The first half of Saturday's lacrosse game between Brown and Dartmouth was as emotional as a Ricki Lake show about mother's who steal there satan-worshipping daughter's transvestite boyfriends, as Dartmouth tried to recover from its loss to Yale and Brown tried to seek a playoff tournament birth.
Brown prevailed in the end, however, pulling ahead of the Big Green to take a 17-6 victory.
Brown jumped out to an early lead, but Dartmouth was determined to keep pace with the Bears. Brown features a high-powered offense that centers around playmaker Dave Evans and finisher Robin Prince.
Dartmouth tried to incapacitate Brown's offense by stopping Evans. In an all-star caliber game, senior defenseman Ryan "the mad dog" Mulrooney vented his anger on Evans, whom he held to a single goal.
Unfortunately for Dartmouth, Robin the Prince of Darkness unleashed an apocalyptic reign of carnage and mayhem on the Big Green defense with his five goals and one assist.
Dartmouth's "Wheeling" John Whelen '98 and Scott Hapgood '97 each tweaked the twines to pull Dartmouth within five. The second half opened with Dartmouth trailing 7-2 and very much alive in the game.
The second half, however, was an entirely different game, as Brown's high-powered offense threw it into overdrive and put on a scoring clinic, with 10 Brown players finding its way to the back of the net.
Very few stories about incidents at Brown seem shocking after the endless tales of bizarre ritual acts that have come from the Providence campus, but Brown proved that it can always produce a surprise when goalkeeper Greg Catarro ran the length of the field and scored a goal.
Brian Merritt '97 commented on the second half turnaround, saying, "We can play with any team in the country, but when we start getting down we seem to fall apart."
Dartmouth's Whelen had his best game of the season meeting the trifecta challenge by scoring his first hat trick. Whelen had a slow start to the season, but has really improved his play lately with a renewed dedication.
Between the posts for the Big Green, Ned Hazard '96 tallied 11 saves in the 45 minutes he played. David Kosloff '97 stepped in for Hazard after that and denied three shots.
Brown controlled the second half with strong middie-play that enabled them to win the battle for time of possession. Brown's offense features a loaded and diverse arsenal of potential goal-scorers.
Dartmouth will challenge Vermont on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. at Memorial Field.
