angles of Emma Reynolds' first-career goal this afternoon at Penn!#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/GCulON4VOQ
— DartmouthFieldHockey (@DartmouthFH) October 7, 2023

There were only three combined shots from that point forward, two by Penn and one by Dartmouth, all on goal, but Carlson made two saves and new Quakers' goalkeeper Hayley Hayden had one.

Ava Carlson had a number of quality saves this afternoon, perhaps none better than this stick stop on one that looked ticketed for the back of the net.#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/fpCAvwPDIC
— DartmouthFieldHockey (@DartmouthFH) October 7, 2023

Final shots were 10-7 in favor of Penn while the Big Green held a 4-3 edge in penalty corners. Carlson finished with six saves across a pair of Penn goalkeepers who each had one.

Dartmouth returns to action on Sunday as the Big Green face La Salle on the same field, at Penn's Ellen Vagelos Field. Gametime is set for noon and it will not be streamed, but live stats will be available.

"We need to take the lessons from today; we need to leave some things behind and reset our brains, get ourselves ready and understand what we're going to expect from La Salle," said Egner. "They're another team that's dangerous in possession, they see a lot of goal-scoring opportunities. They're a program on the rise, so we have to be prepared for that and be ready to manage their speed in transition."

We heard from Emma Reynolds about her first-career goal after today's 4-1 defeat at Penn.#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/nLOSOxZquY
— DartmouthFieldHockey (@DartmouthFH) October 7, 2023

Hear from head coach Mark Egner after today's loss at Penn.#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/Vq4JP8kfMM
— DartmouthFieldHockey (@DartmouthFH) October 7, 2023