The Dartmouth men's water polo team (7-1-0) fought its way to an undefeated weekend at Middlebury College. In decisive victories over Amherst, Williams, Tufts and host Middlebury, the team pulled its way into a tie with Boston College for first place in the New England Division.
The weekend seeding tournament began Saturday, with a 13-2 romp over Amherst. The Big Green's veritable spanking of the Penguins included opportunities for the entire team to get in on the action, with Brian Taylor '06 tossing in his first collegiate goal.
The real test, however, came Saturday afternoon, against rival Williams. Williams and Dartmouth have held every New England Championship since the creation of the league in 1995, with Dartmouth winning four of the seven, including last year's.
Of the recent rivalry, Ross Markwort '04 shared his inside knowledge.
"Rivalries have run higher in the last three years, thanks to the likes of Williams' star players Dickie Lammert and Jon Wiener," Markwort said. "Dickie and I played on the same team in high school. Though I was used to the antics that gave him the nickname 'Dirty Dick' back in Missouri, Dartmouth players took it personally and have elevated their levels of aggression for the Williams game."
"After graduating last year, Wiener chose to work for the local Williamstown newspaper so he could remain to coach their team. He really gets the team fired up, especially when he puts on his bandana," Markwort said.
Though this weekend was only a seeding tournament for the championships in two weeks, the game is certainly a forecast of what is to come, as well as an opportunity for the Big Green to gauge its progress.
Williams came out firing, scoring a quick goal within the first minute. Next, Williams capitalized on the ejection of Dartmouth's Michael Mothner '03.
The Big Green countered, however, with a magnificent drive shot by Matt Derr '04, meeting a crisp pass from Ryan Goldhawn '04. The trend continued, as Derr racked up two more goals for Dartmouth, completing a hat trick in a remarkable 94 seconds.
His goals were complemented by a seven-meter shot from Nick Chukiat '05 and a Goldhawn backhand. Williams came back with two more before the quarter closed out, however, leaving the score at 5-4 in favor of Dartmouth.
Williams began the second quarter with a goal off the exclusion of Derr, evening up the score. It was the last time the score would be tied.
The Big Green began its rally during the exclusion of a Williams defender, off a cross pass from Mike Block '04 to Chukiat, who rocketed the ball into the goal. The defense then stepped it up, with goalie Pierce Perotti '06 blocking two of Williams' shots around a Goldhawn goal. The half ended with Dartmouth up 7-5.
During the next half, the training and endurance of the Big Green proved too much for Williams. Beginning with a Goldhawn goal off precision passing from Derr, Block and Chukiat, and continuing with superb defense from Block and Markwort, the second half was off to a solid start.
The defensive effort left Mothner with an easy one-on-goalie shot, and Williams' next play was broken up by Markwort, fronting the hole. On the next drive, Perotti proved proficient once again with another block.
A Dartmouth timeout gave the defense time to rest, and when the whistle blew, the offense once again took over, with another Derr goal to close out the quarter.
The next quarter saw the return of Dartmouth defense, as steals from Derr and Markwort thwarted the Williams offense. After an apparent Big Green goal was called off when the ball was found resting outside the net, Williams found enough strength to nab its last goal of the game, taking the score to 10-6.
Another Perotti stop led to a fifth goal by Derr, followed by yet another defensive effort by Markwort. The game ended on a one-on-goalie skip shot by birthday boy Kemper Deihl '06, taking the score to an impressive 12-6 Dartmouth victory.
Paul Schned '03 summed up the victory.
"Although Williams lingered around for the first quarter of the game, we pretty much dominated them the following three quarters and had a convincing victory against our biggest rivals."
Sunday, the Big Green kept up the pace, with an 11-6 win over Tufts and an 8-3 rout over Middlebury. The weekend's stars were a familiar duo, as Derr and Goldhawn combined for 24 goals. Also impressive was Markwort's defense, backed by Perotti's much-improved performance in the cage.
After outscoring their opponents 44-17 over the weekend, the Big Green polomen will have the confidence they need going into the Championship Tournament at Wesleyan in two weeks, which will determine who ventures to Collegiate Club Nationals at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
At Wesleyan, Dartmouth will have another shot at newcomer to the league Boston College, after the Big Green dramatically fell to the Eagles in overtime two weeks ago.
Justin Pratt '06 was excited about his team's momentum.
"The weekend really got our juices flowing, and we'll take that fire into New Englands in two weeks."
Greg Holtz '05 is a second-year member of the Dartmouth men's water polo team.
