Hanover
Dartmouth won eight games in each of Rainey’s first two seasons before capturing seven last fall. However, his Ivy League records have dropped from 3-1-3 to 1-3-3 to 0-5-2. The program finished last in the Ancient Eight last season for the first time since 1990 and was outscored, 11-2, in league play.
Given that scoring drought, it was a bit startling for Big Green fans to witness Bianca Ribi’s winning goal during the 68th minute on Sunday. The senior received a pass on the right side of the penalty area, dodged a charging Seawolf and fired a shot low and inside the far post.
“Lorna (MacFarlane) had the ball in the middle and I peeled outside between two defenders,” said the senior forward from Calgary, Alberta. “I saw one coming hard from the left side and when she jumped in the air, I cut it back past her.
“Your instinct inside the 18 is to shoot right away, but you’ve got to be smart and not always take the first chance you get. A little touch on the ball can open things right up.”
Ribi’s tally put the hosts up, 2-0. Standout midfielder Remy Borinsky converted a first-half penalty shot after a charitable foul call in the Stony Brook box. Referee Katherine Mitchell’s decisions caused each side angst, and, with four minutes remaining, something of an uproar.
That play saw the Seawolves’ Kaitlin Loughren pound a 30-yard shot from a bit left of center and the ball be tapped upward by Dartmouth goalkeeper Mariel Gordon. The freshman immediately grabbed the deflection out of the air above her and players on both teams reacted as if she’d made a save.
Mitchell, however, ruled the play a goal, much to the amazement and derision of an announced gathering of 220. Rainey punched the center-line flag in anger.
“Maybe she felt bad for giving us the PK,” Ribi suggested with a smirk. “When a ref interferes in the game in that way, sometimes they’re eager to make up for it.”
Said Rainey: “Emotions ran high the last 20 minutes, and maybe they got the better of me. We have to have people step up in those moments of madness.”
The Big Green certainly was irritated with the second half of its 2016 season, when it went 1-5-2 overall and 1-2-2 in one-goal games. Rainey’s teams have been defensively sound, but offensively challenged.
He offered few specifics when asked on Sunday if this year’s outfit can maintain in its own end while striking more frequently in the other,
“I don’t know,” the coach said. “I want the players to embrace whatever role they get, so we’re functional as a unit. If one of us scores, we all score. Tight situations are part of our game, and you have to be comfortable in those moments.”
Notes: Stony Brook (2-2) arrived in three vans painted fire-engine red. The Seawolves eschewed a bus because with the smaller vehicles, they can take a ferry across Long Island Sound to Connecticut and avoid New York City traffic. … Last year’s Big Green team scored the program’s fewest goals in league play since the circuit expanded to eight teams in 1991. … Four of Dartmouth’s first eight opponents reached the NCAA tournament last fall. They are Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Albany and Northeastern. … The Big Green’s last Ivy title came in 2003. … Dartmouth sophomore midfielder Alyssa Neuberger was the only player on either team to wear head protection, a textured, foam crown of sorts that wraps around her temples and forehead. … Former Big Green coach Theresa Romagnolo has her Notre Dame team off to a 2-0-2 start after going 13-3-5 last fall. The Irish are 43-14-10 under her leadership, with three NCAA tournament berths in as many seasons. … Rainey is 25-16-10 during three seasons at Dartmouth, and his 10 ties are the most of any coach in program history. Steve Swanson coached the program from 1990-95 and had only seven. … Leede Arena, Dartmouth’s basketball home, has received a new floor. Deputy director of athletics Bob Ceplikas said that’s customary every 8-10 years.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.