Men's Lacrosse Opens Ivy Slate at No. 16 Harvard on Saturday

Game Notes

Sat., Dartmouth (2-3, 0-0 Ivy) at No. 16 Harvard (4-2, 0-1 Ivy), 3 p.m.
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HANOVER, NH - The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team returns to New England this Saturday as the Big Green opens its 54th Ivy League season at 16th-ranked Harvard.

NO SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY
The Big Green travels back to New England after a tough 0-2 trip to second-ranked North Carolina and No. 9 Duke. The trip finished up on Tuesday night as the Blue Devils took care of business handily against the Big Green with a 15-3 win. For the second straight game, Dartmouth gave up nine unanswered goals.

UNUSUAL IVY OPENER
The real season begins for the Big Green this weekend at 11th-ranked Harvard as Dartmouth begins the 54th Ivy League season in the history of Big Green lacrosse. It is the first time since 1992 that Dartmouth will be playing Harvard in its league opener. For the past 16 years the Big Green and Crimson have faced each other on the final day of the season. Dartmouth is 4-6 in the last 10 conference openers.

FIRST FRAME SUCCESS
This season the first quarter has been Dartmouth's most productive quarter on the both the defensive and offensive side of the field. The Big Green have scored eight goals, while also giving up eight, but have outshot its opponents by a +13 margin. When leading after the first, Dartmouth is 2-0. The fourth quarter has been a problem with 15 goals against to only eight scored, but in the third frame the opponent total is 18. Most goals in that quarter have come when the game is out of reach or the Big Green has a big lead.

SUSSMAN MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Senior Ari Sussman enters his final season in a Big Green uniform and looks to move up the all-time scoring list. He currently sits in 13th place with 138 points in three seasons. Sussman has 82 goals for 17th all-time and he is also on the top assist list with 56 for 12th. Sussman was the 2007 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and an honorable mention All-Ivy selection the same year. He followed that up in 2008 with a first team All-Ivy selection.

TOP IVY LEAGUE DUO
Sussman and Josh Etzion have been a force on the offensive side of the ball this season. The two have almost accounted for 50% of the goals by the Big Green (20-of-42) and points (34-of-71). Each is in the top 10 in all offensive categories. Sussman leads the conference in points per game, averaging 4.5 points. He is also second in assists a game at 2.75.

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
After starting the season with games against three unranked teams, Dartmouth is in its toughest stretch of games in recent memory. The next four games will come against ranked teams with two of the next four against top 10 teams. The stretch started with No. 2 North Carolina and No. 9 Duke and finishes up with No. 5 Princeton. Dartmouth will also face No. 16 Harvard, No. 4 Cornell and No. 20 Yale.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth travels to Cambridge with a 2-3 overall record and has yet to compete in Ivy League play. The Big Green is averaging just 8.75 goals a game and 4.5 over its last two games. This is the third straight game against a ranked opponent for Dartmouth in a stretch which features six straight against ranked foes. The Big Green is 0-2 against top-20 teams after falling at North Carolina and Duke on the trip to tobacco road.

Senior captain Ari Sussman is the top point man for Dartmouth. He leads the Ivy League in points per game at 3.8 and is tops on the Big Green with 19 points on 10 goals and nine helpers. Junior Josh Etzion remains second on the team with 15 points after two goals and an assist in the loss to the Tar Heels. He has 10 goals and five assists, including three man-up goals to lead Dartmouth. Freshman Chris Costabile continues to impress during the early season with six goals and four assists. He posted two goals in a game for the third time this year in the loss to UNC. Classmate Nikki Dysenchuk has also made a push with a goal against Duke and he now has four tallies on the season.

In net, senior Mike Novosel dropped his record to 2-3 after taking the loss on Tuesday night with one save. His goals against average has risen recently to 11.03 and his save percentage is .500. All other goaltenders saw action. Sophomore Fergus Campbell saw most of the action against the Blue Devils with 15 stops. His GAA is 9.95 and has a save percentage of .6333. Freshmen Bernie Susskind and Ryan Alexander split time in the fourth quarter against Wagner on March 11. Susskind made two saves in the first action of his career. Alexander failed to make a save in his six minutes of action.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Just like Dartmouth, 16th-ranked Harvard will be looking for its first Ivy League win in its third straight game at Harvard Stadium. The Crimson welcome the Big Green with a 4-2 overall mark and a 0-1 conference record. Harvard fell to No. 17 Brown in its Ivy opener last Saturday.

Dean Gibbons in the team leader in points with 22 on the year on 14 goals and three assists. Jeff Cohen, who posted four goals in the loss to the Bears, is second the team with 19 points, but leads the Crimson in goals with 16. Harvard has also scored 11 times on the man advantage as four players have two or more tallies on the extra man, led by Cohen with three. At the X, Andrew Parchman has taken 72 faceoffs, winning 37 for a .514 percentage. Christian Oberbeck is second with 44, but has won 26 for a .591 success rate.

Between the pipes is where the Crimson have struggled as Harvard has had two netminders play significant minutes in the six games. Christian Coates and Harry Krieger have shared time with each earning three starts. Krieger has seen more action with 210 minutes played and has yet to lose (2-0). He has the high GAA at 10.29 and his save percentage is at .500. Coates is 2-2 on the season an has a 9.62 goals against and a .520 save percentage. In total, the two have combined for a 10.29 GAA and a .508 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 81st meeting between these two Ivy League rivals. Harvard leads in the series with a 43-36-1 advantage, but is 2-3 in the last five against Dartmouth. Their last matchup came on May 2 of last season with the Crimson coming away with an 8-5 win in Hanover. The teams first met back in May 5, 1926, in Cambridge with Harvard dismantling Dartmouth by a 16-4 score. The Big Green owns the longest winning streak in the series at 10 games from 1938-1950. In 1970, the Crimson was forced to forfeit its game with Dartmouth, so the Big Green won 1-0.

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