Dartmouth is headed to the Ivy League Tournament final after defeating Columbia, 1-0, in a semifinal matchup Thursday afternoon at Myslik Field in Princeton, N.J.
On what proved to be the game-winning goal, sophomore midfielder Lourdes Lauterborn stole an attempted clearance by Columbia in its own end.
After her shot ricocheted off a Lions’ defender, it found the feet of sophomore forward Stephanie Lathrop, who put the ball in the back of the net from outside the 18-yard box with 20:51 remaining in the first half.
“I just feel so excited,” Big Green Head Coach Taylor Schram said after the game. “I said it to the team before the game today, I said, ‘You deserve this chance. You deserve to be playing on Sunday’ … I just feel like we deserved more, we deserved one more game.”
The Big Green will get at least one more game. In Sunday’s final, they will square off with Princeton (8-5-3), the team that handed them their only loss in Ivy League play this season.
That additional game could lead to more for Dartmouth. Winning the finale of the Ivy League Tournament would not only give the Big Green bragging rights over the rest of the conference but also a coveted automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, extending their season even further.
Thursday’s game started out slowly as both squads fought to gain an advantage for the first 20 minutes or so of the first half. The best opportunity for the Lions came when a shot from outside the 18-yard box rang the post.
Eventually, though, the Big Green were able to break through thanks to the defensive play of Lauterborn and a rocket of a shot from Lathrop. The shot bounced off the outstretched hands of Columbia’s leaping sophomore keeper Samantha Mahoney into the net, giving the Big Green a 1-0 lead.
“She’s spectacular, we love her on the field, we love her off the field. She’s been such a great addition to our team all year long,” Schram said of Lathrop, who transferred from Purdue, and leads the team in goals this season with eight.
“She’s really devoted to her craft. She spends time in front of the net every single day. She watches film. She does all the little things every single day that help her become a really elite-level goal scorer,” Schram added.
Following the Dartmouth goal, Columbia went to work trying to tie the game, but could muster only one shot before the end of the first half and failed to connect on crosses or free-kick opportunities.
During halftime, Schram told the ESPN+ broadcast she was expecting the kitchen sink from Columbia’s offense in the game’s final 45 minutes, and boy was she right.
The Lions amassed eight shots in the second half and had some golden opportunities to tie the game, but the Dartmouth defense and junior keeper Ola Goebel remained strong, fending Columbia off to seal the 1-0 win.
Schram said her team adapted well defensively during the game, applying pressure on the ball and winning possession when it was up for grabs for both squads.
“It was just a gutsy performance, and I’m so proud of the team,” she added.
Sunday’s final against Princeton kicks off at 1 p.m. at Myslik Field in Princeton, N.J.
