After going toe-to-toe with the Ivy League leading Cornell Big Red for 60 minutes, the No. 11 Dartmouth men's lacrosse team lost a heartbreaker on Saturday 8-7 in front of a packed Scully-Fahey Field crowd. The defeat drops the Big Green to 1-1 in the Ancient Eight and 5-3 overall.
The No. 8 Big Red came into Hanover poised to exert its Ivy League dominance over the hosting Dartmouth laxers and sprinted quickly from the starting face-off to a 4-0 advantage through the opening minutes of the second quarter. The Big Green, however, regrouped as a team and refused to be pushed around on their home turf, as attackman Ryan Danehy '06 finally lit up the Dartmouth scoreboard with just over four minutes into the second frame.
On the very next possession, Jamie Coffin '06 continued the Dartmouth rally with the team's second marker. Cornell tried to slow the mounting Dartmouth momentum with its fifth goal of the first half. However, the Big Green regained control of the game's tempo, notching an additional score before intermission on a point-blank shot from Ben Grinnell '05.
In the second half, the College picked up right where it left off after the break, as Coffin connected from the perimeter to pull Dartmouth within one at the 2:17 mark of the third frame.
Dartmouth held its own on the other side of the ball as well, keeping Cornell scoreless throughout the third quarter, despite being out-shot 11-4 in the period.
The stonewalling of Cornell eventually paid off for the laxers, as middie Brad Heritage '06 finally tied the game at five-apiece to start out the fourth quarter and seemingly set the table for an epic final period of play between the two Ivy League heavyweights.
Unfortunately for Dartmouth, it was Cornell that refused to let the game slip away, registering three quick, unanswered scores in the final period of play to put itself in a commanding 8-5 advantage.
However, Dartmouth was far from finished.
With less than five minutes remaining, Danehy slung a low, rolling shot through a crowded Cornell crease and into the back of the net to creep Dartmouth back to within two of its visiting opponents.
"The crowd came up big this weekend, they kept us in the game," said Danehy of the sun-drenched spectators at Scully-Fahey Field.
Coffin netted his team-leading third goal on the afternoon with just under two minutes remaining on the clock. The score pulled Dartmouth within one at 8-7 and flushed the team with renewed optimism.
Cornell, though, would not relinquish its one-goal advantage and escaped with the win.
