A strong first quarter propelled the men's lacrosse team to an easy 15-6 win over Cornell Saturday at Ithaca.
The win kept the Big Green, ranked 19th in the nation, perfect in the Ivy League, improving their record to 2-0, with an overall record of 4-2.
Cornell started off the scoring just 1:16 into the first quarter, but it did not take the Big Green long to recover.
Tom Scott '96 responded with an unassisted goal just 50 seconds later. He followed this feat by assisting a goal by Scott Watts '97 one minute later.
Scott Hapgood '97 contributed two goals as the Big Green scored six goals in eight minutes before Cornell's Ned Burke ended the period's scoring with his second goal, cutting the Big Green lead to 6-2.
"After they scored first, I figured we were in for a tough game because Cornell usually plays us tough," junior Brian Merritt said. "But I think the first goal they scored really settled us down, and we focused and responded with the six goals."
"They scored on a well executed goal early on, but the rest of the period we took advantage of every opportunity we had to score," Hapgood said. "It was nice because their goalie was first-team All-Ivy League last season, and we got some good shots and were able to score some goals against him."
Dartmouth wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the second quarter as Merritt took a pass from Tim Kennedy '96 and fired a shot past the Big Red goalkeeper.
Cornell responded to the goal, but the Big Green, paced by another goal and assist from Scott, dominated the rest of the period to take a commanding 10-4 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was all Big Green, as Hapgood, the nation's leading scorer, started off the scoring with an unassisted goal three minutes into the period, followed just 30 seconds later by an unassisted goal by Merritt.
Senior co-Captain Justin Boyd's goal at the end of the quarter capped a shutout period by Big Green goalkeeper Ned Hazard '96.
The Big Green found themselves in firm control with a nine-goal lead at the end of three periods.
"In the third period, Cornell began to pressure us, trying to double-team the ball most of the time, which caused a more wide-open game, but we adapted and scored a couple of quick transition goals. Coach [Tim Nelson] always tells us that the opening part of the third period is the most important time in the game, and you have to give [Cornell head Coach] Rich Moran credit for trying to shake things up, but we were able to make the plays," Merritt said.
Hapgood paced the Big Green with four goals on the afternoon, while Scott added three goals as part of his five-point performance on the afternoon.
The Big Green dominated Cornell on the offensive end, outshooting the Big Red 45-33, as well as the defensive end, allowing the Big Red to convert only one of seven extra-man opportunities.
The first-place Big Green will return to action Wednesday afternoon at Memorial Field when they face 20th-ranked Yale in a key Ivy League battle.
"We are now 2-0 in the Ivy League and it has been a very long time since a Dartmouth lacrosse team has been 3-0 in the Ivies," Hapgood said.
"Yale is a strong team with some dangerous players," he said. " They have an All-American attackman returning from last year's squad that our top defenseman, Justin Boyd, will have to keep from scoring a lot of goals. We played one of our best lacrosse games ever last year against Yale and look forward to matching that level of play on Wednesday."
