The Dartmouth men's lacrosse squad (2-4, 0-1 Ivy) faced three top-twenty teams over spring break and went 0-3, giving up a six-goal lead in its last contest against No. 16 Harvard University (5-2, 1-1 Ivy) to ultimately fall, 13-11.
The Big Green opened its break on the road with games against No. 3 University of North Carolina (9-0, 2-0 ACC) and then No. 7 Duke University (6-3, 0-2 ACC).
With the scored tied at 1-1 after the first quarter, Dartmouth started off evenly-matched with the Tar Heels. UNC then scored 10 straight goals each by a different UNC player, however, en route to the 15-6 victory. Senior co-captain Ari Sussman '10 led Dartmouth in points with one assist and two goals.
Head coach Andy Towers said that the team did not clear or face off well in the game both of which are key to possessing the ball and controlling the game. Dartmouth not only lost the ground ball battle by 14, but also had 23 turnovers.
The Big Green again succumbed to a stretch of unanswered goals against the Blue Devils, losing 15-3. After Sussman got Dartmouth on the board late in the first quarter to make the score 2-1, Duke scored nine straight goals before Nicholas Dysenchuk '13 scored for the Big Green in the third quarter.
The third Dartmouth goal was scored by Ian Ferrell '10 while goalie Fergus Campbell '12 had 10 saves.
The Big Green won the majority of the faceoffs but again lost the ground ball battle, failing to stop the Blue Devil attack.
Towers said road games against teams such as UNC and Duke, who are already halfway into their seasons, present a useful challenge for the Big Green.
"It gives us a great opportunity to see where we are against some of the best teams in the country," he said.
Both Towers and assistant coach Jon Torpey said they believe that the team needs to improve at maintaining longer offensive possessions in order to enable the Big Green defense to rest something both said was a problem during the North Carolina trip.
"When you play teams like that, they will expose your weaknesses," Torpey said. "Our biggest hurdle at the moment is getting the ball to the offensive side of the field."
On the road against Harvard University, the Big Green jumped onto the board first when Rhett Miller '11 scored approximately three minutes into the game. The Crimson then went on an uninterrupted three goal scoring streak.
Dartmouth quickly responded, scoring eight consecutive goals to establish a 9-3 lead early in the third quarter. Harvard, however, fought back and decreased the deficit to just two going into the fourth quarter.
With 6:01 left in the game, Harvard regained an 11-10 lead, which it did not relinquish. The Crimson earned the win with a final score of 13-11.
Kip Dooley '12 and Chris Costabile '13 each notched four goals and an assist, increasing Dartmouth's offensive production from its past two games. Campbell again broke into the double-digits, posting 11 saves.
The Big Green again lost the faceoff battle, 22-6. Although leading after the first half, it had only won two faceoffs.
Dartmouth will return to the field on April 3, with a match-up against No. 9 Cornell University at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., at 12 p.m. in the New England Lacrosse Classic.
