Men’s basketball
In a season full of close losses, the Big Green continued that narrative this weekend by dropping two heartbreaking games at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University on Friday and Saturday night. The Big Green lost 82-79 in overtime to Penn on Friday night and lost 69-68 to Princeton on Saturday night.
With those two losses, the team dropped to 2-6 in conference play, with five of those six losses coming by five points or fewer and four of them coming by three points or fewer. The team lost heartbreakers to Brown University, Cornell University and Harvard University earlier in the season, and these losses added to a season full of frustrating defeats for the team.
While making the Ivy League tournament is still a possibility for the Big Green, they would probably need to win out to make it by finishing in the top four in the conference. The team is 11-13 on the season and has a very small chance to make the NCAA tournament, but it still has a lot to play for as the season comes to a close. With only one senior on the team, a strong finish will set the stage for what promises to be an exciting 2019-20 season as the Big Green return everyone except for Guilien Smith ’19.
Next weekend, the Big Green will travel to Brown University and Yale University for a doubleheader before returning to Hanover for a homestand against Penn and Princeton in the first weekend of March.
Women’s basketball
In its first weekend back at home following back-to-back weekends on the road, the Big Green (10-11, 3-5 Ivy) was swept by Ivy League-leading University of Pennsylvania (16-4, 6-1 Ivy) and Princeton University (13-9, 5-2 Ivy).
On Friday night, the Big Green kicked off the weekend against Penn. The Quakers, who were undefeated in Ivy play before Harvard University took them down on Saturday, pulled away in the second quarter after a tight first, making the second half into an uphill battle for the Big Green. The Green and White struggled to get into the lane against a much bigger Penn lineup, and could not compensate with three-pointers as they shot just 26.1 percent from behind the arc. Despite 19 points from Cy Lippold ’19, who also racked off seven straight in the third quarter, the Big Green could not recover from their deep second quarter hole and lost the game 60-44.
On Saturday, the Big Green took on second-place Princeton, who won the Ivy League Championship in 2018. After dominating in the first quarter, outscoring Princeton 20-6, tragedy struck. Not only did the Big Green lose its hold when Princeton Junior Bella Alarie scored 23 points in the second half, but Lippold, who is the Big Green’s leading scorer and a co-captain in her senior season, went down with a knee injury and had to be carried off the court. Despite showing a strong team effort in the second half, the Big Green could not regain its footing and lost to the Tigers 82-75.
The Big Green will play at home again next weekend, as it hosts Yale University and Brown University in Leede Arena to kick off the second round of Ivy League play.
Men’s hockey
The men’s hockey team picked up three points on the weekend for just the second time in Eastern College Athletic Conference play this season. The Big Green defeated No. 11 Clarkson University 1-0 on Friday and tied St. Lawrence University 2-2 on Saturday.
Friday’s victory was sparked by the phenomenal goaltending of Adrian Clark ’20, who saved all 29 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the year. Tied at zero goals apiece with under one minute to go in the third period, Drew O’Connor ’22 tipped in a centering pass from Clay Han ’20 to give the Big Green a signature victory of its season. The Big Green, which was outshot 29-24, improved its record to 5-0-0 in games when the team registered fewer shots than its opponent. Friday’s win also allowed the Big Green to avenge its 2-0 loss two weeks earlier to the Golden Knights.
The team was unable to get the weekend sweep on Saturday, finishing its game with St. Lawrence tied 2-2. Cameron Roth ’19 scored his first goal of the season in the first period to even the score at one after the Saints got on the board first. The Big Green took the lead in the second period when Shane Sellar ’20 lit the lamp for his first goal in 15 games to give Dartmouth the 2-1 lead. St. Lawrence tied it up early in the third period, and neither team could find another goal in the remainder of regulation or overtime.
Dartmouth is now tied for seventh with Union College in the ECAC standings. The Big Green returns for its final two regular season games at Thompson Arena next weekend with matchups against Yale University and Brown University. The team will then conclude the regular season with two road games against Union and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before beginning the ECAC tournament, which starts on Mar. 8.
Women’s hockey
The women’s hockey team came into their final home weekend of the season with a disappointing 4-20-1 record but left with one of its biggest victories in recent memory.
The Big Green defeated No. 4 Clarkson University, the defending national champions, in a stunning 3-2 overtime victory Friday night. After Clarkson gained an early 2-0 lead in the first period, the Big Green was able to respond with goals by Christina Rombaut ’20 and Tess Bracken ’19 in the second. After neither team scored in the third, Chloe Puddifant ’22 scored just her second goal of the season with 9.4 seconds remaining in overtime to secure the upset victory. The win was the Big Green’s first over Clarkson since 2011, when Dartmouth prevailed in another overtime victory.
The team’s next outing against St. Lawrence University on Saturday afternoon proved to be much less dramatic, as the game ended in a scoreless tie. The Big Green withstood a barrage from St. Lawrence, eventually getting outshot 46-16, but solid goaltending from Shannon Ropp ’19 and Christine Honor ’19 kept Dartmouth in the game.
The Big Green (5-20-2, 4-15-1 ECAC) will close out the regular season next weekend on the road against Yale University and Brown University.
