Net play key for women's soccer against Big Green

In a Sept. 21 contest against UMass, Dartmouth forward Sarah Johnson lined up to take a free kick just outside the penalty box during the second overtime. After 107 minutes of scoreless play, Johnson confidently strode up to the ball and curled it around the wall of Minutewomen into the bottom left corner.

The following week, in the Big Green's Ivy League opener against Brown, Johnson lined up for another free kick, this time in the 29th minute. She swung it toward the bottom left corner, but this time Meghan Wijas came in from the far post and redirected the ball into the right corner.

These two plays embody the Dartmouth offense: skilled, deep and cool under pressure. Princeton (2-4-2 overall, 0-1-0 Ivy League) will experience the Big Green's skill firsthand as the Tigers travel to Hanover, N.H., on Sunday to try to earn their first League victory.

Dartmouth (6-2-0, 1-0-0) has eight players who have scored at least one goal this season, and Johnson leads the way with four. The Big Green has outscored its opponents, 12-8, and outshot themm 101-54. Darmouth has also played six one-goal contests, games in which the team is 5-1, with three overtime victories. The Big Green also comes into the game on a four-game winning streak.

"Dartmouth is a big, strong team that is tough to break through," head coach Julie Shackford said. "They have been winning some tight games, and it is always tough to play them on the road."

For the first seven games of the season, only two Tigers were able to put points on the board: senior forward Emily Behncke, who had five goals, and sophomore midfielder Diana Matheson, who had two.

But during a 4-0 win against La Salle on Tuesday night, Princeton has finally begun to show potential firepower of its own. With Behncke on the bench in the second half for some well-earned rest, it was a pair of reserves who came forward to help Matheson by scoring their first collegiate goals. Matheson broke a scoreless tie in the 72nd minute, thus opening the floodgates for freshman midfielder Sarah Peteraf, who struck twice in the next eight minutes. Sophomore forward Aubrey Wagenseller then rounded out the scoring at four with just one second left.

The Tigers cannot become complacent at this success, however, since La Salle is not as competitive a team as Dartmouth.

"I think we have really learned more from some of the tougher games we have had this season," Shackford said. "It's a good match from the scoring perspective, but I'm not sure how much you learn tactically from a game like La Salle."

The Tiger defense held the Explorers to zero shots on goal, a feat rarely accomplished by Big Green opponents. The game could easily come down to the play of the goalkeepers, a position that has been somewhat shaky for both teams.

Dartmouth has split time in goal between Amanda Webb, who has started four games, and Laurel Peak, who has started five. Though Peak began the season as the starter, Webb played the last two games without allowing a goal and will probably start against Princeton on Sunday.

The Tigers also began the season with senior Madeleine Jackson playing the most time between the pipes. Jackson started four of the first six games of the season, allowing five goals and notching 20 saves. But sophomore Maren Dale appears to have wrested the job, starting the last two games, including the Ivy League opener against Yale.

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"We still need to do some evaluating, but Maren has been playing really well," Shackford said. "Obviously she does not have the same experience, but right now I feel we are going to use her on Sunday."

The lack of experience could be a factor as the pressure on Princeton mounts. After losing to Yale, every Ivy League game has become a must-win if the Tigers hope to capture another league title — a difficult proposition for a team with a lot of question marks.

With a sophomore goalkeeper and an offense just beginning to show signs of life, many of those questions will be answered Sunday in the face of the Big Green's offensive onslaught, for better or for worse.