Big Green Veterans Get Best Of Walsh

Seniority rules. Or at least it did in Sunday’s contest between the Harvard and Dartmouth women’s soccer teams, as the young Crimson squad (3-12-1, 2-4-0 Ivy) suffered a 3-1 defeat to the senior-laden Big Green (11-4-1, 5-1-0 Ivy).

Dartmouth, entering the game unbeaten at home, started ten fourth-years on the team’s Senior Day against a Harvard lineup that included six freshmen and just one senior, captain Laura Odorczyk.

The match also marks a return to Hanover for Harvard Coach Erica Walsh, who led the Dartmouth women’s soccer team to two Ivy League titles during her three-year tenure as head coach. Despite her familiarity with the program and the strong conference play of Dartmouth so far this year, Walsh tried to keep the team focused on its own game.

“As we have gone into many of these games, our concern was much more on ourselves than on the opponent,” Walsh said. “Our adjustments came more from the Princeton loss and were made to put us in the best place on the field and in the best place to be successful.”

The Crimson hoped to silence the senior day fanfare early on, as the team came out firing against a Big Green senior goalie who had seen only limited playing time before Sunday’s game but was still called on to start her final home match.

“Dartmouth started a goalkeeper that hadn’t really had any game experience,” Walsh said. “So we brought the team together and told them to shoot as often as possible.”

Looking to capitalize on a foul that was called against Dartmouth six minutes into the game, Walsh called upon freshman defender Lizzy Nichols to take the free kick from thirty yards out. Nichols, who had scored on a similar penalty kick in a 2-1 loss to Brown earlier in the year, pinned the ball in the upper right corner of the net to give the Crimson the early lead.

“I have been working on set pieces a lot in practice,” Nichols said. “So I felt a bit more comfortable taking the shot.”

“Nichols has good range and has proven that she can be a threat from the outside,” Walsh added.

Harvard did indeed rain on the parade of the Dartmouth seniors, as the Big Green was forced to put its regular starters in to keep the hope of winning the Ivy League title alive. This, in combination with 40 m.p.h. wind gusts that hurt the Crimson’s game, shifted momentum in Dartmouth’s favor towards the end of the first half.

Dartmouth senior Nicole Cameli scored the equalizer in the 37th minute on a scrappy play in front of the net and the Big Green continued to fire shots at Harvard goalie Laura Mann until the end of the first half. Mann continued her solid play, however, and was able to preserve the 1-1 tie through to halftime. The freshman goalie logged ninety full minutes for the Crimson and finished the game with seven saves.

“Laura has proven herself game in and game out,” Walsh said. “Balls have certainly found the back of the net but proportional to the number of big chances that she faces on a game-by-game basis, her play has been impressive.”

The Crimson took the field in the second half hoping to launch a counter-attack, yet continued to battle the wind and Dartmouth’s strong offensive drives down the field.

As a result, the Big Green took the lead in 56th minute after Cameli beat Mann to the rebound of teammate Melissa Metulich’s shot on goal. Dartmouth tallied another score in the 83rd minute to seal the 3-1 victory when Junior Monica Martin de Bustamente blasted a loose-ball in the box over Mann’s head.

“The ground was slick, so we needed to follow up every shot on both attack and defense,” Walsh said.

The Crimson will return to action for the final time in a home game on Saturday against Columbia, who currently sits on top in the Ivy League standings. The contest also marks the final collegiate match for Odorczyk, whose leadership has been integral to the Crimson this season.

“We’d love to use this game to send Laura out on a high note,” Walsh said. “This is also an opportunity to spoil Columbia’s chance at the Ivy League title.”