The time has finally come.
The eighth-ranked Dartmouth women's lacrosse team has cruised to victory in almost every game this season, following its opening-day loss to defending national champion Maryland.
Dartmouth defeated national powerhouses like Penn State as easily as they handled Ivy foes like Yale. Now the real tests begin.
The Big Green (9-1 overall, 5-0 Ivy) travel to Princeton on Saturday to tangle with the Tigers with the winner of the game clinching a share of the Ancient Eight crown and garnering a spot in the NCAA Championships. The two teams are currently tied atop the Ivy League standings.
Last year, the two teams shared the crown. Should the Big Green win, all they would have to do to earn the crown outright would be to beat Columbia, which has not won in the Ivy League all season and who lost to Princeton 17-1 in March. Princeton closes out its Ivy season with Brown.
"Our team has been preparing for this game since the fall, and there is nothing that will stop us from winning the Ivy title," Kate Graw '00 said.
Dartmouth preserved their spotless Ivy mark with a 20-7 drubbing of Harvard on Wednesday in Cambridge. The Big Green have now defeated the Crimson three out of the last four years and continue to dazzle their opponents with their high-octane offense.
Dartmouth is second in the nation, averaging over 17 goals per game and have reached the 20-goal plateau three times this season.
Jacque Weitzel '00 opened up the scoring on Wednesday just 13 seconds into the contest, netting her first of a quartet of goals.
After Harvard's Honor MacNaughton answered the Big Green's tally, Dartmouth reeled off three more goals and never looked back.
Perhaps the most telling statistic of their nine-game win streak is that their opponents have led for a total of just over 20 minutes and never past the 12th minute of any contest.
A 7-0 run to close out the last seven minutes of the first half delivered the knockout punch that the Big Green needed.
The Big Green offensive attack was spearheaded by tri-Captain Jen Greene '98 who netted five goals on the afternoon and added an assist. Weitzel finished with four, while Julia Morrill '98 and Kate Graw '00 added hat tricks to the effort.
Sarah Carlson '99 and Ellie Leahy '01 combined for nine saves in between the Dartmouth pipes. Dartmouth outshot Harvard by an astonishing 40-20 and committed only six turnovers on the afternoon.
The upcoming Dartmouth-Princeton matchup has been the story of Ivy League lacrosse for the last few years, with one or both of the teams claiming the title since 1993.
Princeton defeated Harvard by the modest score of 6-4 earlier this season, a wide disparity from Dartmouth's 13-goal triumph.
Weitzel knows the keys to a Big Green win this weekend.
"We need to play our game and have confidence. We can't let them intimidate us. We have a lot more speed than they do and so we need to use it in transition and go to the goal," she said.
Graw added that the Tigers rely on a couple of key players, whereas the Big Green work together as a complete team.
"We have worked on shutting the key players down for the past few days and are ready to take them on," she said.
Regardless of whether or not they defeat the Tigers, the Big Green will still have a shot at the 12-team national tournament.
The Big Green are the favorite because of their consistent play all season long. Don't think that Carlson and the Big Green want another split decision.
"We do not want a share of the title. We have a better attack than them, and a stronger defense. We have more people who are fast, and great depth, as well," she said. "So if we utilize our strengths, keep it from becoming a mind game, then we will win hands down."
The road gets no easier after sixth-ranked Princeton, as the Big Green takes on ACC powerhouses Duke and North Carolina before it closes at home with Columbia.
Duke, second in the IWLCA national poll earlier in the season, now sits at number 11 with a record of 8-5. The Tar Heels are 12-2 on the year and currently sit at number two behind only the Virginia Cavaliers.
Even if the Big Green lose to the Tigers, they should earn an at-large bid with wins over Columbia and either North Carolina or Duke.
