Men's Rugby
The Dartmouth men's rugby club puts their 30-game winning streak on the line when they host UConn tomorrow at Sachem Field.
The Big Green beat the Huskies last season, but UConn made it to Sweet Sixteen and finished the season ranked 15th nationally. Two time All-American flyhalf Brendan Leahy has led UConn to two lopsided wins this year and the Huskies are tied with Dartmouth at 2-0 in Premier League play.
No one paid much attention when the winning streak first started four years ago. The Dartmouth rugby team had been 3-4 in the New England Premier League in the Fall of 1993 and no one knew what to expect when the 1994 season started. The Premier League is considered one of the strongest collegiate rugby conferences in the country and Dartmouth was only hoping to contend for the league title.
The Big Green were 2-0 when they played a strong Brown squad. The Bruins led by 12 late in the game but Dartmouth scored two converted tries in the last few minutes to win by 2. The comeback win motivated the ruggers to run the table and win the New England championship with a 7-0 league record.
The streak continued for the next three league seasons. Dartmouth went 7-0 each year and won three more New England titles.
With two wins this year, the ruggers have now won 30 consecutive league matches. Dartmouth coach Wayne Young says the streak is a great motivator for his team.
"We have to be ready every Saturday because every team we play wants to stop our winning streak," Young said. "It puts a little pressure on us but I would much rather be defending our winning streak than trying to stop someone else's."
Men's Tennis
The Big Green men's tennis team opens up its home season with two matches Sunday. At 9:30 a.m., Dartmouth hosts the University of Vermont, followed by a 2:00 clash with Boston University.
With a strong showing at the Yale Invitational last weekend, the Big Green hope to use this weekend's matches as a preparation for next weekend's ECAC matches.
"We'd like to go out there and play well to gain some confidence before next weekend's tournament," Rob Simik '99 said.
Women's Tennis
Fresh off of its first win of the season, the women's tennis team entertains Army Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Big Green put together an impressive 9-0 shutout of the University of Massachussets to gain their first home win. The victory evened their record at 1-1 on the young fall season.
Rebecca Dirksen '00 set the tone for the Big Green against the Minutewomen with a three-set victory against the No. 1 singles player from UMass.
Dartmouth is now ranked No. 7 in the East region.
