The Big Green has not won a game since March 3, when the team defeated Sacred Heart University at Scully-Fahey Field. Princeton was the fifth ranked opponent the Big Green played this season, and the loss dropped its record in those games to 1-4.
"Any time you play a team as good as Princeton is or any team in Division-I lacrosse for that matter you have to show up and play your best lacrosse or you're not going to have a good chance of winning," Robbie Hoffman '13 said. "[On Saturday], we didn't play even close to our best lacrosse, or close to how we've been playing in all of our close losses this year."
The first 10 minutes of the game were highly competitive, with both teams notching shots and forcing multiple turnovers. Dartmouth got on the board first, with Mike Olentine '14 scoring at the 9:37 mark. Princeton turned the ball over to goalkeeper Fergus Campbell '12, who started the clear. In the resulting fast break, Nikki Dysenchuk '13 slid the ball to Olentine, who fired and connected for his ninth goal of the season.
Unfortunately, the tide turned quickly as the Tigers scored the next five goals on their next five shots, including four in a row in a span of three minutes to take control of the game.
"Princeton just strung together a bunch of goals, and we never had an answer to dig ourselves out of the hole we quickly got ourselves into," Hoffman said.
Dartmouth was missing face-off specialist Alex Del Balso '12, who is suffering from a concussion sustained in the team's last game against Yale University, and his absence cost the team during this run. During Princeton's five-goal burst, the Big Green controlled the ball for only 61 seconds.
"Not having Alex was a big loss for us because he is a great face-off guy," Chris Costabile '13 said. "We have been playing without him, and Anthony Fulham ['13] has done a great job stepping up and taking some face-offs for us."
Drew Tunney '12 scored his ninth goal of the season at the 2:33 mark, cutting the lead down to three. The tally did not build any momentum going into the second quarter, however, thanks to an extra-man opportunity for the Tigers at the beginning of the frame.
The Tigers scored just 11 seconds into the second quarter, setting the tone for the frame, which the Tigers dominated, 5-0. Dartmouth did not get a shot off until 5:43 left in the quarter. By this point, it was already 9-2 in favor of the Tigers and goalkeeper Campbell had been pulled in favor of Bernie Susskind '13 after making only one save in the game.
"I think that Princeton just settled in and got their offense going, and they were playing well, so it was hard to stop them," Costabile said. "Once you get down seven or eight goals, you have to play more aggressively."
The Big Green sustained the offense for much of the final seven minutes but could not break through and cut into the lead. With 29 seconds left in the half, Brendan Rotanz '14 coughed the ball up and Princeton scored a fast-break goal with 18 ticks left in the half.
The first half of the third quarter was more of the same for the Big Green, as the Tigers increased their lead to 12. The Big Green held the ball for just 54 seconds of the first 9:40 in the third quarter and failed to fire a shot on net until almost 10 minutes into the frame.
"Princeton just beat us up and down the field and in between the lines, ground balls, and when you have that [much] time of possession, the score usually becomes lopsided," Costabile said.
The Big Green scored twice during the last five minutes of the third quarter, on goals by Rotanz and Olentine. The Tigers, however, re-established an 11-goal lead with only four seconds left in the period.
Shortly into the fourth quarter, the Tigers gained a man advantage, scored, then won the next two face-offs and scored twice more to increase the lead to 18-4. Dartmouth cut the lead to 13 on a goal by Thomas Mattimore '12, but the Tigers scored the next two to make it 20-5. Tunney notched his 11th goal of the season with nine minutes to go in the frame, but the Tigers responded a minute later to make the final score 21-6.
"Defensively, we played too slow and just did not execute our game plan of playing focused and aggressive team defense," Hoffman said. "You can never win a game allowing even close to as many goals as we did yesterday."
Olentine and Tunney stood out for the Big Green in the losing effort with two goals each. Rotanz scored in his 10th straight game, and Mattimore notched his first of the season. John DeChiaro '12, Colin Delaney '12, Nikki Dysenchuk '13, Kip Dooley '12 and Anthony Fulham '13 each contributed an assist. Four Tigers players scored hat tricks in the game and three more had two goals.
The Big Green goalies combined for five saves on 26 shots on goal by the Tigers, who ripped 46 shots total. Dartmouth managed to get 16 of its 28 total shots on the cage.
"The amount of shots Princeton got off is just a reflection of their pace of play," Costabile said. "They like moving it quickly and taking some deeper shots because they have players that are a threat from pretty far."
Princeton won the ground ball battle thanks to a 16-7 mark in the fourth quarter. The teams were close in the turnover department, with the Big Green coughing it up two times more than they were able to take it away from the Tigers. The Big Green was perfect on clears but was dominated in face-offs, winning only 10 of 30. Face-offs, as well as extra-man opportunities, were the Achilles' heel for the Big Green. Princeton scored three times with an extra man while the Big Green could not find the net on any of its four opportunities.
The loss places the Big Green in an even bigger hole to make the Ivy League Tournament. The team is currently in seventh place, while only the top four make the postseason. The team only has two games remaining, one against the University of Pennsylvania, which sits one spot above the Big Green, and against Brown University, which currently sits in fifth. Harvard University, which currently occupies fourth place, is 2-2 in the league this season, so the Big Green are not mathematically eliminated but would need a lot of help to sneak into the playoffs.
"Penn is always a great game," Costabile said. "We won my freshman year and lost last year, so it should be another intense Ivy League lacrosse battle."
The Big Green will be back in action on Saturday at Scully-Fahey Field against the Penn Quakers (2-8, 1-4 Ivy) as part of its Alumni Day celebration.
