Following a '94 season filled with record breaking wins, the men's lacrosse team is optimistic for this spring after returning from its spring trip with a 2-0 record and boasting a number 20 national ranking.
During the 11-day trip, the Big Green were not only able to gain valuable practice time on outdoor fields but also gained national respect with one-goal wins over both Lehigh and Colgate.
"Overall the trip was a success," Tom Scott '96 said. "Both Colgate and Lehigh were games we knew we had to win in order to gain respect and be in a position to challenge the better teams we will face later in league play."
For nearly a month the Big Green have been preparing for spring season, but because of Hanover weatherpractice has been restricted to Leverone Field House. With the move outdoors this week, Dartmouth can make improvements on the field.
"This week in practice we would like to improve conditioning and work on our clearing, going from defense to offense," Coach Tim Nelson said. "Overall, I thought we had an excellent trip. We had some mistakes, but I think they were correctable mistakes."
Dartmouth's next test will be this weekend when the Big Green travel to Stony Brook for a Saturday afternoon game. As far as expectations, Dartmouth hopes to take each game one at a time and prepare accordingly.
"Our goal is to work hard each game," Nelson said. "We really want to see that each game we play hard, tough and smart. If we do those three things, we know we'll be in good shape."
The fact that Dartmouth has 22 returning letter winners from last year will also be a positive for the Big Green. Offensively, Dartmouth will look to last year's second highest scorer, with 36 points, co-Captain Todd Smith '95. Smith will be joined by attackers Scott, Eric Welsh '96 and Scott Hapgood '97.
"Coming off a very successful season last year, we return many starters and experienced players and should definitely be capable of having an equally successful 95 season," Scott said. "Our entire defense returns from last season and our offense has the ability to score plenty of goals."
Goal scoring was indeed a definite strength for Dartmouth last year as the Big Green set the team record for most points scored in a season with 266.With this strong offense and determined defense, the Big Green had ten wins, the most for Dartmouth since 1949.
"It's been good," Nelson said. "The past few years we've been getting better and better. The competitiveness is the best it has ever been, and that's a big key."
With the loss of All-American defense player Andy Ruchk '94, Dartmouth will look toward co-Captain Andy Thut '95 to provide the experience the Big Green needs when under attack. He will be joined by Justin Boyd '96 and David Hehir '95 to make up the core of the Dartmouth defense.
"Experience is our best attribute," Nelson said. "All the way down the line with our defenders, mid-fielders and attackers, we have good experience."
With classes beginning, the Big Green look forward to developing more of a routine and the players are excited with their number 20 ranking.
Following the trip to Stony Brook this weekend, Dartmouth will open its home season April 5 against Holy Cross. Ivy League competition will not begin until the next weekend when Dartmouth travels to Philadelphia to take on the University of Pennsylvania.
