Whoever said, "If you want to get to the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain" sure knew what he or she was talking about. Just take a look at the men's lacrosse team.
The past five years were not exactly smooth sailing for the Big Green, as they stumbled their way to a 16-52 overall record, with no Ivy League wins. But the Big Green weathered the storm and this year they positively shined.
"It was frustrating the last few years," Coach Tim Nelson said. "But this [year's success] makes it all worthwhile."
The Big Green finished with a 10-4 overall record this year, their most wins since 1949. They also won their first Ivy League game since 1988 and earned a 3-3 league record, the best in 11 years.
"Before each of the past three seasons, I'd tell myself that this is the year we're going to do it," co-captain Pete Fahey '94 said. "But we never did it."
But this year they did. Ironically, the rough times the Big Green faced over the past few years helped them succeed this season. Last year, fourth-quarter collapses led to four losses by fewer than two goals. This year, tougher second-half play resulted in five wins by three or fewer goals.
Dave Fivek '94 (14 goals, 5 assists) was part of an outstanding senior class that Nelson cited early in the season as one of the keys to the team's success. Seniors like Brendan Bowler and co-captain Andy Ruckh did not let Nelson down, providing solid leadership and strong play on the field throughout the season.
Bowler led the Big Green in scoring with 24 goals and 13 assists. His 37 points helped him tie for fifth on the school's all-time scoring list (149 points). Ruckh, named the team MVP at a banquet last week, spearheaded the stingy defense and led the team with 73 groundballs.
"[Bowler] had a great career, and we looked to him a lot to score," Nelson said. "You can't replace Ruckh with one person. We're going to have to change our defensive philosophy next year [to compensate for his loss]."
Bill Thomas '94 and Dan Williams '94 were among Dartmouth's top reserves, and Thomas was named the team's most improved player.
Team depth was a big part of Dartmouth's turnaround.
That depth was evident on offense as 10 players reached double digits in points. Todd Smith '95 scored 19 goals and had a team-high 17 assists. Fahey recorded 20 goals and 15 assists and Eric Welsh '95 had 21 goals and 10 assists to round out the top four scorers.
The Big Green had so much offensive depth that they compensated for the loss of one of their top offensive threats, Tom Scott '96. Emergency surgery kept Scott out of action after the eighth game of the season; he had 11 goals and 10 assists (21 points, fifth on the team) before he was sidelined.
Early in the year, Nelson could sense that this team would be different from last year. A year ago, Dartmouth squeaked by Williams College, 11-10, in a scrimmage. This year, the Big Green buried essentially the same team, 20-2, in a scrimmage in early March.
"We walked off the field thinking that we're a lot better this year," Nelson said. "That scrimmage gave us confidence to start the season."
The major turning point of the season did not come until the seventh game, when the Big Green took on then-19th-ranked Penn at home. Dartmouth was 5-1 entering the game but had yet to face an Ivy opponent. Dartmouth ended speculation about when the Ivy drought would end, using Scott's three goals to beat the Quakers, 12-8.
"The big test was the first Ivy game versus Penn," Fahey said. "Once we beat them, we knew that we'd beat some other Ivy teams."
The Big Green edged Cornell and Harvard in overtimes on the road by identical 12-11 scores. Brian Merritt '97, named the team's best freshman, was the hero at Cornell. He scored three goals, including the gamewinner, to give the Big Green their first win in Ithaca in 40 years.
Fahey recorded a hat trick and scored the gamewinner against Harvard to finish in dramatic fashion. The victory was Dartmouth's first over Harvard since 1985.
The Dartmouth defense played a key role in those wins and kept the Big Green competitive. Justin Boyd '96, Dave Hehir '95, Ruckh and Andy Thut '95 frustrated opposing attackmen throughout the season, and Ned Hazard '96 came up big several times in goal. He finished with a 9.87 goals against average and a .579 save percentage.
This team will probably be remembered for one thing more than anything else. "We'll be known as the team that turned around Dartmouth lacrosse," Fahey said.
And now the question is how to sustain that turnaround.
"We have as much talent coming back next year as any other Ivy team," Nelson said.
Indeed, Hehir, Smith, Thut, Welsh and Brian White '95 will give Nelson another terrific senior class. John Schneider '96, speedy Tim Kennedy '96 and a healthy Scott will again give Dartmouth a potent offense. Freshmen Scott Hapgood, Scott Watts, Jesse Wooten, Dan Jones and Merritt all showed flashes of brilliance and are only going to get better.
"I told the team before the Harvard game that this isn't the end," Nelson said. "This is only the beginning. This is the start of Dartmouth lacrosse being a contender every year."
