Field hockey drops 6-0 to No. 18 in Princeton

The Big Green field hockey team struggled offensively at home on Saturday with a 6-0 loss to Princeton University. After the defeat, Big Green is now in season 4-7 and wins three conference games.

The Princetons attack was strong from the start of the game as Tigers put pressure on Big Green’s defense and left Dartmouth a few attacking opportunities. Princeton took advantage of several penalty attempts, with three of Tigers ’six goals coming from penalty shots.

Defender Sara Faulkson 22 said Dartmouth came into the game knowing it would be a long task to upset the Tigers.

Princeton is traditionally a very skilled team, so we knew by the time it became a battle, Faulkson said.

Midfielder Bronwyn Bird 24 said the outcome didn’t tell the whole story of the Big Green game.

Our defense was really strong, and I think take this game, see the score and we know we played to our hearts, Bird said. We played more heartily than last week when we played [Brown University].

Bird led Big Green with two shots. Striker Holly Cromwell 23 added shots and goalkeeper Hatley Post 23 helped Dartmouth with five fights, all in the fourth quarter.

Despite the struggles of the big greens, midfielder Meg Barnes 23 said the team remained cohesive and mutually supportive.

I would rather lose 20-0 and be part of a team that supports each other in such battles rather than having a team that wins but still doesn’t support and defend each other, Barnes said.

Two years ago, Big Green didn’t win the conference game and went 4-13 overall. After canceling last season, the team was eager to return to the field and improve.

A year off the field hockey showed me how much I love sports and what a big part of my Dartmouth experience was, goalkeeper Isabella Santucci 22 said. As this season came, I knew it was a gift because it was taken away from us last year, and I’ve just been more grateful every day, especially since its last year.

Big Green started this season with a strong narrow 2-1 win on their way to the University of California, Davis. Big Green then dropped his next two games on the road at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University. Santucci said the start of the season was really awesome and credited the travel experience to the new coaching staff of the field hockey teams.

It strengthened a lot of team ties, and it was awesome to get to play for West Coast teams because we don’t get much exposure for them because they’re so far away, Santucci said.

After returning from California, Dartmouth won three of four games at home. Big Green has not found a win column since then and has lost to Northeastern University as well as conference opponents Cornell University, Brown University and Princeton.

Despite dropping the first three conference games, Santucci believes the team will be able to compete best with the Ivy League.

As a parent, I want to get Ivy wins on the board, Santucci said. With our dedication and thinking, it is completely in our hands.

Faulkson said Big Green has improved as a team in recent weeks.

If you sat in our team circle, our performance only became pride and positive things because we trusted each other [Saturdays] the game in the ways we have tried to make and work since our previous games, Faulkson said.

Next Saturday, Dartmouth will travel to play No. 13 against Harvard University. In 2019, Harvard won the Big Green, and Dartmouth plans to earn its first conference win since 2018 and upset the top-ranked team on the Ivy League list.