The 2-2 halftime score was not what the Big Green players had expected, but the second half effort secured the win and allowed Dartmouth to rotate more players into the game.
"We obviously always want to start out strong, so if it means putting in a couple of goals early, that would have been nice," co-captain Ryan O'Connor '07 said. "Especially with the way they were playing the game, they were stalling on offense and then sitting back on defense in a zone. A bigger margin of victory would be nice but to us, a win is a win."
For No. 21 Dartmouth, the win is largely a result of a more aggressive offense. The Big Green attack was able to crack the Providence zone defense and fired 39 shots, with 12 shots on goal. The Friars, in contrast, only managed 12 total shots and only placed four on target. Through stingy defense and ball control on the offensive end of the field, Dartmouth held Providence shotless in the first and third quarters.
"It's always nice to be able to hold a team down in a number of shots, and I attribute it mostly to [Providence's] style of offense," O'Connor said. "They tried to isolate short stick on short stick behind [the goal] and waited for us to go after the ball. They weren't trying to force the issue or put pressure on us on defense."
Brian Koch '09 led the charge for the Big Green with three goals and an assist. Other than Koch, the Friars managed to mollify Dartmouth's traditional scoring threats. Ivy League Rookie of the Week Ari Sussman '10 fired nine shots but was held without a goal for the first time in his collegiate career. Sussman averages nearly three goals a game, and had scored no fewer than two in a game before Tuesday's match-up. Nick Bonacci '07, the Big Green's co-captain who averages more than two goals per game, was also held without a goal.
"Our offense is not necessarily predicated on one or two guys scoring. It just so happens that the same guys are in position to score a lot of the time," O'Connor said. "It doesn't matter who scores in our offense, it's more of who is in what position. Bonacci and Sussman are great dodgers, so in a zone, they aren't going to score as much, and against Providence they were able to contribute assists."
Both Sussman and Bonacci had assists during a critical third-quarter rally that put Dartmouth ahead 6-2, a lead that it would not relinquish. Co-captain Wilson Handler '07 scored two goals and John Livadas '09 rounded out the Big Green's scoring with his third goal of the season.
Dartmouth struggled on extra-man opportunities. The less-disciplined Friars committed nine penalties, and Dartmouth capitalized on its first two opportunities but was held without a goal on its final seven man-up chances.
The Big Green defense continued to dominate a tentative Providence offense during man-down situations. Dartmouth players committed five fouls on the afternoon, but the Big Green prevented the Friars from converting any extra-man opportunities into goals.
"Our defense, even on man-down, is trying to go with the same principles we play normally," O'Connor, the only senior on a young but talented Big Green defense, said. "We try to put pressure on the ball-carrier, get in his hands, and disrupt their passing. We focus on using a lot of communication, knowing the other team's scheme and ours very well -- everyone knows their spot and knows their role and their unit. [Against Providence], we were able to react very well."
He added, "It also helps that Mike Novosel '10 has had some big saves for us in the net, our [man-down] percentage wouldn't be so high if he didn't make some of the saves that he does."
Perhaps most importantly for Dartmouth, the win keeps the Big Green's winning streak and momentum moving forward, as Dartmouth has now won four straight after a disappointing 0-3 start. The win over the Friars follows a sudden-death quadruple overtime victory over Brown and is the team's last out-of-conference match-up before entering the crux of its Ivy League season in a two-week stretch that will include games against No. 1 Cornell and No. 23 Penn. Dartmouth will travel to Philadelphia to face the Quakers on Friday, April 6 and will host the Big Red in Hanover on Saturday, April 14.
