Saturday's 1 p.m. game is more than a matchup between two perennial Ivy League powers. The second Dartmouth-Princeton contest of the season is also a quarterfinal in this year's NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championships, and the winner will advance to the Final Four the following weekend in Boston.
"Princeton is always such a huge game for us and one that is always a fight," Dartmouth attacker Whitney Douthett '07 said.
But on April 22, in the earlier game this season, Dartmouth routed Princeton 15-5 on the road. Douthett had a magnificent game, leading the Big Green with four goals and five assists.
"We got up early on Princeton, which gave us a ton of confidence and momentum that carried us throughout the game," midfielder Annie Leibovitz '06 said. "We played hard for 60 full minutes and never relaxed, even when we were up."
Going into that game, Princeton was ranked ahead of Dartmouth. The Tiger's had an unbeaten conference record before playing the Big Green, and the Dartmouth loss was Princeton's only Ivy loss of the season.
Princeton tied with Cornell as Ivy League champions. But since the Tigers defeated the Big Red when the two teams met, Princeton took the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Cornell also qualified but lost in the first round to Notre Dame.
If all the games had gone according to seed, seventh-seeded Dartmouth should only have played one home game. The Big Green seized its homefield advantage, downing Boston University 9-5 in the opening round last Sunday. But the post-game scoreboard revealed that Princeton had upset the University of Virginia, the second seed in this year's tournament.
The Tigers upended the Cavaliers 8-7 in Charlottesville on Sunday. It was the only upset of the first round.
Princeton presents a more favorable matchup for the Big Green than would Virginia, and the upset means the Dartmouth women will get to stay home for Green Key Weekend.
"I think it is such a huge advantage to be playing at home, especially during Green Key weekend when there is so much pride and excitement for Dartmouth," Douthett said, "Our fans have been amazing this year and I think they will really come out this weekend."
And obviously a home game means the Big Green will avoid a long commute to Charlottesville.
"An away game in Virginia would have been hard because it's such a long trip," attacker Sarah Szefi '07 said. "and the travel can sometimes throw off your game, especially because this team has never played at UVA."
Princeton is no weak team though. The Tigers just upset one of the top teams in the country last weekend, and they did win the Ivy League.
"Princeton is a very good team coming off an upset, and they will be very fired up to play us," Leibovitz said.
"The game will be a battle -- no matter what the past outcome was -- as both of us want to be in the Final Four," goalkeeper Devon Wills '06 said. "Every round gets harder and harder, and Princeton will no doubt be a challenge. Still, our focus is on us and how we play, rather than on who our opponent is."
If Dartmouth does manage to beat Princeton a second time this season, the Big Green will find itself in the Final Four for the second straight year. Dartmouth would have the shortest route to Boston of all the remaining teams in the tournament.
Virginia is the only one of the top eight teams to be eliminated. So if the Big Green makes it to the Final Four, its competition will be stiff. A rematch with top-seeded Duke would have to wait until the final.
