Hanover
Things had gone from bad to worse in what turned into a 19-8 loss to the visiting Trojans, the Big Green’s second consecutive defeat. Dartmouth’s defense, stingy through the game’s first 40 minutes, was suddenly filled with holes, and its offensive sequences seemed rushed, turning a tie game five minutes into the second half into a rout.
“Their goalie made a couple of great saves, and they were able to execute on the other end,” Spencer said. “Just some missed execution on offense (caused the momentum shift). We’re not going to score every time, but in order to stop another team’s run you have to stop it with a goal. I think that will be key for us going forward.”
Dartmouth (4-2) hasn’t had a winning season since 2014, including a disappointing 3-11 campaign in 2015 and a sub-.500 season (7-8) last year.
Spencer is hoping to change that, though her work is cut out for her. She spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Northwestern, helping the Wildcats make four NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the Final Four in 2013 and ’14. But replacing former Dartmouth coach Amy Patton, who guided the Big Green program for 26 years and produced a 248-138 record, isn’t an overnight task.
“It’s exciting,” Spencer said of her first few weeks. “We have a great group of girls. I feel like we still have a lot of season left ahead of us. I feel like we’re improving every day, but I feel like we still have a lot of room left for improvement.
“We’re still finding our identity,” Spencer added. “I don’t think we’re completely found ourselves yet.”
Patton, who was in attendance at Friday’s game, resigned from her post under fire last summer following an inquiry into what the Dartmouth athletic department called “conduct inconsistent with the standards of Dartmouth Athletics.” An alumnae group affiliated with the program charged the school with conducting a “grossly unfair” investigation.
Spencer was hired in August, becoming the Big Green’s fourth head coach in 45 years. She added two first-year assistant coaches — Nicole Price and Mike Wilus — to round out the new regime. But the Big Green, at least from a recruiting perspective, is still built in Patton’s image.
Players like Weisse, a senior who played three years under Patton, has seen both sides of the transition and insisted the message to the team hasn’t changed.
“I think Danielle has done a really great job of having the team empty the bucket and starting new, trusting each other and building that trust. Really focusing on concrete things that we can do, skill-wise,” Weisse said. “She came in and really had trust in us, and we have trust in her.”
If anything, the addition of Spencer was as much a personality change as a strategic one, and Dartmouth has largely responded to her guidance.
The Big Green started the season 4-0, outscoring its opponents, 53-35. On Friday, with 11 days to think about the team’s recent loss to Columbia to open Ivy League play, Dartmouth came out sharp, building a 3-0 lead. Weisse had all three goals, finding space in the middle of USC’s defense.
But the Trojans responded, scoring six consecutive goals in a span of 10:41 of the first half. Campbell Brewer and Elizabeth Mastrio stopped the bleeding with late goals for Dartmouth, but USC took a 8-5 lead into halftime.
The Big Green once again showed signs of ability in the first five minutes of the second half, as Cara DePippo scored twice and Weisse scored again to tie the game 8-8. But USC’s offense was relentless, netting 11 straight goals in the final 21:01 to walk away with its sixth win of the year.
Weisse finished with four goals on seven shots for the Big Green. Freshman goalkeeper Kiera Vrindten made eight saves on 34 shots. USC’s Cynthia Del Core and Kerrigan Miller led all scorers with five goals each.
“I think we showed that we could compete with good teams,” Spencer said. “But we’re still working on putting a full 60 minutes together. For 40 minutes of the game, we played pretty well against a great opponent. But to beat a great opponent, you have to play a full 60 minutes.”
Dartmouth is off until hosting Princeton a week from today.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.