They've proved to themselves that they can play. Now, it's their chance to prove to the league that they're for real. The stakes are raised this weekend as the men's lacrosse team (5-1, 0-0 Ivy) kicks off its Ivy League campaign tomorrow afternoon (1 p.m., Scully-Fahey Field) against the nationally ranked University of Pennsylvania (5-3, 1-3 Ivy).
The Quakers come to Hanover ranked 17th in the STX Coaches Poll but are looking to right their ship and save their season. Like Dartmouth, Penn got off to a fast start by winning its first four games and was ranked as high as 15th in the country.
The Ivy League, however, has not been kind to the Quakers. Penn has dropped three of its last four games, all Ivy League contests. Last weekend, the Quakers fell 7-4 to Cornell before receiving an 18-4 midweek drubbing at the hands of Princeton.
Dartmouth, on the other hand, enters the game having won two games in a row and is off to its best start since 1996. With a win on Saturday, the Big Green would match its win total for all of last year. The last two victories have come in particularly dramatic fashion as Dartmouth has posted consecutive come-from-behind overtime wins against Sacred Heart and Hartford.
The Big Green knows the competition gets a whole lot tougher this weekend when it faces off against Penn. To be successful, Dartmouth will need to contain the Quakers' leading scorers, senior Scott Solow (11g, 7a) and middie Mike Iannacone (9g).
At the other end of the field, Dartmouth's trio of junior attackmen -- Dave Farber, Jake Dwyer and Scott Roslyn -- will need to be in top shape and completely focused against one of the better goalies in the league, junior Ryan Kelly.
The most interesting and perhaps most important match-up of the game, however, may take place in the center circle between a pair of sophomores. Faceoffs could be crucial and the match-up to watch is Geoff Colla '04 vs. Penn's Ethan Haire. Last week against Hartford, Colla dominated faceoffs in the second half, allowing Dartmouth to claw its way back into the game. His counterpart on Saturday isn't too shabby either. Haire won 82 percent of his faceoffs against Cornell last week and has almost a 60 percent (35 of 59) success rate for the year.
Dartmouth is looking to snap a five game losing streak against Penn. The Big Green has lost the past two matchups against the boys from Philly by identical 7-4 scores. The Quakers hold a 31-23 overall lead in the series, but Dartmouth has a bit of karma on its side. When exactly was the last time the Big Green beat the Quakers? April 6, 1996, in Hanover, by a football-esque score of 21-14.
On April 6, 2002, the Big Green will look to snap one streak while looking to extend another in a statement game to prove that Dartmouth lacrosse is a force to be reckoned with in the Ivy League.
