Women's Lacrosse Set to Host Cornell for Power in Pink Game

The 15th ranked Dartmouth women's lacrosse team (5-3, 2-0 Ivy) is currently riding a winning-streak and hosts #19 Cornell (5-3, 1-2 Ivy) in a critical conference showdown. The Big Green and Big Red will take to Scully Fahey Field this Saturday at 1 p.m. The Big Green will be going Pink when it hosts its first-ever Power in Pink game for breast cancer awareness and the team will wear special pink jerseys.

Saturday's game could prove a critical early Ivy showdown as Dartmouth hopes to remain undefeated before traveling to #3 Penn next Saturday.

POWER IN PINK
Power in Pink is a nationwide initiative by Under Armour, a Dartmouth lacrosse sponsor, which has supplied pink jerseys for the team to wear. The Big Green has chosen to support the Susan G. Komen Research Foundation this weekend and will raffle off a one-of-a-kind pink Dartmouth jersey signed by the team. Raffle tickets for the jersey will be sold for $5 throughout the game. Donations will also be accepted.

“Through our partnership with Under Armour, we're looking forward to dedicating a game to raise money for the Komen Foundation,” said head coach Amy Patton. “Many of our players have been touched in some way by breast cancer and we'll certainly have that in the back of our minds as we take the field against Cornell.”

Many Dartmouth teams have lent their support to cancer awareness this season including women's basketball, men's and women's hockey and swimming and diving.

SPRING BREAK ? HANOVER
New Hampshire might not be a traditional spring break setting, but for the Dartmouth women's lacrosse team, two weeks in the North Country might have been just what the doctor ordered. After losing two-straight, Dartmouth started its spring break off on an exciting note on March 18 when it took #2 ranked Maryland to overtime in a thrilling comeback, ultimately falling in overtime, 13-12. Despite the loss, it was a great springboard for the Big Green heading into the term break. A seven-day stretch, Dartmouth rattled off three wins including two Ivy victories and continued to grow closer as a team.

“In years past we may have taken some wins for granted but this team feels like every win is important and we're looking at victories from a standpoint of how we've improved,” said Patton. “We didn't beat Maryland but to us it felt like a victory because we got so much better from the Notre Dame game. Each week we're looking to see if we've gotten to a better place than the last time we took the field.”

Dartmouth relished the opportunity to spend those two weeks in Hanover while the rest of the campus was on spring break and most other spring teams were traveling. The Big Green had one road game, at Yale, but spent much of the time bonding as a group without the distractions of everyday campus life. The team also enjoyed a two-day leadership retreat to get a break from lacrosse.

Patton always finds spring break to be a period of growth for her team, when the players can truly focus on each other and this year was no exception.

“We always make great strides on the field and the players enjoy spending time together off the field in a relaxed environment,” said Patton. “They are all involved in a lot of things on campus which is what makes the Dartmouth experience stronger but to have that time where they are focused only on lacrosse and their teammates is a great period of growth.”

LAST WEEK
Dartmouth took a pair of wins over Fairfield, 17-8, and Brown, 16-1. Against the Stags, the Big Green built a 9-2 halftime lead and never looked back. Eight players had a point led by rookie Sarah Parks (Ellicott City, Md.) who exploded for five goals. Katherine Chiusano (Medford, N.J.) tallied five assists. The offense continued its torrid pace on Saturday in the win over Brown. The Big Green scored 15 unanswered goals in a span of 40 minutes while junior goalkeeper Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.) held the Bears scoreless. She finished with nine saves while eight players had at least one point on offense.

THE BIG RED
#19 Cornell comes into the game at 5-3 (1-2 Ivy) having lost three-straight after a red hot 5-0 start. The Big Red has scored only 72 goals (97 total points) this season and is looking to up the offensive tempo. The top goal scorers are Jessica Wiegand and Kate Dewey with 11 goals each while Jessi Steinberg has 10 goals and nine assists for a team-high 19 points. Kristen Reese has played the bulk of minutes in goal and has a 10.05 goals against average with 52 saves in eight games to date.

The Big Red defeated Ivy foe Columbia and has fallen to #3 Penn and #7 Princeton during the past two weeks. Dartmouth will be the fourth-straight top-20 opponent that Cornell must face. Last season, the Big Red got the best of the Big Green, 10-9, but Dartmouth leads the all-time series, 24-5.

“Cornell is always feisty and we always have tough games with them, we have a lot of respect for that program,” said Patton. “Every Ivy game is a battle and each one is incredibly important.”

Dartmouth will run straight through the Ivy gamut, with just one non-conference game (Boston University, April 22) in the month of April.

OFFENSIVE BALANCE
Dartmouth's attack features a wide-variety of weapons and players whose attacking style is unique. To date, the Big Green has five players with 12+ goals and five with 18+ points. Sophomore Kat Collins (Darien, Conn.) leads the way with 23 goals and seven assists good for 30 points while senior Katherine Chiusano (Medford, N.J.) runs the offense with a league-high 16 assists and 12 goals.

“We don't set up our offense around just one kid,” said Patton. “Every player out there is important and all seven attackers have to be able to contribute. If an opponent shuts down one player, I have complete confidence that someone else will pick up that slack.”

STARTED BY THE DEFENSE
Dartmouth's defense has been lockdown of late, holding its last three opponents to an average of just 5 goals per game including the one goal allowed to Brown in a 16-1 win. The one-goal effort marked the fewest goals allowed by Dartmouth since March 24, 2002.

Dartmouth ranks sixth in the Ivy League in draw controls per game (10.6) but first in the league in goals per game (12.5). Since scoring is not coming from offensive possessions off the draw, the Big Green is using its defense and midfield play to create offense.

“The Brown game was actually a prime example where we were on defense a lot,” said Patton. “Our defense had to come up with stops to generate our offense more than I would have liked. Our defense has really set the tone for our offense, which is nice to see.”

IVY ACCOLADES
After wins over Fairfield and Brown, sophomore Greta Meyer (Denver, Colo.) and junior Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.) were named the Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively.

Meyer, a midfielder, earned Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career and first this season. In two games, Meyer tallied a team-high nine points including six goals on 10 shots and three assists, also adding five ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers on the week. In the win over Brown, Meyer scored five points including three goals and two assists. Earlier in the week, Meyer bolstered Dartmouth with four points (three goals, one assist) in a 17-8 win over Fairfield, handing the Stags their second loss of the season.

Wadland, Dartmouth's starting goalkeeper, continued her impressive season with a pair of wins including the dominant 16-1 victory over Ivy opponent Brown. On the week, Wadland made 15 saves, had an impressive 4.50 GAA and 63.5 save percentage and helped Dartmouth convert on 87 percent of its clear attempts. On Saturday, Wadland stifled Brown's attack, making nine saves including point blank stops on three free position shots. Previously, Wadland helped hand Fairfield just its second loss of the season with six saves in the 17-8 victory.

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