Facing the team ranked second in the nation, the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team travelled to Princeton knowing they had to play a superb game just to keep the score close.
As it turned out, a poor first half killed all hopes of an upset for the Big Green (0-5 in the Ivies, 3-7 overall) and lost, 19-8.
For Dartmouth, Eric Welsh '95 had a goal and three assists while Pete Fahey '94 and Brian Heberlig '93 both added two goals and one assist. Tim Wennrich '93, Brendan Bowler '94 and Brian White '95 also added goals for the Big Green.
In net, Will Wynperle '93 was pulled at halftime after allowing 10 goals and was replaced by Ned Hazard '96 who fared no better against the strong Princeton attack, surrendering nine goals in the second half.
But Princeton nearly had twice as many shots as Dartmouth, 55 shots to the Big Green's 30, which can explain the wide scoring margin.
"The Princeton players shoot so well," Coach Tim Nelson said. "Our goalies didn't really have a chance."
The game was decided very early on as Princeton pulled out to a 10-0 lead by the end of the first half. Playing against a national powerhouse in front of nearly 2,000 spectators seemed to affect the Big Green, who began the game slowly.
"I thought we came out a bit uptight," Nelson said. "We loosened up in the second half, though, and finished the game very well."
Led by its defense, most notably Andy Ruckh '94 and Justin Boyd '96, Dartmouth played a strong second half and were outscored only 9-8.
"Our defense is really the team's strength right now," Nelson said. "Andy and Justin played real good games."
Although this Dartmouth lacrosse team remains winless in the Ivies and just came back from a tough loss on the road, they remain positive about their season.
"We came out of this game with a real good feeling about ourselves," Nelson said. "Playing in front of the big crowd was a great experience and I think the guys had a lot of fun."
The Big Green finish their season this week with two home games scheduled.
Dartmouth will host the University of New Hampshire today at Memorial Field. Game time is 3 p.m.
Saturday, the Big Green will close the 1993 season when Harvard travels to Hanover for Dartmouth's last game of the year.
"I don't even want them to think about Harvard," Nelson said. "We have to put all our focus on UNH. We haven't beaten them in three years, so I want the team to come out hungry for this one."
The Havard match-up will be the team's last opportunity to notch a victory in the Ivy League. No one on this year's squad has ever witnessed the defeat of an Ivy League opponent by Dartmouth and Saturday will mark the seniors' last chance.
