The men's lacrosse team rebounded from a tough loss against Brown last weekend to defeat the University of Vermont in a tight 9-7 game yesterday afternoon.
The Big Green, ranked number 19 nationally, traveled to UVM as the favorite, but encountered a remarkably strong performance from the Catamounts, now 3-7.
"We've never beaten Vermont up there since I've been coaching," Coach Tim Nelson said. "We reminded the guys of that. It's usually a big game for them and they get real psyched up to play us. We were fortunate to win the game."
Scoring was not prevalent in the first half, which ended in a 3-3 tie. Vermont's goalie Scott Bevill ended up with 19 saves on the day while Dartmouth goalie Ned Hazard '96 saved 15.
"I thought Ned had one of his best games this year," Nelson said. "The whole team played good defense. They have a strong defensive team, too."
Offensively, sophomore Brian Merritt led the Big Green with five of their nine goals. Merritt's last goal was the most important since it gave the Big Green an 8-7 lead with 34 seconds remaining.
"It was a tight game all the way through," Nelson said. "It was a great win for us."
Brian White '95 shot in two for the Big Green, while John Schneider '96 and Scott Hapgood '97 each scored one goal.
White, whose eligibility has been questioned because of a verbal contract with the New England Patriots, is still on unofficial standing for this Saturday's game against Princeton. White may have a training camp for the Patriots, making him unable to play for the Big Green.
"Brian is a great athlete," Nelson said. "He makes the team pick up its athletic ability. We were happy he was out there today, and if he is not able to play, it's going to affect you a little bit.We'll just adjust though."
With White missing, the Big Green will have a major test this weekend when they travel to Princeton to play the number eight nationally ranked Tigers.
"We're really going to have to control the tempo this weekend," Nelson said. "Our offense has to do a good job of holding on to the ball, because we can't expect to play too much defense."
