No. 12 W. Lax has its winning streak of two games snapped by No. 9 Dartmouth

In a game eerily similar to last year's, Penn's women's lacrosse team lost to Dartmouth. The Big Green outhustled and outscored the Quakers in a match which ended 16-6. As the first game in a three-game series, No. 12 Penn had hoped to prove better competition for No. 9-ranked Dartmouth. Not only did the Big Green (5-0, 2-0 Ivy League) take more shots than the Quakers, but they also managed to convert more than 50 percent of those shots into goals. With 23 minutes to go in the first half, the two teams were tied, but only 30 seconds later Dartmouth scored again, beginning a trend of consistent scoring throughout the game. At halftime, the Penn coaches demanded a more aggressive defense. With a first-half score of 8-2, Penn needed to stop any fastbreaks and become more tenacious on defense. Even though Penn (3-3, 2-1) was able to get the ball into the offensive end more frequently, the Quakers were unable to keep up with Dartmouth's fast pace of scoring. Penn earned four goals in the second half, twice as many as they had in the first period, but the Big Green doubled their score. The smooth execution of its passing series was an asset to Dartmouth, half of whose goals had assists. To some spectators, the game may have seemed a lost cause after only the first half, but the Quakers refused to give up. With only 49 seconds left in the game, junior Sue Pierce scored the final shot of the game. "I don't think that the score of Friday's game shows the way we can play or our game," Pierce said. "The most frustrating aspect of Friday night's game was not knowing what went wrong." Although this season has many similarities to last year's, Penn hopes that the remainder will be different. After losing to the Big Green last year, the Red and Blue proceeded to be defeated in four of their last six games. Despite the disappointing contest, the Quakers are ready to face Princeton and Brown. "Dartmouth's behind us and we have to move on," Pierce said. "We play Princeton on Wednesday and Brown on Saturday, and that's what is most important to us now. If we continue playing like a team and play together, then we should be able to win." As they get stronger as a team and improve their play, the Quakers are looking forward to the challenges which lie ahead. Having proved to themselves that their dedication and hard work have paid off, Penn needs only to remind its competitors.

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