The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team continued its impressive play at home, defeating Yale 13-12 in overtime on Wednesday afternoon. Ben Grinnell '05 made the gamewinning shot with 28 seconds left in the extra period to extend the Big Green's overall record to 7-3 (2-1 Ivy) and a perfect 5-0 at Scully-Fahey Field.
Coming off a tough loss at Cornell on Saturday, Dartmouth looked to keep its post-season hopes alive by taking advantage of a weaker, and considerably fatter, Yale squad (5-6, 1-4 Ivy). But the Bulldogs showed some fight early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Seth Goldberg and Colin Neville.
Dartmouth got on the board halfway through the first, as sophomore sensation Jamie Coffin bounced the ball past goalkeeper Jordan Ellis for his first of four goals on the day. Coffin scored one more time with 2:36 left in the first quarter to tie the game, but the Bulldogs answered back with two more goals to finish the quarter with a 4-2 advantage.
Ryan Danehy '06 sent a pass from Grinnell into the back of the net to open up the second period. After another goal by the Bulldogs to push the lead back to two, Grinnell found Tom Daniels '04 near the net. Daniels proceeded to fire in his first of three goals to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 5-4 going into halftime.
The Bulldogs opened up the second half with two goals, but Dartmouth would score four of the next five to tie the game at eight apiece. Another goal by Yale's Seth Goldberg gave the Bulldogs the 9-8 edge going into the final period.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Goldberg recorded his fifth goal of the game to push the lead to 10-8. Dartmouth quickly responded, as Brad Heritage '06 weaved his way through the defense and fired the ball past Ellison for his second goal of the game. After another Bulldog score, Grinnell kept the Big Green close with a laser shot to the upper-left corner of the net.
A minute later, Tom Daniels took the game into his own hands. Breaking ankles and making Yale's defenders look plain silly, he ran circles around the defense before evening the score at 11 with his second goal of the game. With just over six minutes left, Daniels scored again to give Dartmouth its first lead.
A goal by Yale with four minutes remaining would even the score at 12-12. Yale had an opportunity to escape with the win at the end of regulation, but defenseman Patrick Keeley '05 denied the last second shot, sending the game into overtime.
Feeding off the home crowd's energy, the Big Green dominated play in the extra period. Russell Radebaugh '04 had what appeared to be the gamewinning shot 3:20 into the period, but the referee waved off the goal as Radebaugh's foot had crossed the crease.
"I was upset when my goal in the overtime period was called back by the ref," said Radebaugh. "He hate me."
Nonetheless, the scene was set for Grinnell's game-ending heroics. With 28 seconds left in the period, the 6'2'' midfielder from Waccabuc, New York, fired in the gamewinning goal to give Dartmouth the 13-12 victory. Grinnell had four assists to go along with his three scores.
"It was a big win for us," said Grinnell. "All of our seniors stepped up and wouldn't let us lose. As for that last shot, I had been missing that same shot all day, so it was extra nice to hit that one in overtime."
Dartmouth outshot Yale 51-30 on the game, including 15-5 in the fourth quarter and 6-0 in overtime. Andrew Goldstein '05 picked up six saves for the Big Green in front of the net.
"After losing a nail-biter to Cornell last Saturday, it would have been heartbreaking to have lost another game in the same way," said Coffin. "We all stuck together and pulled off a great victory over Yale."
The laxers return to action on Saturday April 24, when they travel to Providence to face Brown at 1:00 p.m.
