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The Dartmouth
July 3, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Laxers prepare for Saturday night against Harvard

When you bleed green with Dartmouth pride, an opportunity to beat Harvard under the lights on your home turf in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA tournament is the stuff that dreams are made of.

This Saturday night at 6:00 p.m., the No. 13 Dartmouth men's lacrosse team will take to Scully-Fahey Field for the last time in 2005. Sitting on the proverbial bubble, an impressive win over the arch-rival Crimson could be the deciding factor that launches the laxers back into the NCAA tourney for the second time in three years.

With an overall record of 7-4 and tied for second place in the Ivies, a loss to the visitors from Cambridge would seal the Big Green's fate and leave it with little hope for playing in the postseason.

The stakes couldn't be higher for Dartmouth, coming off a disappointing loss to Princeton on the road last weekend. The laxers must rebound in convincing fashion against Harvard on Saturday to make a strong case for an at-large bid to the Big Dance.

When the Crimson last visited Hanover in 2003, the Big Green faced a similar, must-win situation and ultimately willed its way to a thrilling 6-5 victory in front of a rowdy crowd that stormed the field in celebration of the team's first Ivy League crown in almost 40 years.

Senior tri-captain Ben Grinnell is hopeful for a comparable Dartmouth fan turnout this weekend: "It would be swell to have as many fans as possible to enjoy our last ever home game with," he said.

Grinnell will lead a high-octane Big Green offense that features both him and Ivy League-leading scorer Jamie Coffin '06, whose birthday is also incidentally on Saturday.

"This is a playoff game for us," said Coffin. "If we win, we have a very good chance of getting into the NCAA tournament."

Last week, however, middie Alec Hufnagel '06 had a breakout game against perennial powerhouse Princeton, lighting up the scoreboard six times and single-handedly accounting for three-fourths of Dartmouth's goals. Should Harvard's defense execute a similar strategy of keeping Dartmouth's big guns in check, Hufnagel and others like Ryan Danehy '06 will undoubtedly need to step up and shoulder the offensive load.

"This is our most important game of the year," asserted Danehy.

Just as vital for a Big Green victory, however, is for the Dartmouth defense to rise to the occasion versus a gritty squad from Cambridge. Against many formidable foes like Maryland and Notre Dame, the Big Green longsticks have stonewalled some of the most potent offenses in the country late in the game, keeping the team in contention for the postseason all year long.

Anchoring the defensive effort will be senior tri-captains Adam White and Pat Keeley, along with goalie Andrew Goldstein '05.

White comically commented on the key to victory in the final regular season game for the Big Green.

"We're going to have to give it 111%," he said. "It's not like they're going to sit around before the game and say, 'Hey, guys, let's give it 111%,' but we're going to say it and then we're going to do it and that's why we're going to win."

The laxers will undoubtedly need to lay it all on the line and dominate their final Ancient Eight adversary for 60 minutes if they want to determine their own fate and clinch a coveted post-season birth.

Judging by impressive wins earlier in the season over several highly ranked opponents, the Big Green has all the talent it needs to round out its regular season with a resounding win at Scully-Fahey Field, where an expected capacity crowd of over 2,000 will be cheering Dartmouth onwards to victory.

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