FINAL SCORE: Vermont 5, Dartmouth 2
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Two second half goals by junior
Landon Warren in a span of less than four minutes plus four total saves by senior
Lena Benwood guided University of Vermont field hockey to a 5-2 win over Dartmouth on Friday afternoon at Moulton Winder Field.
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UVM moves to an even 3-3 with the victory, while the Big Green drop to 2-3 following the setback. It was the Catamounts' first win over Dartmouth since 2011 and the first against the squad for head coach
Kate Pfeifer.
Benwood's counterpart, Hailey Valerio, finished the day with seven stops.
A back-and-forth first stanza ultimately sent the sides into halftime even in a 2-2 deadlock. Freshman
Sydney Melfi got the scoring started for the Catamounts, netting her first collegiate goal in the 20th minute. Melfi corralled the ball in front of the penalty spot after a
Taryn Marra shot, then took three steps and put her own attempt low inside the left post.
In the 27th minute Dartmouth found the equalizer when Gemma Bautista, camped by the right post, deflected a shot by Evie Bird.
Nearly five minutes later UVM regained the lead. Following a penalty corner inserted by
Kyra Lee, the ball skipped outside the circle to
Taylor Gaines. Gaines passed back inside to
Lauren Tucker who blasted the ball into the top right corner.
Just before halftime Dartmouth once again evened the score, this time with Kira Koehler finishing a feed from Morgan Philie.
Warren entered the box score for the first time in the 39th minute. Junior
Jackie Gillen was turned aside by Valerio, then amid a scramble in front of the cage, Warren pushed the ball between the legs of Valerio. This proved to be the game-winning goal.
Shortly thereafter in the 45th minute, she added another to earn her sixth goal of the season and move the score to 4-2 in favor of Vermont. This time around,
Lauren Tucker found Warren near the top of the circle with a nicely placed pass from midfield, with which Warren scampered around a defender and found the cage. Marra was set up in front at the end of the play.
Gillen then added some insurance of her own to wrap up the day's scoring. Tucker ripped a shot that Gillen lifted home on a redirection, putting the Catamounts ahead 5-2 and earning her second tally of 2017.
Vermont outshot Dartmouth by a 20-8 margin, including 13-8 on goal. Both teams drew six penalty corners and freshman
Pleun Haantjes had two defensive saves, reaching five on the season.
The Catamounts host Holy Cross in their final home non-conference game on Tuesday (Sept. 20) at 4 p.m. from Moulton Winder Field.
