The 15th-ranked Dartmouth men's lacrosse team will take to Scully-Fahey field tonight at 7 p.m. against its final regular season opponent, Harvard. For the first time in almost 40 years, the Big Green has the chance to walk off as Ivy League champions.
The near-miraculous season that the squad has put together has turned heads across the country and brought respect back to the program. With a win this evening, the Big Green will solidify at least a share in the Ivy League title, which has not been in Hanover since 1965.
Now, at 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the Ancient Eight, Dartmouth is tied with Ivy powerhouses Princeton and Cornell atop the league standings. Pending a Dartmouth victory over Harvard and a Princeton win over Brown this weekend, the Ivy executive athletic director would then decide which of the three teams that share the Ivy crown will receive a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Dartmouth looks to continue against Harvard right where it left off -- with its best team performance yet. Last Saturday, the laxers visited a much heralded Princeton squad, which was ranked second nationally at the time.
The Big Green, however, thoroughly outplayed the heavily favored Tigers, and came away from New Jersey with a victory, trouncing the home team to the tune of 13-6.
After pulling off one of the greatest upsets in school history, Andrew Goldstein '05 and Ryan Danehy '06 were honored as the Ivy League player and rookie of the week, respectively, on Monday.
Goldstein held No. 2 Princeton to only six goals and stopped 17 shots as he helped his team cruise to its first win at Princeton since 1956. At one point in the game, Goldstein went one-on-one with Princeton's finest attacker, junior Ryan Boyle, and stopped his laser-like shot dead in its tracks, much to the shock and awe of the Princeton fans who could hardly believe the upset unfolding before them.
"We have put together some great games, and we are hoping for a chance to show the lacrosse world how far Dartmouth has come," Goldstein said. "But before any of that happens, we have one goal -- to win the Ivy League."
Danehy notched two fourth-quarter scores and added an assist on the last goal of the game. His first tally put the Big Green ahead 8-4. His second marker came later, just seven seconds after Ryan Boyle had trimmed the Big Green's lead to 11-6.
"Our offense right now is playing at such a high level that everyone out there is able to make their shots and score," Danehy said.
The Dartmouth's Athlete of the Week, Tom Daniels '04, also fueled the Big Green scoring machine with four goals and two assists in the historic win.
Adding to the Big Green's offensive attack will be returning super-frosh Jamie Coffin, who still leads the team in total points despite missing the last three games due to a wrist injury.
With Coffin's return to a team that is already firing on all cylinders, Dartmouth poses an overwhelming threat to the visiting Crimson under the lights tonight. In front of an anticipated capacity crowd, the Big Green looks to not only write the final chapter in what has been one of the greatest turnaround stories ever, but to do it with a win over arch-rival Harvard.
"To win, we will need to play well and take advantage of our home crowd," Dartmouth head coach Rick Sowell said. "It should be a fun night."
