After a tight first half, Quinnipiac pulled away to beat new varsity program Dartmouth 43-5. The Bobcats improve to 2-1 overall, while the Big Green are 1-1 overall.

The visitors got on the board first, when Yeja Dunn nearly crossed the tryline but offloaded to sophomore flanker Lilie Zhang for the score. Dartmouth enjoyed lots of possession during the first 40 minutes but couldn’t convert the opportunities into more points.

“The physicality and commitment to our defense was outstanding," Big Green coach Katie Dowty told Dartmouth Athletics. "We dominated possession and territory the entire first half. Now we know what we are capable of and the lessons we learned in the second half will be great motivators for the rest of our season.”

Near the 25-minute mark, Quinnipiac center Emily Roskopf scored the first of her three tries. The freshman All American leads all Bobcat try-scorers with eight so far this season. Madison Gegeckas added the first of her four conversions for the 7-5 lead, one that pushed out to 14-5 before half, as Roskopf chased a well placed Maggie Myles kick for try number two.

In the second half, the Quinnipiac forwards consolidated their power in tight, driving through the middle of the pitch with phases of pick-and-goes. The Bobcats also dominated the lineouts; however, Dartmouth had the edge in the scrums, thanks in part to the addition of front row Audrey Perez.

Quinnipiac began its second-half shutout with a Myles try, followed by Roskopf's third. The center then set up Ilona Maher for the sophomore's fourth try of the season (29-5). During the final 12 minutes of play, Karee Helgerson and Flora Poole recorded their first career tries as Bobcats, and Gegeckas’ fourth conversion made it 43-5.

This weekend, Quinnipiac takes on Norwich, which just dropped a 43-17 contest to Army (read more). Dartmouth launches into a three-game home stand, which begins with Brown on Oct. 3.