With a 6-0 record, its best start in 51 years, the men's lacrosse team will be fired up tomorrow morning when the Big Green take on Ivy League rival Cornell at 11:00 a.m. at Memorial Stadium.
"We have to keep doing what we've been doing," Coach Tim Nelson said. "We need to continue to execute our half field offense and keep moving the ball."
Offensively, the Big Green have been hot the past two weeks scoring 17 goals last Saturday at Pennsylvania and 21 goals Wednesday at home against Providence.
The Dartmouth defense was under pressure against Penn, falling behind by four goals midway through the fourth quarter. The Big Green were up for the challenge though outscoring the Quakers 5-0 in the remaining of the game to secure the victory in overtime.
Defense will be key tomorrow against Cornell, which will bring two quick attackmen. Seniors Anthony Pavone and Chris Danler have led the Cornell offense so far this season.
Pavone, who has 49 points on the year, will have to move through Dartmouth defender Justin Boyd '96 if he plans to continue his scoring trend.
Captain Andy Thut '95 will be responsible for keeping up with Danler, who has 43 points on the year. Other Big Green defenders including Dave Hehir '95, Mike Fahey '97, Dan Gans '98, Dan Jones '97 and Ryan Mulrooney '96 will look to assist Thut.
"We're going to have other players slide up to double team him," Nelson said. "We will have to try and give Andy a little help."
Offensively, the Big Green will turn to Brian Merritt '97, Captain Todd Smith '95, Eric Welsh '96 and Tom Scott '96, among others, to take the ball inside.
With tomorrow's game only being the Dartmouth's second Ivy League contest, the Big Green looks for a supportive home crowd to come out to the game.
"It's a big game," Smith said. "The Ivy League games are always more important. We need to come ready to play and come ready to pull out a win against a team that is pretty similar to us skillwise."
