The Dartmouth men arrived in Durham, N.H. hoping to find a lush grass field but instead were confronted with a muddy quagmire.
"There were puddles of water so big that you could be fully submerged in a tackle," co-captain Aziz Sayigh '07 said.
Dartmouth skillfully dealt with the field conditions and came out fast.
The Big Green opened the scoring in the 12th minute as good rucking created a solid platform for attack.
Flyhalf Chris Chan '07 took the ball to the weak side and dished to Centre Paul Huelskamp '07 who made the line break and ran 30 meters for the score. Jeff Kolovson '09 converted the try and Dartmouth went up 7-0.
The Dartmouth men continued to press and broke through again in the 21st minute. Sayigh took the ball from a scrum and dished to Kolovson, who scampered down the sideline for the try. Kolovson successfully converted again, making the score 14-0.
Eight minutes later, Dartmouth added another score as a stolen lineout turned into a dynamic attack for the Big Green.
Chan took the ball forward before passing out wide to a hard running Huelskamp, who split two defenders and ran 35 meters for the score. Kolovson's conversion made the score 21-0.
As the first half wound down, the Big Green managed to punch in one last score.
Anthony Arch caught the ball off a Dartmouth lineout and proceeded to run over several UNH players en route to the try zone. The run was Arch's first Division I try and made the score 26-0 at the half.
"I love hitting dudes and I love running dudes over, so I am really enjoying contributing to the team," Arch said. "Scoring my first try on Saturday just made me smile because I know how hard everyone on the team works, on and off the field."
In the second half field conditions continued to deteriorate and Dartmouth was forced to play a more conservative tactical kicking game.
The Big Green did manage a score at the 10-minute mark of the second half.
Flyhalf Conlan O'Leary '09 placed a deep kick into the UNH 22-meter zone and after a handling error by UNH, Huelskamp managed to intercept a punt and run unopposed into the try zone. Kolovson's conversion made the score 33-0.
Although Dartmouth did not increase its margin of victory in the remaining 30 minutes, the team fought hard, playing tenacious defense in order to preserve the shutout.
When the final whistle sounded Dartmouth was pleased with the emphatic win but knew that it would need to play better against the likes of Army and Buffalo.
"With so many young guys playing key roles it has taken a while to really come together, but it's starting to happen," Sayigh said. "Our goal for the fall is always to make Nationals and win the Northeast Championship."
In the second XV game, the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club showed its depth, defeating the UNH second XV 26-0.
Dartmouth will play next week at Brown before finishing the regular season with a home match against Harvard on homecoming weekend.
