The men’s lacrosse team was defeated 9-3 by the No. 10 University of Pennsylvania Quakers on Saturday afternoon at Scully-Fahey Field in a game controlled by tough defense.
The game was the final home Ivy League contest of the 2014 season for the Big Green (1-9, 0-5 Ivy).
After Penn’s (7-3, 4-2 Ivy) senior Drew Belinsky scored the first goal of the game five minutes into the first quarter, the Quakers continued to grind, adding four more goals before Dartmouth broke through.
The Big Green got on the board with 5:49 left before halftime as Wiley Osborne ’17 opened the scoring.
The Quakers never trailed in the game as they earned their place in the Ivy League Tournament in two weeks.
“They’re a very well coached team,” midfielder Phil Hession ’15 said. “They’re disciplined all over the field and they have one of the best goalies in the country.”
Osborne notched a second goal with 1:49 remaining in the third to bring the Big Green within four, but Penn responded just 29 seconds later to make the score 7-2 and effectively stop any attempted Dartmouth rally.
The Big Green offense was led by two freshmen, Osborne and Jack McCormick ’17, both coming off the bench to score Dartmouth’s three goals in the contest. McCormick added the third goal with 11:43 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Goalkeeper Blair Friedensohn ’16 tallied nine saves in the second half for the Big Green leading to a career-high total of14 saves in the game.
“This was one of his best games of the year,” Hession said. “He made up for a lot of times when we made mistakes. He’s clearly improved throughout the year.”
The visiting side had three players finish the game with two goals apiece, including junior Chris Hupfeldt, sophomore Nick Doktor and senior Zack Losco. Losco added a pair of assists to lead all players in the game with four points.
The Quakers’ defending first team all-Ivy goalkeeper senior Brian Feeney continued his good form and defended against a strong Big Green attack by recording 12 saves.
Penn outshot the Big Green 37-27, while also winning the ground ball battle 37-36. The Big Green committed 23 turnovers to Penn’s 19.
“They’re not a flashy team,” Bobby Osgood ’15 said. “They just do the right thing and they don’t make very many mistakes.”
Before the game, the team honored its nine seniors, who played their final home Ivy game on Saturday.
The Big Green will finish Ivy League play next Saturday when the team travels to Brown University at 2 p.m.
