The Big Green men's soccer team hosts the University of Vermont today at Chase Field. Game time is 4 p.m.
Dartmouth played its first game of the season on Sunday, recording a 4-1 victory over Providence College.
The Big Green hopes to improve on their success of last year when they captured the Ivy League title with a record of six wins and one loss.
The 1992 team made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament before losing to the eventual national champion, the University of Virginia, 3-0.
The team returns all but two members of last year's squad, including All-Ivy Ian Saward '95 and the 1992 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, David Moran, '96.
Moran notched one goal and one assist during the Providence game.
As a result of Dartmouth's talent and depth, the ISAA Pre-Season Poll ranked the Big Green 12th in the nation, the only Ivy League school in the top-25.
"The problem [with our ranking] is forgetting how we got there," Coach Bobby Clark said. "We've got to remember how we got to being an NCAA quarterfinalist last year ' by hard work, really hard work."
"Talent alone rarely wins things," he added. "It takes desire."
Today's match-up against Vermont will give the Big Green an opportunity to see where they are in relation to their opponents.
"One thing we've always admired about Vermont is their fighting quality," Clark said. "This game will be a good yardstick."
Vermont is off to a strong start with a 6-1 record, with wins against Harvard, Evansville, the University of Hartford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, all teams with traditionally strong programs. Evansville was ranked 23rd at the beginning of the season.
"Basically [Vermont has] a head start because it's their seventh game of the season when it will be only our second," Co-Captain Blaine LeGere '95 said. "If we play well against [Vermont], it doesn't matter how they do. We can step it up a notch and we're looking for a good showing."
LeGere, along with senior John Faubert and Saward, serve as captains for this year's squad.
Although the Big Green shows signs of greatness, Clark said he believes the focus of the season is concentrating on winning each game individually instead of looking ahead towards a possible Ivy title.
"The true test is how they handle the tough things, how we handle setbacks," he said. "The thing of greatness is being able to overcome problems, that's what makes a great team."
