Co-captain Tim Daniels '08 led the way for Dartmouth (4-9, 1-3 Ivy) with a pair of goals, while Ari Sussman '10 and co-captain Brian Koch '09 also added a goal each.
On the other end, Virgina junior Brian Carroll and seniors Garrett Billings and Steve Giannone each netted a hat trick for the Cavaliers. Preseason Player of the Year senior Danny Glading added a goal and three assists for the Cavaliers (13-1, 2-1 ACC).
Virgina opened the scoring 59 seconds into the contest, as Carroll netted his first goal of the game. Sussman responded to tie the contest five minutes later with his 12th goal of the year. The Cavaliers went back on top with five minutes left in the quarter, but a goal from Philip Killian '09 evened the score once again.
"[Virgina] is definitely a team of hot-shot lax stars, and we're a team of guys who can play well together," Andrew Pollack '10 said. "Every year we play them well, so our attitude going in was really positive."
Five minutes into the second quarter, Jonathan Livadas '09 scored a man-advantage goal on the back end off of an excellent feed from Josh Gillam '10 to give the Big Green a 3-2 lead. Dartmouth won the ensuing face-off, and Koch rushed downfield to coolly dispatch his 22nd goal of the year. Billings pulled one back for the Cavaliers with seven minutes left in the quarter, but a tally from Daniels gave the Big Green a two-goal advantage at the half.
"We had nothing to lose," goalie Fergus Campbell '12 said. "In the first half, we just played to show everyone that we can play with, and beat, any team in the country."
Both teams came out of the halftime break focused on defense, and the result was nearly a quarter of scoreless action. Virginia scored the first goal of the third quarter three minutes before its end -- Carroll's second of the game. The Big Green could not conjure a response to Carroll's strike, and the Cavaliers were able to even the score at five with less than a minute to go in the third.
"Lacrosse is such a fast game," Pollack said. "They came down and scored really quickly, and it just shows how quickly a game can change. It was disappointing, especially since we played so well defensively, but we knew we could still win."
Dartmouth looked to have forgotten its third quarter offensive woes, as Daniels scored his second of the game to give the Big Green an unexpected 6-5 lead early in the fourth quarter. However, from then on, Virginia seemed determined to avoid its second consecutive loss and completely dominated the quarter, rattling off an astounding eight consecutive goals to end the game. Billings and Giannone each scored twice during the stretch.
"A team of individuals like Virginia is hard to stop when they start hitting shots," Pollack said. "When they're ripping top-shelf, you really can't do anything."
Entering the game, Dartmouth had been struggling to win face-offs, and the trend was expected to continue against the Cavaliers and former teammate Chad Gaudet '08, one of the nation's top face-off specialists. However, the Big Green was able to hold Gaudet to 8-19 on face-offs, while winning 13-23 overall. Kyle Lagratta '09 won a tremendous nine out of 10 face-offs in the first half.
"Kyle was definitely the player of the game for me," Campbell said. "Overall, it was the best defense we've played all year, and everyone made things easy for me. We held Virginia to five goals in a half. We just need to play like this every game."
Campbell made 13 saves against one of the nation's top offenses.
Dartmouth will have a week off before resuming play. The Big Green will face No. 1 Princeton in Princeton, N.J. The game begins at noon on Saturday.
