Men's Lacrosse Visits Vermont in Border Battle This Afternoon

Tues., Dartmouth (3-6, 1-3 Ivy) at Vermont (3-9, 2-1 America East), 3 p.m.
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HANOVER, NH - The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team will look to halt its recent two-game skid will a trip to Burlington to face Vermont in a midweek matchup this afternoon.

TROUNCED BY THE TIGERS
This time the Dartmouth men's lacrosse team didn't fair well against the sixth-ranked team in the nation. The last game against the No. 6 team came in the win over Cornell, but Princeton was not going to let that happen. For the third straight game, the Big Green was scoreless after one quarter and it was the second consecutive that Dartmouth went to the locker room without a goal in the first 30 minutes. The Tigers jumped out to an 11-0 lead at the half and cruised to a 16-2 win over the Big Green.

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

HEY BUDDY YOU'RE OUTTA HERE
Dartmouth has had trouble staying out of the penalty box as the Big Green is fifth in the league with 4.75 penalties a game and led the conference earlier in the year. Once man-down, Dartmouth is second in the conference in killing percentage at 69.8% and leads the conference with two man-down goals, both coming against Harvard on March 27. The Big Green shutout Cornell on the man-down in all four opportunities, but gave up two advantage goals to Yale.

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 10th place with 147 points in three seasons. Sussman is also 13th all-time with 89 goals and he is also on the top assist list with 57 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.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth travels to Vermont for its sixth road game in the last seven games, counting the neutral game against Cornell. The Big Green is averaging under eight goals a game and has only reached double-digits twice this season. The Catamounts will be the first unranked team Dartmouth will face since Wagner on March 11.

Senior captain Ari Sussman is the top point man for Dartmouth. He is fifth in the Ivy League in points per game at 3.22 and is tops on the Big Green with 29 points on 17 goals and 12 helpers. His average of 1.33 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 four starts with a 1-3 record. He is fifth in the conference in GAA at 10.32 and his .595 save percentage is tops. Senior Michael Novosel has started five games for Dartmouth and has a 2-3 record. He has collected an 11.13 GAA and .482 save percentage. Freshman Ryan Alexander got some time in the game against Princeton, making his first career save and collected two in the final minutes of the game last Saturday.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Vermont enters Tuesday's contest with a 3-9 overall record and a 2-1 mark in America East competition. The Catamounts are coming off a 13-6 win over Hartford in conference action.

Vermont is led by Drew Philie, who has 38 points with 19 goals and 19 assists. He leads the Catamounts in each of those categories, but has failed to net a game-winner or a man-up goal. Geoff Worley is second on the team with 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points. Derek Lichtfuss is tied with Philie for the most goals with 19. He also has five goals on the man-up and is tied with Liam Thomas for the team lead in the category. Tom Frasca has been the main guy on faceoffs for Vermont, winning 48 percent of his faceoffs with 66 wins and 135 losses.

In net, David Barton has started seven games and has a 3-5 record with a .541 save percentage and a 9.99 goals against average. He has made 86 saves on 159 shots. Alex Pavner has appeared in all eight games, but only five starts and is winless at 0-4. He has a 10.30 goals against average and a .484 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 19th meeting between these two Northern neighbors with Dartmouth holding a 14-4 advantage since their first meeting in 1989. Last season, Vermont won for the first time in six chances with an 11-9 win in March of 2009. The Big Green won the first meeting in 1989 with an 11-10 win.

Schedules