Only three days after a close loss to Yale University, the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team faced the University of Delaware on Tuesday in Danbury, Conn., losing to the Blue Hens (8-4), 14-11, and marking the Big Green's (4-6, 1-2 Ivy) third consecutive loss.
Despite the upset, head coach Andrew Towers said the team finally brought intensity and unity which it had lacked in previous play to the game.
"I am proud of this aspect of the game," he said. "We kicked it out of the park and played a full 60 minutes with intensity, competitiveness and a commitment to physically winning the game."
Eight of the 25 goals in the game came in the first quarter. After back and forth possession to start the game, Kip Dooley '12 scored the first goal unassisted just over a minute into the contest. Under five minutes later, Delaware evened the tally at one goal on a man-up possession, and a minute later, Drew Tunney '12 finished a pass from Dooley, giving the Big Green the lead for the last time.
Delaware responded with three quick goals before Nikki Dysenchuk '13 revived the scoring for Dartmouth. Dysenchuk struck unassisted while the Big Green was man-down due to a penalty. Delaware notched one more goal to bring the first period to a close.
Neither team scored for over five minutes after the break, but Delaware and Dartmouth traded goals throughout the rest of the second quarter. The Big Green's scores came when Tunney connected with Robbie Hoffman '13 and Chris Costabile '13 ripped the ball past the Blue Hen goalie with just over six minutes left in the half. Entering halftime, the Big Green was down by three.
Delaware once again initiated the scoring in the new period, and the Big Green responded to every Blue Hen goal with one of its own. Rhett Miller '11 scored off a pass from Jack Steele '11 four minutes into play, and Tunney had his second assist of the game to Colin Delaney '12 before Tunney fed Miller for another goal. Dysenchuk put two more goals in the net for the Big Green before the third quarter expired the first unassisted and the other from Tunney's fourth and final assist.
Only down by two goals, the Big Green came out strong in the final quarter. Costabile scored his second goal unassisted five minutes in, but Delaware secured the win by putting two goals past Dartmouth goalie Fergus Campbell '12 in the final minutes of the game.
Picking up more ground balls has been the Big Green's goal for the last few games, and the team improved on that skill against Delaware. The Big Green scooped up 29 balls compared to 33 for the Blue Hens.
Delaware and Dartmouth went toe-to-toe in stats across the board. Delaware won one more face-off than Dartmouth while the Big Green committed one more penalty than the Blue Hens.
Captain Adam Boardman '11 said the team played with more consistency than it had in previous matchups.
"We played for all four quarters and were much less sporadic," he said. "We did a lot better with picking up ground balls. We were right there to tie it in the end."
Towers said the team should have won, but a few aspects of the game, such as turnovers and lost scoring opportunities kept victory out of reach.
"We left some goals on the table that need to happen against teams like Delaware," he said. "We shot well most of the game, but we need to get our shots off with consistency. We did a really good job on six versus six defense but were victimized in transition again. Delaware has highly skilled players with great stick handling and high quality shots, and they capitalized in unsettled situations."
The Big Green will travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., to play Ivy League rival Princeton University on Saturday.
"We still have many injured guys, but we have everyone we need to compete this weekend," Towers said. "We need to maintain our competitive edge and play with a lot of intensity. In practice this week, we will sharpen our offense and our finishing opportunities. I think our defense will rise up again and that we have a shot to be successful."
The team will study the Tigers' offense and try new strategies during practice to determine a defensive plan this week.
"[Princeton] beat us up pretty bad last year [in a 16-2 defeat], so we want to get some payback," Boardman said. "We will go to practice, watch some film and we'll be ready for them on Saturday."
