The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team kicked off its Ivy League schedule over spring break in addition to traveling to play two non-conference games. The team dropped its Ivy League opener to Brown, but rebounded to slip past Holy Cross in a close game. The team then fell short against Duke University.
Dartmouth (2-6, 0-1 Ivy) fell to No. 15 Brown (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) in Ivy League action on March 21. The 14-8 loss extended the team's five-game losing streak.
Kip Dooley '12 and Jimmy Mullen '09 pulled Dartmouth back to within two points on two separate occasions in the second quarter, but the team could not capitalize on the momentum.
As Brown's All-American goaltender Jordan Burke shut out Dartmouth's offensive efforts in the third quarter, the Bears posted two more goals, extending their lead to a commanding 11-5 as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.
Brown secured the victory in the final frame by answering Dartmouth's final three goals point-for-point.
The Big Green squad could not overcome the six-goal deficit in the final period, leading to the final margin of 14-8. Dooley and Ari Sussman '10 led the Big Green offense with two goals each.
While Brown outshot Dartmouth 38-27, the Big Green edged out the Bears in the ground ball battle, 33-31.
Dartmouth rebounded from its first conference loss with a 10-9 road victory against Holy Cross (1-8, 0-4 Patriot) on March 24.
The two teams traded points throughout the tightly contested match, with neither squad holding onto a steady lead. Dartmouth never led by more than two goals.
Thanks to a Holy Cross rally, the Big Green saw its slim 8-7 second-half advantage evaporate into a 9-8 deficit with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Mullen deadlocked the score with just four minutes left on the clock and, within 15 seconds, Chris Root '10 notched the game-winning goal for Dartmouth.
Co-captain Tim Daniels '08 led Dartmouth with three goals and two assists.
The Big Green held a slight advantage in shots during the game, 34-31, and picked up 30 ground balls. The Big Green also won the face-off battle 26-16, but struggled with turnovers, giving the ball up 24 times to the Crusaders' 19.
While the victory against Holy Cross broke the Big Green's five-game losing streak, this positive momentum was short-lived.
Dartmouth closed out the break in Stony Brook, N.Y., where No. 10 Duke (8-3, 1-1 ACC) upended the Big Green 12-6 on March 28.
Duke started strong in the contest, getting on the board twice before Dartmouth was able to answer. The players remained competitive and play ended in a 3-2 crunch by the end of the first frame.
The two squads traded goals in the second quarter until Duke surged past Dartmouth in the final thirty seconds of the half, taking a 7-3 advantage to the locker room.
In a lackluster second half, Dartmouth converted only three of its 20 shots into goals.
Eight minutes into the fourth quarter, Duke took control again, recording three goals in less than four minutes. The Big Green was unable to draw any closer before the final whistle.
Duke dominated every facet of the game, controlling the ground ball battle, 32-22, and face-offs, 13-9.
Consistent turnovers further hindered Dartmouth's performance, as the Big Green players committed a total of 21 turnovers during the game.
"We had some crucial turnovers in the last two quarters that really hurt our play," said Towny Swiggett '10.
While Duke had ample opportunities to score, Fergus Campbell '12 made a career-high 17 saves in front of the net.
The loss against Duke dropped Dartmouth's record to a disappointing 2-6 after a promising outlook at the beginning of the season.
Sussman attributed Dartmouth's poor performance to early-season injuries.
"Injuries really set the tone for us really early on," he said. "It's frustrating since we didn't expect them to affect our play so much. We haven't been playing well enough to complete the games."
While Dartmouth started the season slowly, Sussman said that the team is ready to focus on conference action.
"It's a good thing that we've only played Brown in the league," he said. "We have a whole new focus for the upcoming games. We might be 2-6 overall, but we're really only 0-1 in the Ivy League and obviously that matters more to us right now,"
Sussman added that the teams will also work to play a complete lacrosse game.
"We're really trying to focus on playing four quarters of real lacrosse," he said.
Dartmouth men's lacrosse will aim for their first conference victory against the University of Pennsylvania on Friday, April 3, at 4:00 p.m. in Philadelphia, Penn.
