Yesterday, Yale's men's lacrosse team escaped the angst and urban decay of New Haven, Conn., enjoying a sweet 15-7 victory over old foe Dartmouth and avenging an embarrassing home loss a year ago.
And emotions ran high.
Not only were the two teams vying for the Ivy League championship, and a possible tournament berth, but the teams were tied for the 18th seed in the country.
The two teams got into a dog fight in the first half as they scrapped for every ground ball, goal and possession. However, in the second half the big dog pulled ahead as Yale's aggressive defense and talented offense took control of the game.
Yale accomplished what no other team has done this season the Bulldogs neutered Dartmouth's normally potent offense, using its overall team speed and aggressiveness, rather than using individual standout defensemen.
Although Dartmouth's "Great Scott" attack line of Scott Watts '97, Scott Hapgood '97 and Tom Scott '96 scored a hat trick, this was the fewest points this talented group has scored this season.
The first goal proved a bad omen for the Big Green, as Yale standout Tom Zaccagnino scored his first of six goals. His double hat trick marks the most goals a player has scored against Dartmouth this season.
However, Dartmouth's own standout responded with a goal that seemed to say, "Hey, he may be good, but let's not forget that I'm Hap Good," as Hapgood scored his 30th goal of this season.
Yale used a Zaccagnino goal, assist and a man-up situation to take a 5-1 lead. Dartmouth's offense never settled into its high-paced rhythm. Yale controlled the ball on offense shutting down Dartmouth's plays.
Watts, who often gets overshadowed by the Twin Towers of Hapgood and Scott, made his presence felt as he pulled Dartmouth within three before the half.
Yale's aggressive defense caused Dartmouth to make bad plays and resulted in two crease violations. The Bulldogs displayed the skills that can be acquired at a city campus as they proceeded to pick Dartmouth's pockets on several occasions.
The second half opened with a barrage of goals. Tim Kennedy '96 cruised in for a goal, and Yale tweaked the twines twice. Then Dartmouth rode a pair of goals from the Blue Wave connection of Wheeling Johnny Whelen '98 and Brian Merritt '97 to within two goals of Yale.
Zaccagnino showed that the only thing harder than spelling his name is stopping him. He scored two unassisted goals to pull his team ahead 9-5. Again Dartmouth showed its resilience as goals from Scott and Merritt pulled the Big Green within two again.
Unfortunately that was as close as the game would get. Although the game had been closely contested up to this point, Yale dominated the remainder of the game by scoring six unanswered goals and winning 15-7.
