Coming off a lackluster performance last weekend during a 16-9 loss to No. 3 Duke (10-1, 2-0 ACC), Dartmouth men's lacrosse team (4-4, 0-1 Ivy) will take on Ivy League rival University of Pennsylvania (4-3, 2-1 Ivy) this Saturday.
Penn lost to Ivy leader No. 7 Cornell (7-1, 2-0 Ivy), 13-5, in a tough game last weekend. No. 15 Princeton (4-3, 1-0 Ivy) also gained ground in the Ivy race, defeating Yale (2-5, 0-3 Ivy) 11-8.
This weekend will feature several key Ivy match-ups. No. 16 Brown (6-2, 1-0 Ivy) will face Yale on Friday in New Haven, while Harvard (4-4, 0-1 Ivy)will take on Cornell in Cambridge, Mass. Princeton takes on top-ranked Syracuse (7-1-0, 1-6 Big East), a game which could have the potential to seriously affect the NCAA tournament seedings.
College lacrosse was shaken up this week by several large-scale upsets. Last week's top team, now No. 4 University of Virginia, was toppled by Maryland 13-7. The loss ends UVA's nine-game winning streak and destroys the possibility of an undefeated team in Division I.
Women's lacrosse
Dartmouth's women's lacrosse team is tied for sixth place in the Ivy League with Cornell. The Big Green (5-4, 1-2 Ivy) will face the Big Red (4-4, 1-2 Ivy) this Saturday, in which each team will strive to even its record and retain the sixth spot on the league ladder.
Ivy contests this week went as predicted. Last Saturday, No. 2 Princeton (8-0, 2-0 Ivy) rolled over Cornell 19-10. The Tigers went on to beat Columbia (3-6, 0-4 Ivy) on Wednesday.
The Lions were also dispatched by No. 8 Penn (8-1, 3-0 Ivy). The Quakers now lead the Ancient Eight, while Columbia's four losses put it at the bottom of the conference ladder.
No. 13 Yale (8-3, 2-1 Ivy) moved to third place in the Ivy League after its decisive 14-6 win against Harvard (7-3, 1-1 Ivy).
Ivy contenders were generally successful this week in non-conference games as well. Dartmouth's victory against Vermont on Tuesday was followed by a 19-9 Yale win against Holy Cross and Penn's close defeat of No. 14 Johns Hopkins with a score of 9-8.
The only exception to this trend was Harvard's 18-6 loss to a strong No. 11 Boston University squad.
Baseball
Dartmouth's baseball team surrendered six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning in a 10-8 loss to Siena this Wednesday. The loss snaps a seven-game win streak but the Big Green looks to preserve its perfect record in Ivy League play this weekend.
The Big Green (10-8, 4-0 Ivy) carried an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth against Siena when Bobby Steinsdoerfer '07 entered the game in relief. Steinsdoerfer gave up four unearned runs, after an error by shortstop Erik Bell '08.
Reliever Ryan Smith '11 came in with two outs to try to stop the bleeding, but could not protect the tie score and allowed Siena to take a 10-8 lead.
Three Dartmouth players hit home runs as the Big Green continued their success at the plate. On Sunday, the Big Green posted double-digit runs in a doubleheader sweep of Cornell (6-10, 0-2 Ivy).
Dartmouth, which stands atop the Red Rolfe Division, will play four league games this weekend.
Earlier in the week, Michael Pagliarulo '09 was named co-Ivy League player of the week for his offensive contribution in the Big Green's five-game win streak.
The Big Green will host the University of Pennsylvania (9-9, 1-2 Ivy) and Columbia (7-16, 3-1 Ivy) in doubleheaders this weekend. Penn took both games of a doubleheader on Wednesday, defeating St. Joseph's 6-2 and 16-5. Columbia currently leads the Gehrig division, but lost to Army, 19-8, on Tuesday.
Track and Field
Following last week's victories at the Snowflake Invitational at Tufts, Dartmouth's men and women's track and field look to start the Ivy League season with strong showings.
Dartmouth captured 11 first place finishes en route to a 223 point victory for the men and a 196.5 point victory for the women. Both teams were strong across the board at Tufts, but they performed particularly well in the sprinting and throwing events.
The teams will travel to Princeton, N.J., for the two-day Princeton Invitational this weekend.
Friday will feature long-distance events, while the sprints and middle-distance races will take place Saturday. Field events will be split across the weekend.
The Princeton Invitational will be the first outdoor league meet of the year. Dartmouth hosts its first home meet, the Dartmouth Invitational, on Saturday, April 19.
Tennis
Dartmouth men's and women's tennis teams will both head into their first Ivy League competitions this weekend, following a promising non-conference match play last weekend. Both teams face off against Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday.
The men' s team (7-7, 0-0 Ivy) will travel to New York City Friday before traveling to Ithaca, N.Y. The women's team (12-1, 0-0 Ivy) will play both the Lions and the Big Red in Hanover.
Men's tennis picked up a much needed win, 7-0, over Amherst (5-3, 0-0 NESCAC) last weekend to break even on its record. While the No. 61 nationally ranked women's team toppled Army (17-6, 1-0 Patriot), 7-0, in a Big Green dominated match.
In other league matches, the University of Pennsylvania (6-6, 1-0 Ivy) defeated Princeton (7-7, 01 Ivy) by a margin of 5-2, while Cornell (8-2, 1-0 Ivy) stepped over Columbia (3-8, 0-1 Ivy) in a 6-1 decision. Without having played a match in the Ancient Eight, the Big Green women enter Ivy League competition in a four-way tie for third.
On the men's side, Princeton (12-6, 1-0 Ivy) overcame Penn (9-8, 0-1 Ivy) in a 5-2 victory. Columbia (8-5, 1-0 Ivy), tied for first in the league with the Tigers, edged out Cornell (5-9, 0-1 Ivy) in a 4-3 win.
The men's team also enters into Ivy competition in third, tied with Harvard (8-6, 0-0 Ivy). The Crimson will also face off against Cornell and Columbia this weekend in its Ivy openers.
