HANOVER, N.H. -- Sophomore Greta Meyer (Denver, Colo.) scored a season-high four goals on senior day but it was not enough as a second-half run propelled No. 8 Syracuse past No. 16 Dartmouth on a steamy day at Scully-Fahey Field.

It was nearly 90 degrees on the field and both teams brought plenty of fire, combining for 50 shots and 40 fouls while the sun blazed and the North winds whipped. Syrcause gave its NCAA resume a serious boost, improving to 13-4 overall while Dartmouth dropped to 8-7 (5-2 Ivy) in its final home game of the season.

The Big Green battled back to tie the game at 7-7 less than eight minutes into the second half before the Orange rattled off five unanswered goals to pull ahead for good with just seven minutes to play. Syracuse employed a late stall which made it difficult for Dartmouth to get scoring opportunities, but the Big Green did earn two more goals for the final, 12-9.

Syracuse's Christina Dove and Katie Rowan countered Meyer's efforts with five and three goals, respectively.

Dartmouth goalie Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.), Tewaaraton Award nominee, had yet another solid day in goal for the Big Green with nine saves.

Dove and Rowan opened the game with back-to-back goals just 43 seconds apart for the Orange, putting the visitors ahead 2-0 with 22:11 to play. Meyer got the Big Green on the board less than four minutes later with a good free position goal but the Cuse answered back with three scores in less than two minutes to take a 5-1 lead at 16:55.

Dartmouth head coach Amy Patton called a timeout for her team to regroup and it worked like a charm. The Big Green responded with three-unanswered goals, while the defense locked down on the Orange attack. Senior Katherine Chiusano (Medford, N.J.) scored the first after rookie Sarah Parks (Ellicott City, Md.) made an unselfish play to pitch the ball to the upperclassman despite being open herself. Chiusano made it worth it with a nice high shot past Liz Hogan at 14:29.

The defense and middies did the bulk of the work for the next 10 minutes before Dartmouth got back on the board with back-to-back scores from Meyer and Parks to make it 5-4 with 3:04 to play in the half. The Big Green smothered several late Orange attempts at goal but Bridget Looney sneaked one in just before the buzzer to give Syarcuse a 6-4 halftime lead.

The Big Green had a productive halftime and came out with purpose in the second half. Parks drew a free position on the right side less than two minutes into the period and drove to the cage. She was fouled and earned herself a second attempt from a much better, straight-on angle and she rocketed one past Hogan to pull the Big Green within one. The Orange temporarily reinflated the lead at 25:11 with an unassisted tally by Dove to make it 7-5.

Dartmouth continued to battle and rookie Dana Brisbane (Locust Valley, N.Y.) made a pair of big plays during a two minute span, first scoring a free position goal and then providing the assist on Meyer's third tally of the day to tie it up at 7-7 with 22:22 on the clock.

The momentum was short-lived for Dartmouth, however, as Syracuse got to work and scored four goals in the next eight minutes with two goals and two assists coming from Jackie DePetris off the bench to make it 11-7 with 14:27 to play. Though there was plenty of time for a Big Green comeback, the Orange milked the clock on offense and added an insurance goal to go up 12-7 with 6:59.

Dartmouth got two more good goals to keep Syracuse on its toes with rookie Erin Massimi (Westwood, Mass.) and Meyer each scoring in the final five minutes to make it 12-9.

1 2 3    Next  »

2009-04-28