However, the Big Green (3-0) kept its record unblemished by converting on four of six extra-man opportunities in the contest and scoring four goals, three of them unassisted, in the final 4:11 of the fourth quarter to defeat the Stags (1-1) 14-12 in front of 1,550 in Fairfield, Conn.
"It's huge for us to come out 3-0 on this road trip," co-captain Brad Heritage '06 said.
After barely missing the NCAA Tournament in 2005, the Dartmouth men knew that a win against a ranked team like Fairfield would work well in their favor come selection time.
"We looked at Fairfield as a game we needed to win," co-captain and leading scorer Jamie Coffin '06 said.
Heritage stressed the importance of the contest versus the Stags. "We were kind of treating it as a playoff game," he said.
An unlikely face started the rally for Dartmouth, when defenseman Ryan O'Connor '07 took a groundball off a clear, ran up to within 10 yards of the Fairfield cage, fired a low, hard shot to score his first collegiate goal and second career-point. Under a minute later, freshman Brian Koch '09 sank the tying goal at 3:24 to knot the score at 12-12.
The Big Green failed to convert on a thirty-second extra-man opportunity after Fairfield's Matt Scanlon was sent off for a technical push violation. This proved to be a moot point after Tim Daniels '08 circled around the top of the restraining box and drove hard to the net to score the game winner, his second of the contest, with 1:24 remaining. Nick Bonacci '07 added the insurance goal with a second remaining to seal the victory.
When asked about his impressions of the fourth-quarter comeback, Coffin said, "It shows a lot about our team. It was a first time facing something like that in game. There were a lot of guys new to the lineup, it shows how much we've come together as a team."
Fairfield got on the scoreboard first when Chris Manley scored unassisted only 59 seconds into the first period. The Big Green responded by hitting the next three goals, with Coffin netting a man-up tally after a Stag holding penalty while Bonacci converted the latter goals.
Mike Bocklet netted two goals for Fairfield early in the second period to tie the score 3-3, but two more tallies by Coffin and a goal by Sean Anthony '06 with 1:33 left in the half gave the Big Green a 6-5 lead going into the break.
The third quarter was not kind to Dartmouth as the Stags, a team strong in the transition game, took the field with a new offensive rhythm. After Daniels scored a little over three minutes into the period, Fairfield had four different players score five goals in under nine minutes to go up 10-7 with 3:13 left in the stanza. Koch scored and Ryan Danehy '06 sank a man-up goal for Dartmouth to close the Stag's lead to 10-9 going into the fourth quarter.
Coffin tallied his third extra-man goal in the game on an unassisted strike 45 seconds into the final frame to even the score at 10-10. "The man-up goals yesterday were huge for us," he said. "We're just really clicking well. We have a pretty simple set-up and we have a lot of looks off of that. The guys are not trying to force plays."
Heritage added that it is the team's goal this season to crack at least the top five in the nation in extra-man efficiency.
Fairfield came back quickly and grabbed a 12-10 lead on Travis Nelson's fourth goal of the day with 12:33 remaining in the game. The Stags held tough throughout much of the period, which included surviving a costly one minute cross-checking penalty with less than seven minutes remaining, but the late surge by the Big Green would prove too much for Fairfield.
Much of the offense for Dartmouth came from the starting attack, with Coffin leading the way with a team-high six points off of his four goals and two assists. Bonacci ended the game with three goals and one assist, while Koch recorded two goals and added one helper. Freshman John Livadas '09 also contributed with two assists.
Pat Marshall '09 ended the afternoon with ten saves on 36 shots, which included five stops in the fourth quarter. The Big Green offensive generated 40 shots, 13 of which were stopped by Stag goalie Mike Kruger.
Dartmouth was only able to win 11 of the 28 face-offs in the contest, all of which were won by Daniels, and the Big Green was edged slightly in the ground-ball battle, 34-32 in favor of the Stags.
Dartmouth's men's lacrosse team will continue its six-game road trip on Wednesday when the Big Green travels to St. Paul's School in Maryland to take on a reeling 0-2 No. 16 Penn State squad at 12 p.m.
