Men's Lacrosse Ends Ranked Opponent Stretch at No. 6 Princeton

Game Notes

Sat., Dartmouth (3-5, 1-2 Ivy) at No. 6 Princeton (8-2, 3-0 Ivy), 1 p.m.
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HANOVER, NH - The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team will be taking on sixth-ranked Princeton this Saturday in the final game of a six-game stretch against ranked opponents that reaches back to No. 2 UNC on March 19.

YALE'S DEFENSE STYMIES BIG GREEN
The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team had an opportunity to climb the ladder against No. 19 Yale last Saturday, but a stingy Bulldog defensive kept the Big Green off the board for most of the game. Johnathan Falcone made 15 stops in net for Yale, but the story was the Bulldogs ability to cause turnovers and impede the Dartmouth offense all game long. Yale took the Big Green's best punch in the second half and came away with an 8-3 win.

OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES
The Big Green has had its troubles offensively this season as Dartmouth ranks at the bottom of the Ivy League with only eight goals per contest. In its last two games the Big Green has failed to score in the first quarter and was held scoreless for 37 minutes last Saturday against Yale. Dartmouth has only reached two or more goals in the first quarter twice this season (Wagner (3/11) & Harvard (3/27)).

LUCKY 13
For the first time in 13 years, the Big Green came out on top when it faced Cornell on April 3. The last win over the Big Red came on April 12, 1997 in a 12-8 win in Hanover. The six goals surrendered by the Big Green was the lowest against Cornell since 1996 and if the Big Red hadn't scored the two goals in the last nine seconds, the four goals would have been the least Cornell had scored against Dartmouth since 1964.

GOALTENDER SHINES
Campbell entered the game against Cornell on April 3, fifth in the conference in saves per game at 7.5 and now is first at 10.6 after posting a career-high 23 stops, the most since Mike Gault had 28 stops against Penn on April 7, 2001 in a 7-4 loss. Campbell came out ready to play and posted 12 stops in the first 30 minutes, with six in each quarter and held Cornell to only one goal.

MORE WEEKLY AWARDS
For the second time this season a Dartmouth goaltender was named Ivy League Player of the Week. Campbell was given the honor on April 5, while senior Michael Novosel earned the honor on March 1. Campbell also earned New England Player of the Week honors, as well as Inside Lacrosse and Lax News awards.

KEEPING A LEAD
Dartmouth fell behind 1-0 in the second quarter against Cornell, but was able to fight back to take a 3-1 halftime lead, a lead the Big Green did not give up. Dartmouth is 3-1 with a lead going into the break and has only one loss when leading after the third quarter. On the flip side, the Big Green struggles coming from behind with no wins when trailing beyond the first quarter. Dartmouth got its first win on Saturday when it failed to score the opening goal.

SHORTEST STANDS TALL
Campbell, who stands at 5-foot-6 is the shortest starting goaltender in Division I lacrosse, but he shares his height with Canisius backup netminder Kyle Bell as the two shortest in the country. Campbell, however, was not the shortest on the field Saturday against Cornell as Jake Thompson, a Big Red attackman, stands at 5-foot-5.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth travels to New Jersey for its fifth road game in the last six, counting the neutral game against Cornell and will look to get back in the Ivy race. The Big Green is averaging eight goals a game and has only reached double-digits twice this season. This will be the last of a six-game stretch of ranked opponents, which began on March 19 at No. 2 UNC. The Big Green sits 1-4 in those games.

Senior captain Ari Sussman is the top point man for Dartmouth. He is fourth in the Ivy League in points per game at 3.5 and is tops on the Big Green with 28 points on 16 goals and 12 helpers. His average of 1.5 assists per game is sixth in the league. Junior Josh Etzion remains second on the team with 20 points after a goal in the loss to Yale. He has 11 goals and nine assists, including three man-up goals to lead Dartmouth. Freshman Chris Costabile continues to impress during the early season with 12 goals and five assists. He posted four goals against Harvard on March 27, including two man-up and a man-down goal.

In net, sophomore Fergus Campbell has gotten the last three starts with a 1-2 record. He is fourth in the conference in GAA at 9.26 and his .620 save percentage is tops. Senior Michael Novosel has started five games for Dartmouth and has a 2-3 record. He has collected an 11.03 GAA and .500 save percentage. 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 TIGERS
The Tigers enter Saturday's contest with an 8-2 overall record and is tops in the Ivy League with a 3-0 mark. Princeton is coming off a weekday victory over Rutgers and a 13-4 loss to Syracuse in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic at the New Meadowlands. Princeton is fifth in the conference in goals per game at 10.33 and is giving up 9.37 for third in the league.

Jack McBride leads the Tigers with 29 points on 21 goals and eight assists. Princeton has spread out its scoring as no player is in the top-10 in points per game in the Ivy League. The Tigers are the only team to not be represented. McBride is seventh in the league in goals per game at two, while Rob Engelke is fourth in assists per game at 1.56. Engelke leads the team with 14 helpers on the year. Rookie Mike Chanenchuk is a two-time Rookie of the Week honoree and has 19 goals and six helpers for 25 points, which is second on the team. Chris McBride has 15 goals and leads the team with three goals on the man-up. John Cunningham is the team leader with 39 ground balls and Jeff Froccaro is the primary faceoff man for the tigers with 58 wins at the X.

In net, Tyler Fiorito has started all 10 games for Princeton and has an 8-2 mark overall. His 9.00 GAA is third in the conference and his save percentage of .526 is third. He is also averaging 10 saves a contest, which is third as well.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 57th meeting between Princeton and Dartmouth. The Tigers have more wins than any other school against the Big Green with a 49-7 record. One of the seven wins by Dartmouth can in 2008 with an 11-9 win in Hanover when the Tigers were the 10th-ranked team in the nation. The first meeting came back in 1953 with a 16-5 win for Princeton. The Tigers once earned 17-straight wins over the Big Green from 1965 to 1981. Dartmouth has never won two consecutive games against Princeton in this series.

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