An unexpected decision by the women's lacrosse NCAA selection committee gave the Dartmouth team reason to celebrate yesterday afternoon. The committee seeded Dartmouth, ranked third in the latest Brine Poll, over Princeton, which was ranked second.
The committee seeded Dartmouth second behind undefeated Maryland, giving those two teams byes into the final four of the six-team tournament. Princeton was seeded third.
Dartmouth will play the winner of this Saturday's Princeton -- Temple game on Saturday May 20 at Trenton State College in Trenton, N.J. The national championship will be the next day.
This year marks the first time Dartmouth has ever made it to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
"One word --yeeeeeoooo-ooooowwwww!!!!!!!!!! 'nuff said!" Jessica Hill '97 wrote in an electronic mail message.
"Getting to the final four has been a long term goal for me, and I'm so happy to have the opportunity to play at Trenton. I think it's hard that Princeton didn't get a bye. They are a great team, but I certainly can justify it with how we got screwed last year and William and Mary got in the tournament," co-Captain Lauren Holleran '95 said.
William and Mary received the final bid to last year's NCAA tournament, in large part due to its victory over Dartmouth last season.
Dartmouth's 12-4 loss Saturday to number one ranked Maryland gave the team little hope of a bye into the tournament. The committee, however, took into consideration Dartmouth's 10-9 victory over Princeton earlier in the season.
The committee is not supposed to judge by score. A win is a win and a loss is a loss," Dartmouth Coach Amy Patton said. "We were getting worried about scores, but the committee looks at the whole picture."
Both Princeton and Dartmouth had final records of 12-2.
"When we found out I was definitely surprised because I thought we weren't going to get the bye, but we definitely had arguments [for why we should receive a bye]," Patton said.
"We were pretty surprised and shocked that we didn't get the number two seed," Princeton Coach Chris Sailer said. "After Saturday's performance [Dartmouth's loss to Maryland] we, as well as, I think, Amy [Patton] really thought that we would get the bye. It seems like the head-to-head was the only thing the committee looked at. When you look at the criteria, I think you'd come up with a different answer."
The committee's decision to give Dartmouth the bye over Princeton is by no means novel. Last year at this time it was Dartmouth who was in Princeton's present situation.
At the end of the season, Dartmouth was ranked sixth overall. The committee decided to give William and Mary, ranked behind Dartmouth at seventh, the last bid because William and Mary had beaten Dartmouth in the regular season.
"The committee is trying to be consistent since last year we didn't get in due to the head-to-head [with William and Mary]," Patton said.
"We are pleased that we are ranked number one and Dartmouth must be pleased to be ranked number two," Maryland Coach Cindy Timchal said.
As to whether or not she thought Princeton should have received the second bye, she responded, "It's not my decision. Dartmouth has worked really hard to be in that position. It shows the committee really considered the strength of head-to-head competition. Everything else being really even, I think that's where the nod went to Dartmouth."
Six teams are invited to the national championship each year. The committee, made up of lacrosse administrators and coaches, chooses the teams based on regular season performance as well as strength of schedule, common opponents, and record.
There are three regions from which the committee selects the teams: the north, the mid-Atlantic, and the south. Each of these areas submits a ranking of the teams in its division to the committee, which then decides, based on the above criteria, who should go to the tournament.
The top two teams get byes, allowing them to skip the first round and move into the semifinals.
The first round will showcase Temple (#6) against Princeton (#3) and James Madison (#5) against Penn State (#4) this Saturday at the home fields of the higher-seeded teams.
In the semifinals, the winner of the Temple-Princeton game will face Dartmouth (#2), while the winner of the James Madison-Penn State game will take on Maryland (#1) at Trenton State.
"We have some time to take a deep breath and figure out what we need to work on in the next two weeks," Carrie Freeman '96 said.
"Over my four years on the team, the final four has been so close that we could almost taste it," goalie Kirsten Prettyman '95 said. "Finally, our time has come and we are ready to work hard over the next two weeks to show the lacrosse community that Dartmouth is an amazing program. There isn't the history in our program like there is in many of the other teams. No one thinks Dartmouth lacrosse when they think of the historically great teams. It is this team's time to begin a legacy. The final four is our chance."
