"Even though winning the [League Championship] is out of reach this year, we have to focus on our next two games and have the Ivy Tournament and the National tournament," co-captain Adam Boardman '11 said. "We have to take things one step at a time."
Dartmouth's currently 5-7 overall and 1-3 in the League. The team's longest winning spell this season a 3-0 streak followed its opening loss and lasted until the Big Green traveled south for spring break. Duke University and University of Carolina, Chapel Hill both top-10 teams halted the Big Green's run.
"In the fall, we play in a fall-ball league and have one day with three short scrimmages," Boardman said. "Then in the winter, we do a lot of strength and conditioning training. Starting Feb. 1 we practice outside."
Before classes started for Spring term, the team recorded its most exciting victory over Harvard University when Nikki Dysenchuk '13 scored the game-winning goal as time expired. Until Tuesday's 9-7 comeback win against the University of Vermont, the Big Green struck a dry spell and lost four straight three to conference opponents.
"The most exciting moment of the season has been Nikki's goal against Harvard," Boardman said. "He shot with less than a second left on the clock and there wasn't even a faceoff after it."
The team has scored 115 goals averaging 9.58 per game and has allowed 132 to the opposition. Strong teamwork has contributed to many of the team's successful shots, as 61 came off of assists.
Dartmouth boasts a balanced offense, with seven players tallying double-digit points so far this season Kip Dooley '12 (13G, 16A), Drew Tunney '12 (14G, 10A), Dysenchuk (15G, 7A), Jeff Perkins '14 (13G, 3A), Chris Constabile '13 (11G, 2A), John DeChiaro '12 (5G, 7A) and co-captain Rhett Miller '11 (17G, 4A).
Fergus Campbell '12 has been a solid force in the goal since the start of the season, saving 138 shots for a save percentage over 50.
Despite these positive statistics, there is much room for improvement. The team has converted only 13 out of 41 man-up opportunities. It also needs to improve on picking up groundballs. It has scooped up 351 while allowing 431. Finally, the team must focus on making fewer turnovers, since it has recorded 227 in the 12 games it has played this season.
The win over UVM in which Dartmouth scored the final six goals to erase a four-goal deficit is reflective of the Big Green's strong second half performances this season. Overall, 50 of Dartmouth's goals have come in the first half while 65 have come in the second.
"We have fallen short on the scoreboard this year, especially against [Yale University] and [Princeton University]," Boardman said. "Both of these games were definitely within our reach so that was disappointing. A positive takeaway, though, is that this year we kept the Princeton game to 8-4 because last year was 16-2."
Miller said the game against the Tigers showed how much the team has improved.
"Even though we lost to Princeton, playing in the NFL venue of Gillette Stadium is always awesome," he said. "The win over Harvard is the big highlight so far but hopefully this weekend against Penn will be a new highlight."
Miller said he believes the future of the lacrosse program at the College is promising, especially with the rise of rookie players.
"The program is definitely heading in the right direction," he said. "The coaches have done a great job with recruiting, and I'm sure they have a good class coming in. The junior class is strong and will be good leaders next year."
The team travels to Penn to take on the Quakers at Franklin Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
