Losing the tough battles and foot races on Saturday cost Yale the game.
In the Bulldogs’ third Ivy League matchup this season, the Dartmouth Big Green (7–4, 2–1 Ivy) stormed the field and out-battled the Elis (5–6, 0–3 Ivy) for a 3–1 victory in Hanover. It was Dartmouth’s first win over Yale in five years.
“We worked hard, but not nearly hard enough,” captain and midfielder Jenny Butwin ’13 said. “We lost because they outplayed us at almost every position.”
While the Elis earned a yellow card in the game, the Big Green had a total of seven fouls compared to the Bulldogs’ four. The ferocity that Dartmouth displayed on Saturday won them the ball and won them the game.
In the first half, the Big Green outshot the Elis 11–2. Dartmouth demonstrated higher ball possession and gave the Bulldogs no space to work in an attack.
“We struggled with how fast they came out,” forward Anne Song ’13 said.
Just 14 minutes into the game, Dartmouth’s Emma Brush — the second-leading scorer in the Ivy League — tapped the ball past goalkeeper Rachel Ames ’16 on a corner kick that landed in the box to put the Big Green up 1–0.
Six minutes later, however, Yale fought back when midfielder Kristen Forster ’13 pounded a shot past Dartmouth keeper Tatiana Saunders on a clean pass from midfielder Muriel Battaglia ’15. Forster’s goal tied her for the second spot in Ivy League scoring.
As the first half came to a close, the Bulldogs held the Big Green to a 1–1 draw, in spite of the flurry of 11 shots that were blasted on the Bulldogs’ net. As the second half started, however, things began to turn south for the Elis.
The Bulldogs outshot the Big Green 7–5 in the second half, but it was not enough.
Dartmouth put themselves up 2–1 just two minutes into the second half when forward Corey Delaney popped a shot past Ames on a cross from midfielder Marina Moschitto. Dartmouth sealed the fate of the Elis 22 minutes later when freshman forward Lucielle Kozlov fired a cannon from 18 yards out into the bottom corner.
In goal, Ames stopped seven of 10 shots while Dartmouth’s Saunders boasted a .800 save percentage.
“You’re not going to win any Ivy games if you give up three goals,” head Coach Rudy Meredith said.
Despite losing the one–on–one battles and ultimately losing to Dartmouth, Meredith said they were successful in making some of the changes necessary to hone their gameplay.
He added that, in recent practices, the Bulldogs have improved in their fitness and mid-game flexibility.
For the Bulldogs to boast a winning Ivy record, the team must beat every Ivy competitor for the rest of this season.
The Bulldogs’ next game will take place Saturday at Cornell.