The men's lacrosse team will play SUNY Stony Brook Seawolves at 1 p.m. at Keene State College in Keene, N.H. tomorrow.
The game, originally scheduled at Dartmouth, had to be moved to Keene State because Memorial Field was still covered with snow as of Thursday.
The Seawolves (3-1) are the first opponent for the Big Green since they traveled west during spring break, where they compiled a 1-2 record.
The game is an important one for the Dartmouth team, as they hope to even their record against a strong Stony Brook squad whose only loss to Lehigh University came by a single goal.
"This is probably the best Stony Brook team we've played in the five or six years we've been playing them," said Dartmouth Coach Tim Nelson.
Of the Seawolves, Nelson said senior attackman Chris Kollmer and senior midfielder Courtney Wilson are two of the standout players on a team known for its strong offense. Kollmer and Wilson have 19 and 18 points, respectively, in Stony Brook's four games this season.
"We're going to have our hands full with them," Nelson said.
Beyond these two standouts, Stony Brook has some other strong players in Derek Reyna, Robb Aitchison and Steve Ceballos, all of whom have over 10 points this season.
The Seawolves defense, meanwhile, has held opponents to 132 shots, while goalie Greg Taylor has been playing fairly well -- with a 10.0 goals against average and a .626 save percentage -- starting all four games for Stony Brook.
But the Big Green lax machine has some weapons of its own to throw at the Seawolves. Tops among them is midfielder Brian Merritt '97, who has exploded for 19 points in the first three games -- the fourth-highest individual point total in the Ivy League.
"Brian Merritt has been playing awesome," Nelson said. "He does whatever it takes. He's a team-oriented player."
Co-Captain Scott Hapgood '97 -- an honorable mention All-America and second team All-Ivy and All-New England selection last year when he led the nation in goals per game -- has continued to terrorize opposing goalies, with nine goals and two assists in three games.
Nelson also praised senior defenseman Dan Jones for his efforts. Jones' play has made the job much easier for Dartmouth goalies co-Captain David Kosloff '97 and Andrew Dance '99.
Having graduated many seniors last year, the Dartmouth team is still "trying to find the right mix," Nelson said.
He said the team's play was a little "inconsistent" to this point, but praised the players for their effort.
"The kids are working hard," he said. "It's our job as coaches to start finding the proper mix."
