Sunday's seven-hour trek from Philadelphia to Hanover was not the dreary ride to which the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team has grown accustomed in recent years. The Big Green sat back and enjoyed the ride this time around thanks to a 7-5 win over the Quakers.
This win is a big step in the right direction for Dartmouth for several reasons. It marked the first success against Penn in seven years, and in eight years at Franklin Field. The win not only guarantees that the Big Green will end this campaign with a winning record for the first time in eight years, but also marks the best start in those eight years.
Though new to the squad, leading scorer Jamie Coffin '06 understood the importance of the first Ivy win and sees much success ahead in the toughest league around.
"There has been a lot of talk about how we are going to have a very good chance to do very well in the Ivies this year, and we proved that statement today. Hopefully this win will send a message to the league that the talk about us is true."
The three offensive stars for Dartmouth, Captain Scott Roslyn '03, athlete of the week Ben Grinnell '05 and Coffin all contributed to help Dartmouth pull out the victory.
Coffin tied up the game at one in the first with his 17th goal of the year. A later assist gave him 35 points in the early going, already placing him in the top-five for freshmen in the history of Dartmouth lacrosse.
Roslyn and Darren Yulfo '04 each tallied a goal to give the Big Green a 3-1 lead at the half.
The story of the second half was Grinnell, who had a hat trick and kept the Big Green on top. Grinnell scored to start off the third to make it a 4-1 Big Green lead.
Penn then scored two quick goals to cut the deficit to one. Penn looked to mount a comeback, but Quaker hopes were dashed when Grinnell scored his second and third of the afternoon to put the Big Green up for good.
In goal, Andrew Goldstein '05 helped the Dartmouth effort with 17 saves. Dartmouth held on and won by the final score of 7-5. Roslyn finished with two assists.
"The game today was a real hard-fought game," Coffin said. "We held the lead ever since the first quarter and held on strong. Our defense played the best they have ever played, and the offense was able to capitalize at key times."
"Our defense deserves a ton of credit," Grinnell added. "I am confident we'll continue to work hard and play well and hopefully by doing so, rack up some more Ivy wins."
Dartmouth hopes to continue its winning ways against a tough Cornell team next Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m. at Dartmouth's Scully-Fahey Field.
"This game was a huge victory for our team," defenseman Pat Keeley '05 said. "We had a good week of practice before the game and went into the game with a lot of confidence."
"We have a lot of momentum going into the Cornell game and we hope to continue our success."
