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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Big Green men's lacrosse falls one goal short of upset

Jimmy Mullen '09 and the Big Green nearly stunned No. 4 UVA on Saturday.
Jimmy Mullen '09 and the Big Green nearly stunned No. 4 UVA on Saturday.

Dartmouth gave UVA a legitimate scare in front of 3,195 fans on the Cavaliers' senior day in Charlottesville, Va. Ari Sussman '10 scored his second goal of the game with 4:45 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Big Green a 9-8 lead.

"It's always fun to play in front of a big crowd," co-captain Ryan O'Connor said. "We did this at Duke in the first game of the season, and it gets you more excited and more revved up when you make good plays. Playing in front of a big crowd reinforces what you're doing and it gets you more pumped up and more ready to go for the next one."

Virginia responded only seconds later to tie the game at nine, but two simultaneous penalties on Cavalier defenseman Ricky Smith gave Dartmouth a minute and a half man advantage with 2:31 to play.

On the ensuing man-up possession, the Big Green managed only one shot. Brian Koch '09 got free for an open shot to take the lead with 1:55 remaining, but his shot was saved by Kip Turner, the most efficient goalie in the history of UVA's storied lacrosse program in terms of goals allowed. The Cavaliers cleared the ball and, in the transition situation on their offensive end of the field, went to the net instead of trying to run down the remaining penalty time.

Virginia's quick clear created a situation in which the Dartmouth defense was too spread out to be able to slide to help and was not able to double-team the ball when the Cavaliers' Danny Glading dodged to the goal. Dodging from the back right side of the goal, Glading beat his defender and goalkeeper Mike Novosel '10 before the slide arrived.

Glading's goal marks the third time in three games that the Big Green has allowed its opponents to score with a man in the penalty box.

"They cleared the ball well considering they were man down and got the ball to their attackmen," O'Connor, one of the team's strongest defenders, said. "Instead of holding the ball and slowing things down because they were man-down, [Glading] liked the situation and went to the goal pretty much immediately when he got the ball."

Novosel finished with a season-high 14 saves, a number attributed both to the freshman's work in net and to the defense's work in the field.

"A lot of their shots, especially from the midfielders, were from 13 yards or so and out," O'Connor said. "Those are the shots we are willing to give up with [Novosel] in the net."

As a testament to the quality of shots fired by the Big Green, the 10-9 final tally came after Virginia convincingly outshot Dartmouth 46-29.

The Big Green's playoff hopes took more than one hit on Saturday, as Dartmouth may have missed out on a crucial opportunity to defeat a top-ranked opponent this season.

Before the match up with the Cavaliers, Dartmouth's captains had predicted that the team would need to win four out of its next five games to make the NCAA tournament.

With three top-five teams remaining on its schedule, four wins implied that the Big Green would beat two teams ranked in the top five in national polls, and two wins over top-five teams makes a strong case for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

On top of Dartmouth's loss to the Cavaliers, No. 3 Albany and No. 5 Princeton both lost on Saturday, and are not likely to be ranked in the top five when they play the Big Green. Saturday's loss to the Cavaliers may have been Dartmouth's last chance to defeat a top-ranked opponent this season.