Despite a tough loss against Brown University last weekend, the women's team rebounded with strong play against Columbia.
Ashley Afranie-Sakyi '13 led the Big Green with four tries in the game. She was aided on offense by co-captain Theresa Cassano '12, who scored two tries. Ginna Roach '12 and Rita-Louise Montour '13 also scored tries for Dartmouth.
Roach said the team was pleased with its performance, noting that Big Green players have worked hard in practice between games.
"We've done a great job so far improving from game to game," she said. "Our players are really invested in analyzing our previous games, and focusing in on the specific adjustments we need to make to improve our game each week."
Several players made starting debuts for the Big Green, including two freshmen, Kaila Cauthorn '15 and Charlotte Knott '15.
The Big Green will seek to use momentum from the match as it prepares for its upcoming game against Princeton University, Roach said. Dartmouth plays Princeton at home on Saturday at 12 p.m.
"Columbia was an opportunity for us to really focus on doing a few things well," Roach said. "And now that we've got those pieces in place, we'll turn our attention to other aspects and work towards playing a really smart, aggressive and cohesive match against Princeton."
The men's team continued its League dominance, shutting out a disheartened Yale team. With the win, Dartmouth improved to 3-0 against conference teams.
Facing harsh weather conditions, the team rose to the challenge in front of a large crowd that included College President Jim Yong Kim.
"Despite the unfortunate weather conditions, it was great to have a large amount of fan support for the game," Shea Smith '13 said. "It's always a great day when we have the hill filled with fans."
Dartmouth started the game strongly when Justin Ciambella '13 converted early on a penalty, giving the team a 3-0 lead. Clark Judge '12 scored a try soon after to make the score 10-0 and give the team strong momentum that would last throughout the game.
Dartmouth used a diverse offensive attack, as Judge, Kevin Clark '14, Madison Hughes '15 and co-captain Will Lehmann '12 all scored tries before halftime.
Just before the half, captain Paul Jarvis '12 made the play of the day when he took the ball from behind the Dartmouth 22-meter line and snaked around defenders all the way to the try zone. Jarvis's score increased Dartmouth's lead to 46-0, putting the game well out of Yale's reach.
The second half saw tries by co-captain and lock Nate Brakeley '12 and hooker/flanker Chris MacNaughton '13, bringing the final score to 60-0.
"Yale was a particularly close match for us last year so it was exciting to get a big win over them this weekend," Smith said.
Despite winning by lopsided scores even earlier in the season, several team members said Dartmouth's performance improved signficantly from last weekend.
"We scored a try off a maul, an essential set piece that we had been practicing all week," MacNaughton said. "Our line-out percentage also skyrocketed from around 60 percent just a week ago to nearly 100 percent."
Lehmann said the Big Green displayed "a great offensive performance" in the matchup against Yale.
"That said, we still have plenty to build on, and have identified many areas in which we can continue to improve," he said. "Many of the younger and less experienced players also got time yesterday, and uniformly did themselves proud. Hopefully these guys maintain the good work and continue to challenge for starting spots."
Dartmouth will attempt to continue its winning streak when it plays Brown University in Providence next Saturday.
