It might have been one day early, but it was a resurrection nonetheless.
Down by three goals to No. 2 Princeton on Saturday with just one minute, 57 seconds to play, three-time defending Ivy League women's champion Dartmouth appeared to be finished. Dreams of beating the Tigers at Princeton Stadium to claim another outright Ivy crown were fading away. But then — as if raised from the dead — the Big Green scored three goals in the remaining 117 seconds of regulation, including defender Amy Zimmer's shot past senior goalie Laura Field with just 14 seconds left to send the epic struggle into overtime.
No. 9 Dartmouth (11-1 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) then finished off the Tigers (12-2, 5-1) with three unanswered goals in overtime, claiming the improbable victory, 16-13.
"We played 58 minutes of great lacrosse," head coach Chris Sailer said. "This was just a tough loss."
The overtime — which was divided into two three-minute periods — was completely dominated by the Big Green. The looks on the faces of Princeton's athletes going into the extra session did not inspire confidence. The Tigers could barely get possession in the extra frame, and when Princeton did manage to control the ball, good scoring opportunities failed to present themselves.
"I was confident that we could win," sophomore attack Lauren Simone said. "But we just couldn't get a draw or possession in overtime."
The entire stadium was convinced that Simone's goal with 1:57 left in the second half — giving Princeton a 13-10 lead — had finished off the Big Green. The game had been back and forth the entire day — with ties at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 9-9 and then the fateful 13-13.
Down 13-10, Dartmouth pulled even in dramatic fashion. Attack Jacque Weitzel drew a penalty and converted on a free position opportunity to cut Princeton's lead to two. After the Tigers committed a few more penalties, midfielder Allison Moulin beat Field, closing the Big Green to within 13-12. Dartmouth retained ball control, and Field made an amazing save with about one minute remaining — but that wasn't enough. Finally, Zimmer beat Field to the net with only 14 ticks to go, deflating the Princeton team and crowd and giving the Big Green the momentum to dominate the extra six minutes.
It had been the Tigers who managed to pull away at different points during the game, until the waning moments. Princeton scored the last three goals of the first half to take a 7-4 lead into the locker room. Freshman attack Whitney Miller broke the 4-4 tie with 7:01 left in the opening stanza. Miller's shot hit the post and bounced into the goal past Dartmouth goalie Sarah Hughes. Simone added the next goal after a feed from sophomore midfielder Mimi Hammerberg. Simone eluded three Dartmouth defenders with a spinning, quick shot to beat Hughes.
Princeton didn't get many other quick goals during the game, however. In fact, the Tigers couldn't win many draws all day.
"We didn't do well on the draws — I think we got only 11 of 32 — and we couldn't get back on transition defense or pick up enough ground balls," Sailer said.
Early strike
Dartmouth started the game's scoring — just 27 seconds into the match — when Weitzel punched in a shot past Field into the lower left corner of the net. Weitzel — who leads the nation in goals — scored five against the Tigers and added two assists.
Princeton also had two players score five goals — Simone and sophomore attack Kenworthy. Kenworthy's scores included three straight to break a 9-9 tie about halfway through the second stanza. Her second goal of the run came 16 seconds after the first one, on a relatively easy shot created by an impressive display of cutting and passing with Miller, who picked up the assist.
Simone's goals also came at critical moments during the struggle for Ivy supremacy. At different times, she ended Dartmouth rallies and contributed to Princeton runs. But in the end, the Tigers were left looking for answers when the Big Green scored six unanswered goals. Dartmouth's vocal fan contingent broke out bottles of champagne and the team celebrated on Princeton's field as the Tigers trudged toward the locker room and their fans left the stadium, dejected. After such a tough loss, Princeton's young team needs to rebound with the postseason approaching.
"We're only back on our heels when we think we are," Simone said. "We could see this team again in the [NCAA] tournament."
Read More
By the Numbers: Women’s water polo seniors end strong and track records set
Harrison BlankThis week in By the Numbers, women's track and field shined down in Virginia and the Tigers clinched some conference regular season championships. Amid these accomplishments, the Tigers won over two-thirds of their games and had winning records both at home and on the road.
This week in By the Numbers, women's track and field shined down in Virginia and the Tigers clinched some conference regular season championships. Amid these accomplishments, the Tigers won over two-thirds of their games and had winning records both at home and on the road.
No. 2 men’s lacrosse overcomes slow start to defeat Penn, 12–8
Hayk YengibaryanThe Tigers’ 10–2 start is their best start to a season since 2009.
The Tigers’ 10–2 start is their best start to a season since 2009.
Women’s lacrosse earns regular season Ivy title after defeating Brown on senior day
Leila Eshaghpour-SilbermanPrinceton women’s lacrosse became regular season Ivy League champions for the first time since 2022.
Princeton women’s lacrosse became regular season Ivy League champions for the first time since 2022.