A weak first half led the women's soccer team to a 2-1 loss in its Ivy League opener Sunday, when Bruno fell at Dartmouth in a game that ended its four-game win streak and dropped the team to 6-2 on the season.
With the Bears' successful trend and the Big Green riding a three-game streak, both sides aimed to start off this year's conference play on the right foot.
Dartmouth showed more attacking persistence in the first half. The Big Green hit the crossbar in the 16th minute, and just a minute later midfielder Chrissy Lozier got a shot past Bruno goalkeeper Amber Bledsoe '14 into the bottom corner.
Dartmouth was able to control the first half offensively with five shots against Bruno's two. Dartmouth goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders had to wait until the 39th minute for her first save.
Head Coach Phil Pincince lamented his team's performance early in the game.
"We were definitely way off in how we wanted to play the first half," he said.
The Bears awoke after the break. They created chances to score almost immediately after resuming play, firing off three shots early in the half and forcing Saunders to make two saves.
But against the tide of play, Dartmouth doubled its lead in the 49th minute with a goal from midfielder Marina Moschitto.
Soon after, Bruno managed to get back on its feet when Emily Wingrove '14 netted a rebound from a corner kick in the 54th minute.
But the Bears could not get the equalizer. Play became more focused in the midfield rather than at either end, and the Bears only managed to get two more shots on target for the rest of the game.
After the final whistle blew, the Bears had to face an inauspicious beginning to conference play and the end of both their winning and shutout streaks.
But Wingrove said the team will aim to learn from this game rather than lament the defeat.
"This will definitely motivate us to get better," she said.
In an even game where most of the statistics didn't favor either side, "the first half was decisive," Pincince said. "The game is 90 minutes, and we played well for 45."
Pincince said he hopes the lessons from this loss "will help for the remaining Ivy League games."
The Bears will be looking for their first Ivy win of the season at home this Saturday against Columbia.
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