Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #16 Penn on March 22, 2025 , Win , 9, to, 8 , OT
Final
Men's Lacrosse
at #16 Penn
9
8
2005 In Review
8/31/2006 1:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
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Women's Lacrosse Soars Throughout Season to NCAA Semifinals
Photographer Lawrence French captured the moment when the four seniors on the Dartmouth women's lacrosse team gathered for a snapshot with the NCAA final four trophy.
It wasn't that Dartmouth fell to eventual national champion Northwestern in the semifinal game. It was that this special team had played their last contest together. Christian later said, "We just wanted to keep playing." Dartmouth began playing when the snowflakes of winter still swirled during practice on Scully-Fahey Field. When March arrived, the team recorded solid wins over New Hampshire, 13-3, and Albany, 17-3, before the monumental game with Maryland.
Another first-ever win came three days later at James Madison, as the Big Green pushed to a 14-12 victory. And just four days later, the Dartmouth players maybe began to sense that this was truly a special season, starting the Ivy League season with a 9-8 win at Yale. The wins just kept coming -- in fact, a school-record 13 in a row. Lucky No. 13 was on April 27 when Dartmouth defeated Princeton, 12-9, in the first-ever televised game from Scully-Fahey Field. That gave the Big Green a perfect 7-0 slate in the Ivy League and the 10th conference title in school history. Dartmouth regrouped from late-season setbacks to Boston University and Duke. The NCAA committee granted the Big Green the opportunity to play the first two rounds at home in Hanover, and Dartmouth responded with a 9-8 victory over Syracuse, decided by a goal from the nearly unstoppable Christian. Georgetown made the trip to Dartmouth for the second round and was the victim of Dartmouth's finest effort of the year. The score was Dartmouth 13, Hoyas 3, as Christian had five goals, cementing her spot among the top five players under consideration for the Tewaaraton Trophy. Sarah Szefi matched her career high with three goals, while Erin Osborn and Devon Wills backstopped the defense. That punched Dartmouth's ticket to the NCAA final four at Navy, where a battle loomed large against No. 1 Northwestern, undefeated throughout the season. But the Huskies posted an 8-4 victory, ending the winningest season in Dartmouth women's lacrosse history. When the sting of that loss subsided, there were plenty of memories for the players. The team finished the year ranked first in two national statistical categories -- ground balls and caused turnovers -- and second in scoring defense. Christian was the co-Ivy player of the year as well as first team All-America, and she was joined as a unanimous first team All-Ivy honoree by Osborn, Wills and Whitney Douthett. With 31 goals and 31 assists, she became the first player in program history to top 30 in each category during a season, while Christian (with 70 points) was just the third Big Green player to reach 70 points in a season. Freshman Kristen Barry showed a sign of things to come with 32 goals, the most by a rookie since 1992. "This is probably one of the greatest teams I've ever coached at Dartmouth," said head coach Amy Patton. "I'm extremely proud of these players. Collectively, they accomplished remarkable feats." Special thanks to the Class of 2006: Katieanne Christian, Erin Osborn, Sarah Sanborn and Leah Skypeck. |
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Katieanne Christian is fighting back the tears, while Sarah Sanborn has her lips clenched. Erin Osborn and Leah Skypeck somehow found the will to smile after the storybook season came to an end.
The Terrapins, the nation's perennial power, had 12 straight victories over Dartmouth, never allowing the Big Green to celebrate after 60 minutes of play. It was different on March 19, as a balanced attack pushed Dartmouth to a 10-5 lead with less than 10 minutes to go. The Big Green thwarted Maryland's comeback attempt and finally could celebrate with a 10-8 victory.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's Lacrosse
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/ Women's LacrosseMen's Lacrosse vs. Brown Postgame 4-19-25
Saturday, April 19
Men's Lacrosse vs. Princeton Postgame 3-29-25
Saturday, March 29
Men's Lacrosse at Penn Postgame 3-22-25
Sunday, March 23
Men's Lacrosse vs. Utah Postgame 3-8-25
Saturday, March 08
