One of Dartmouth's most successful sports teams of last year, women's lacrosse, enters this season with great expectations. The newly-released College Lacrosse USA Preseason Poll has only further contributed to the hype surrounding the Green women.
Following a Final Four appearance in last year's NCAA Tournament, Dartmouth earned the third ranking in the nation in the poll. Two Atlantic Coast Conference schools, the University of Maryland and North Carolina, ranked ahead of the Green.
Among Ivy competition, only Princeton -- at number seven -- cracked the top ten. The remaining schools atop the list were the University of Virginia, whom the Green upset in last year's semifinals, Duke, Loyola, Penn State, Georgetown and Temple.
Having lost All-America forwards Jen Greene '98 -- Dartmouth's all-time leader in assists -- and Julia Morrill '98, the Green have some big sticks to replace.
But a matured sophomore class and a number of freshman recruits should ably fill the gaps left by the departures and will add all-important depth to the roster.
The Green returns All-America midfielders Jacque Weitzel '00 and Melissa Frazier '00, second-team All-America defender Kate Graw '99 and honorable mention All-Ivy forward Emily Fenwick '00 and defenseman Amy Zimmer '01.
A number of other players who saw significant time last season return to give the Green an experienced team despite only having two seniors on the roster.
Women's lacrosse opens its season at the William and Mary Tournament on March 6 and 7. The season gets into full swing when Dartmouth squares off against Maryland at a neutral site in Springfield, Mass. on March 20.
The Green will play the seven other members of the Ivy League once each and will face out-of-conference opponents UMass and Vermont at home and Boston College, Penn State, North Carolina and Duke on the road during the regular season.
Such a difficult schedule will make it a taxing season for the Green, but expectations of an Ivy Championship and another strong showing in the NCAA tournament are not unreasonable. It might even be fair to expect more.
