It's been a season of firsts for the men's lacrosse team. First Ivy League win in five years. First win at Cornell in 40 years. First winning season since 1982.
Well, you can add another one to the list.
The Big Green (9-4 overall, 2-3 Ivy) beat the University of New Hampshire, 12-9, on Wednesday for the first time in Coach Tim Nelson's five-year tenure in Hanover.
"We got another monkey off our back [with the win]," Nelson said.
Brendan Bowler '94 led the offensive charge once again for Dartmouth, recording his fifth hat trick of the season. His first goal of the game put the Big Green up 5-4 in the second quarter.
"Brendan is at his best when we're running up and down the field," Nelson said. "He's such a good shooter; when he gets the ball in front of the goal he usually scores."
Dartmouth trailed 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, but goals by Todd Smith '95, Scott Watts '97 and Co-Captain Peter Fahey '94 eventually knotted the score at four and paved the way for Bowler's go-ahead tally.
Bowler scored again with 3:07 left in the half to extend the Dartmouth lead to 6-4, but two Wildcat goals resulted in a 6-6 halftime tie.
The Dartmouth defense put the clamps on UNH in the second half, holding the Wildcats to a measly three goals.
"Our defense -- Andy Ruckh ['94], Justin Boyd ['96], Andy Thut ['95], Dave Hehir ['95], Dan Williams ['94] -- and Ned Hazard ['96] in goal have been doing a good job for us all year," Nelson said.
The offense took care of business on the other end of the field, scoring six times in the second half to secure the win. Eric Welsh '95, named to this week's Ivy League Honor Roll for his performances against Vermont and Princeton, scored a goal in each period.
Watts finished the day with two goals, the first of his collegiate career.
"This was a great win," Nelson said. "We've had some tough losses in the past few weeks and it's good to win a big game on the road like this."
The Big Green have one more big game to play this season. They travel to Harvard on Saturday for the season finale.
"This is the biggest of the big," Nelson said. "Whenever you play Harvard in any sport it's a big game. There would be no better way to finish this season than to beat Harvard for our 10th win."
