The Penn and Dartmouth women's soccer teams each needed to win Saturday's game at Rhodes Field for different reasons.
A win by the Quakers (6-3-3, 1-2-1 Ivy) would have kept them in the Ivy League title race and at least partially avenged a 2-1 loss in 2001, which still simmers in the minds of those who were on the wrong end of it.
For the Big Green (7-5-1, 4-0-0), it was about all but sealing this year's Ancient Eight title and gaining some revenge of their own after Penn won 2-1 in Hanover, N.H., last year on the last day of the season.
In the end -- and perhaps most importantly, in the beginning of yesterday's game -- Dartmouth came out on top, scoring twice in the first 15 minutes to win 2-0 and solidify its spot atop the Ivy League.
"We didn't play with any kind of passion, we didn't play with any kind of commitment," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said.
For the sixth time in the last seven games, the Red and Blue surrendered the first goal. Although Penn had chances to score in the first five minutes of the game, Dartmouth took advantage of a botched clearance in the ninth minute and Big Green senior midfielder Kelliann Partridge rifled a 20-yard shot past Anna Halse into the net.
Dartmouth would stun the Rhodes Field crowd -- which had a sizable contingent of Dartmouth fans, including former Big Green and Philadelphia Charge midfielder Mary McVeigh -- again only five minutes later when Dartmouth midfielder Anne Peick found Christina Ferraris, who chipped the ball over an onrushing Halse to make it 2-0.
The second goal seemed to awaken the Red and Blue, and they started to push forward -- but to no avail. The closest they would come to a goal was in the 18th minute when junior Lydia Bojcun found sophomore Carolyn Cross at the 6-yard box. However, her shot hit the post and Dartmouth goalkeeper Anne Marbarger pounced on the rebound.
Although there would be more attacks in both halves for Penn, the Big Green continued to frustrate the home side and came away with the win.
Penn senior defender Heather Issing, who did not start due to an ankle injury sustained against Columbia last weekend, came on as a substitute in the first half and made an immediate impact in settling the backline after the early goals.
"It was an uphill run -- what are you going to do," Issing said. Ambrose "just wanted a little bit more leadership and to win a couple more balls in the center of the field, so we pushed Megan [Boys] up and I slipped in the back."
Dartmouth coach Ben Landis was pleased and a little relieved to get the win.
"With all due respect, [Penn is] a hard-working team, but I thought we were a better team and I think once we were able to relax, we were able to show that," he said.
Bojcun, who was one Penn player that stepped up after Dartmouth's two goals, doesn't think that all hope for a championship is lost quite yet.
"Any given team can lose on any given day, so we've just got to hope for some really wacky results in the rest of the Ivy League," she said. "Just like we always say, keep your head up, the game is not over, and let's look forward to Villanova" on Wednesday.
