Let the quest for the Ivy League championship begin.
The Dartmouth field hockey team hits the road this weekend to playitsfirst Ivy League game of the season. The Big Green faces Pennsylvania on Saturday, and then continues on to La Salle for a sunday afternoon game.
The Penn game could be a crucial one for Dartmouth, especially since last year the twoteams tied for second in the League.
"We're psyched and ready to play" midfielder Kelly Hannigan '97 said. "The Penn game will really tell us a lot, and could set the stage for the entire rest of the season."
After defeaing Lafayette 2-1 Wednesday, the Quakers hold a 3-0 record.
Penn's leading scorer is Kara Philbin, with a season total of three goals and two assists.
Dartmouth's record is 2-2 overall. Hannigan leads the team in scoring with two goals and one assist, while seniors Amy Coughlin, co-Captain Cynthia Roberts and Allison Pell have all contributed one goal.
Kathleen Hickey '96 and Coughlin have each hadone assist. All four players add a strong, solid edge to the team.
The Big Green has a strong focus right now though- to minimize the amount of turnovers. "We need to watch our turnovers this weekend" Hannigan said. "We'll focus on that and stick to our game. We'll be playing on turf this weekend, which we're not used to, so it should be an interesting game."
Whereas Dartmouth and Penn look to be well-matched opponents, the La Salle field hockey team has been struggling since the beginning of the season. They have not won a gameall season, and carry a 0-6 record.
Perhaps La Salle's goalkeeper that has been hindering the team's ability to come away with a win. La Salle goalie Dori Shumadine has a goal-against average of 5.24. Dartmouth's Lauren Demski '96 carries only a 2.0 average.
"We're not very familiar with La Salle's style of play," co-Captain Demski said. "We are treating that game with as much seriousness as the Penn game, though."
"We're not taking anything lightly," she added. "This is a huge weekend for us."
Dartmouth will play Pennsylvania on Saturday at 12 p.m. and La Salle on Sunday at 1 p.m.
