W. Lax drops another close game in N.H.

(Penn - 5, Dartmouth - 6)

The Penn women's lacrosse team does not seem to have luck on its side.

Despite an impressive offensive effort, the Quakers were nonetheless outdueled by Dartmouth (7-3, 3-2 Ivy League) in overtime, 6-5.

Penn (5-6, 2-3), who has struggled as of late after a successful early-season campaign, traveled to Hanover, N.H., to take on the 18th-ranked team in the nation.

And early in the afternoon, the Red and Blue looked poised for an upset as they jumped out to a decisive and commanding lead.

Penn junior midfielder Crissy Book netted the Quakers' first goal of the game, only 3:12 into the first half.

Shortly thereafter another Penn midfielder -- sophomore Lindsey Cassidy -- beat Dartmouth netminder Sarah Hughes, putting the Quakers ahead, 2-0, 9:43 into the game.

But the Big Green proved to be resilient on its home turf.

In a 14-minute stretch Dartmouth tallied four goals, charging back to steal the lead from the Red and Blue.

Dartmouth senior Jen Newitt led the Big Green's comeback with two assists and one goal.

Thirteen minutes into the game, Newitt fed a pass to Dartmouth's Kate Cole, who managed to beat Penn's goaltender, Alaina Harper.

Only two minutes later, Newitt dished to Amy Frazier, who tied the game at two by beating Harper.

Katy Cuneo and Newitt would add goals of their own, putting Dartmouth ahead ,4-2.

The Quakers would close the halftime gap to one, however, when Penn's Kate Murray scored to cut the Big Green advantage to 4-3.

Murray's goal sparked an early Quakers' run in the second half, as Penn would score again to even the game at 4-4.

The Big Green took another lead late in the game, pushing ahead with five minutes left in the matchup. But it was Murray again who struck back to put the Quakers back into a tie with the Big Green.

Penn would remain tied with Dartmouth for the rest of the half, leaving the game knotted at five heading into overtime.

The Big Green were quick to strike in the extra period. Only 1:08 into overtime, Dartmouth's Newitt sent a feed to Cole, who nailed a high shot into the back of Penn's net.

The tough-luck defeat was Penn's second this week.

Heading into the matchup, the Red and Blue were focusing on shaping up their own game and moving on from their 6-5 loss to Rutgers on Wednesday.

Yet what followed in the Dartmouth contest was an eerily similar situation as that which played out against the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers and Penn traded goals throughout the game, but in the last five minutes, the Scarlet Knights tossed in their sixth goal and the Quakers failed to respond.

With three losses in the Ancient Eight, the possibility of a conference bid to the NCAA tournament seems to be out of sight for Penn. However, the Quakers have not given up their hopes of clinching a regional bid.

In order to seal the berth, Penn will likely need to wins the remainder of its games during the regular season.

Next up for the Quakers is a date with No. 1 Princeton on Wednesday in Princeton, N.J.

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