Late Goal Gives Big Green 1-0 Win over Central Connecticut State

Sunday, September 10

Hanover, N.H.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-0-2, 0-0-0

Central Connecticut State

2-4-1, 0-0-0

Central Conn. St.

Dartmouth

Celebration after game-winner against CCSU

Dartmouth celebrating after going up 1-0 against CCSU.

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Late Goal Gives Big Green 1-0 Win over Central Connecticut State

9/10/2023 7:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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Frankie Valverde tallied her first collegiate goal in the 79th minute

By: Nick Romei

HANOVER, N.H. – Frankie Valverde scored her first collegiate goal late in the second half to lead the Dartmouth women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Central Connecticut State (CCSU) on a rainy afternoon at Burnham Field.

"I'm really proud of the fight that this team continues to show, and for our back line and Emily Hardy for getting another shutout," said Stacy and Nick Branca Family Head Coach of Women's Soccer Taylor Schram. "We rotated some players in and we're giving some new players a look. It ended up working out, Frankie scored an unbelievable goal, and it was a great second half effort from the team."

As time ran down in the second half as both teams looked to break the deadlock, it was Dartmouth who struck first to find the winning goal. The Big Green were putting pressure on the CCSU back line, crossing balls into the box to create the chance to find the go-ahead goal. The opportunity came in the 79^th minute as Ellie Davidson crossed the ball to the top of the box to Daisy Granholm. Granholm headed it forward, looking for Carly Retterer, but the ball was intercepted by a Blue Devils defender. A miss-hit on the clearance from CCSU led to a high available ball in the box, and Valverde followed up to strike it out of the air into the top of the corner to give Dartmouth the 1-0 lead.

Valverde scores her first career goal to put the Big Green ahead!!

Watch the final 10 minutes on @ESPNPlus (https://t.co/wQMoblHfMN) or NESN+!#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/bpgcjCMjId
— Dartmouth W Soccer (@DartmouthWSoc) September 10, 2023

Speaking about her first goal and the win, Valverde said, "It was super exciting. I think the whole team was excited because we had been fighting really hard during the game. It was just awesome to get the win and keep our momentum moving forward."

Hardy made six saves in goal to record her fourth clean sheet of the season. The Big Green defense played a stellar 90 minutes, preventing the Blue Devils from creating great scoring opportunities.

Jaidyn Curry nearly opened her scoring account for the year. After a cross in from Danielle Burke to the back post, Curry beat her defender and struck it with her knee, but her shot was saved by CCSU goalkeeper Allison Jeter.

Dartmouth had four corners on the afternoon to CCSU's three while the Blue Devils held the edge in shots on goal, 6-3.

Schram finished with, "We're really proud of the effort and hope to keep it going."

With the win, the Big Green improve to 4-0-2 while the Blue Devils fall to 2-4-1.

Dartmouth continues its homestand with a midweek matchup against Iona on Wednesday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be available to stream nationally on ESPN+ and internationally on Stretch Internet. Single-game tickets are available for purchase through the Dartmouth Athletics Ticket Office.

We caught up with Coach Schram after today's 1-0 victory over CCSU!#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/xejgLN44zO
— Dartmouth W Soccer (@DartmouthWSoc) September 10, 2023

Hear from Frankie Valverde after her first collegiate goal led Dartmouth to a 1-0 victory!#GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/ULJz5KQRVD
— Dartmouth W Soccer (@DartmouthWSoc) September 10, 2023