Men’s squash
The No. 8 men’s squash traveled to New Haven, Connecticut this weekend for the national team squash championships, falling 7-2 to No. 1 Harvard University in the opening round of the A division Potter Cup and then losing 7-2 to No. 5 Yale University in the consolation bracket. Against Harvard, Matt Giegerich ’19 won his match in three games and Jack Bell ’22 overcame a loss in his first game to win his match in four, but six Big Green players were swept in three games. The next day, Bell and Tucker Martino ’22 both won their matches in the eight and nine positions. Max Finkelstein ’22, Brandon De Otaduy ’20 and Toby Harding ’21 were able to push their matches into five games, but were each defeated 11-9 in their final games.
Lacrosse
The men’s lacrosse team opened its 2019 season on the road at Boston University, losing to the Terriers 15-8. Ben Martin ’20 scored two goals and registered four assists, while Matt Paul ’21 and Harlan Smart ’21 each added two goals of their own. But BU outshot Dartmouth 46-26, and the Big Green was never able to overcome the six-point lead the Terriers established in the first quarter.
The No. 25 women’s team likewise opened its season with a loss, falling 21-15 to No. 7 Northwestern University on Friday and suffering an 11-10 overtime loss on Sunday against the University of Michigan. Against Northwestern, Campbell Brewer ’19 and Elizabeth Mastrio ’19 both scored three goals and the Big Green outshot the Wildcats 42-41, but Northwestern’s 12-5 advantage after the first half proved insurmountable. Two days later, Katie Bourque ’20 scored three goals and the Big Green was able to recover from being down 10-7 late in the second half to force overtime, but the Wolverines were able to score the decisive goal in double overtime.
The men’s team will next face Bryant University on Feb. 23, while the women will take on the State University of New York at Binghamton on Feb. 24.
Men’s tennis
The Big Green came in as the top seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference indoor championship in Philadelphia this weekend, but suffered a tough 4-3 loss to the No. 5 seeded University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Big Green recovered the next day, however, with a 4-0 win against Princeton University to secure third place in the tournament.
Doubles victories from Dan Martin ’21 and John Speicher ’21 at the No. 3 spot and Charlie Broom ’20 and David Horneffer ’20 at No. 1 as well as a singles victory by Martin gave the Big Green an early 2-0 lead against Penn. But Sid Chari ’22 would pick up the only other singles win for Dartmouth, with Peter Conklin ’21 falling in the decisive game after a close battle. The next day, doubles victories from the Broom-Horneffer and Martin-Speicher pairs gave the Big Green an early lead, while Broom, Chari and Conklin each won their singles matches to give Dartmouth the victory.
The Big Green will return home next weekend with matches against the University of Memphis on Feb. 22 and Wichita State University and Boston University on Feb. 23.
Women’s golf
The women’s golf team kicked off its 2019 campaign at the Florida Atlantic University Winter Warmup in Boca Raton. The Big Green finished in fifth place out of seven teams, falling behind Brown University by only one stroke, Oakland University by four strokes and FAU by nine. Moon Cheong ’21 finished sixth overall at one over par with 73 strokes, while Maddie Nelson ’20, Catharine Roddy ’19 and Kristen Chen ’22 finished not far behind with six over par, eight over par, and nine over par efforts, respectively.
The Big Green have a month off before returning to Florida for the Morehead State University Spring Citrus Challenge on Mar. 17-19.
Skiing
Dartmouth won the men’s and women’s slalom and the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle, but it wasn’t enough to overtake host Middlebury as the Panthers won their first Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association carnival in more than a decade.
The men’s Nordic team had its best finish of the season on Friday as Callan DeLine ’18 led most of the way in the mass start 15-kilometer classic, but Middlebury’s Sam Wood made a move at the end to win by just under two seconds. Gavin McEwen ’19 was the next-fastest skier in green and white, finishing 15th. Katharine Ogden ’21 won her second race of the season on Friday, nipping the University of Vermont’s Margie Freed by 3.5 seconds. Lydia Blanchet ’19 finished fourth, and Leah Brams ’20 and Lauren Jortberg ’20 were behind in seventh and eighth, respectively. Over on the Middlebury Snow Bowl’s Ross Trail, Alexa Dlouhy ’19 won the women’s slalom by a full second and a half. In second place was Tricia Mangan ’19, who finished in 1:45.24. Kalle Wagner ’21 was the fastest Dartmouth skier on the men’s side, finishing in fourth, 1.28 seconds off the pace set by Middlebury’s Erik Arvidsson. Drew Duffy ’21 was right behind Wagner in fifth, while three other Dartmouth men landed among the top 10.
The Big Green held a slim overall lead as racing began Saturday. Dartmouth skiers went 2-3-4 in the 5-kilometer freestyle behind the University of Vermont’s Lina Sutro. Ogden took second, 4.8 seconds off Sutro’s pace, followed by Blanchet and Jortberg. DeLine had another top 10 in the men’s 10-kilometer freestyle, and McEwen had one of his best races of the season, taking 11th. In the women’s giant slalom, Steph Currie ’20 made the podium, finishing .57 seconds off the pace to take third. And the three top Dartmouth skiers in the men’s giant slalom were among the top six, as Duffy finished third and David Domonoske ’20 and Kipling Weisel ’18 finished fourth and sixth, respectively. The Panthers did just enough on Saturday to leapfrog the Big Green in the standings, 915-908. Their win broke the decade-long grip of UVM and Dartmouth on eastern carnival crowns — before Saturday, no other EISA school had managed to capture an overall carnival win since the 2008 season. With just one carnival remaining, Dartmouth has not had an overall team win since the season opener at St. Lawrence University.
