Friday Night Lights: Dartmouth Hosts Harvard for Ivy Championship

Dartmouth vs. Harvard Complete Game Notes

The 14th ranked Dartmouth women's lacrosse team hosts Harvard this Friday night at 7 p.m. on Scully-Fahey Field, with the winner taking home a share of the Ivy League Championship.

There are plenty of storylines shaping up for Friday night, though chief among those is the Ivy League title at stake. Penn has already wrapped up its Ivy League season at 6-1, clinching a share of the title. Dartmouth and Harvard are both 5-1 in conference play, meaning the winner will be a Ivy Co-Champions with the Quakers. By virtues of wins over both the Big Green and Crimson, Penn will host next weekend's Ivy Tournament, with the winner earning the NCAA Tournament auto-bid.

As for those other storylines ... The all-time series between Dartmouth and Harvard is tied at 17-17-1 and the Big Green has won the last 14-straight. Head coach Amy Patton is looking for her 100th career Ivy League win, after picking up her 200th career win earlier this year. Junior Sarah Parks is just two points of becoming the third active player on this team to reach the 100-point mark for her career.

Following Friday's game, Dartmouth has less than 48 hours before returning to the field to host unbeaten #1 Maryland, defending national champs, on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Game 13: #14 DARTMOUTH (9-3, 5-1 Ivy) vs HARVARD (9-4, 5-1 Ivy)
Date: Friday, April 29, 2011 • 7 PM
Location: Hanover, N.H. • Scully-Fahey Field
Admission: $6 Adults, $3 Youth

Dartmouth - Harvard Series
Tied, 17-17-1
Streak: Dartmouth +14
Last Meeting: Dartmouth W, 11-9 • 4/21/10 • Cambridge, Mass.
Of Note: The series is all tied up between these two, but it has had a unique history, with Dartmouth rattling off 14-straight wins after Harvard dominated in the early years, winning 16 of the first 18 contests.

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THIS TIME: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
#14 Dartmouth and Harvard take centerstage in Ivy League athletics under the lights at Scully-Fahey Field with a share of the 2011 Ivy Championship at stake. With both teams standing at 5-1 in conference, one will walk away with a 6-1 record and the title of Ivy League Champion, shared with Penn. After losing to Princeton last Wednesday, the Quakers clinched a share of their fifth straight Ivy crown with a victory at Brown on Saturday. Penn defeated both Dartmouth and Harvard by the slimmest of margins, 10-9 over the Green and 9-8 over the Crimson, to claim tiebreakers over both and the right to host the Ivy League Tournament. Adding a twist to the matchup, the all-time series between Dartmouth and Harvard is tied at 17-17-1, with the Big Green having won 14 in a row against the Crimson after Harvard dominated the series' early years. Both teams sport potent offenses, though Harvard is a relatively young team while Dartmouth has a deep, veteran squad.
Dartmouth is currently 6-0 at Scully-Fahey Field this season including wins over ranked teams in Syracuse and Princeton. The Big Green's last night game in Hanover was on May 4, 2008 with a 6 p.m. start in a loss to #11 Duke.

LAST TIME: BIG GREEN CAGES TIGERS
#14 Dartmouth won its first “must-win” game of the week on Saturday, defeating #15 Princeton 15-10 to remain in the hunt for the Ivy League Championship. The win was also critical to helping the Big Green maintain a solid NCAA Tournament resume. Dartmouth showed its depth in this game, with nine different players recording a point and reaching 15 goals for the third time this season all with leading scorer Kat Collins sidelined with an injury. Five different players tallied three or more points led by Sarah Parks with a season-high four points on three goals and an assist.
Dartmouth jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first five minutes and never looked back. That advantage quickly inflated to 8-1 on a Sarah Plumb goal with six minutes left in the half and back-to-back goals late paced the Big Green to a 10-3 halftime lead. Princeton came out much stronger in the second half and outscored Dartmouth, 7-5, but the Big Green got all the goals it needed at key times to never allow the Tigers to get closer than five goals.
Kirsten Goldberg was efficient on attack, scoring three goals on just three shots. Dartmouth outworked Princeton for 22 ground balls to the Tigers' 13 and won 15 draw controls to 12 for Princeton. Kristen Giovanniello made seven saves in goal and grabbed four ground balls.

NEXT TIME: TITLE TERPS IN TOWN
Dartmouth closes out the 2011 regular season with a big test as undefeated #1 Maryland, the defending national champion, comes to town for a Sunday matinee at noon on May 1. The postseason begins five days later when Dartmouth heads to Philadelphia for the Ivy League Tournament. Regardless of the outcome of the game versus Harvard, the Big Green and Crimson are already set to meet again in the semifinals (two seed vs. three seed), with Penn seeded first and Princeton locked in at fourth. The Ivy Tournament semifinals are on Friday, May 6 and the final will be played on Sunday, May 8 all at Penn's Franklin Field.

WHERE WE RANK
Dartmouth stayed steady at 14th in the IWLCA Coaches' Poll following its win over #15 Princeton, but increased its total number of votes. The Big Green ranks 15th in the Inside Lacrosse media poll.

PATTON GOING FOR 100
Head coach Amy Patton has amassed 99 career Ivy League victories and will go for her 100th against Harvard. Earlier this season Patton picked up her 200th career coaching victory overall, with all coming during her 19 years at Dartmouth. Patton has won a staggering 78 percent of her contests against Ivy League foes, going 99-28 to date.

TOURNAMENT TIME
Dartmouth, Penn, Harvard and Princeton have all clinched spots in the second annual Ivy League Tournament and matchups are already set, though the seeding is yet to be determined. Though Penn will share the Ivy Title with Dartmouth or Harvard, the Quakers will host the tournament and be the one-seed by virtue of tiebreakers over both of those teams. Princeton has been assured the fourth seed and will play Penn. Dartmouth and Harvard will be the two and three seeds, depending on Friday's outcome and will play each other again.
The Ivy Tournament winner earns the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

IVY HONOR FOR MACKENZIE
Senior Shannie MacKenzie was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts in the Big Green's 15-10 win over Princeton. Impressively, MacKenzie is the only field player in the nine weeks of awards to receive the defensive weekly honor. The previous eight honorees were all goalkeepers including two times for Dartmouth rookie goalie Kristen Giovanniello.
MacKenzie recorded four ground balls and two caused turnovers in the win, while helping hold the Tigers to just 19 shots. She was also responsible for marking Jaci Gassaway, Princeton's second-leading scorer, and held her to only two goals.

MEYER CRACKS THE TOP 10
Senior Greta Meyer has cracked the top-10 in all-time scoring (points) at Dartmouth. She is now tied for ninth with 157 points and will take eighth place with one more point. Kat Collins is right on her tail with 155 points, ranking 11th.

PARKS CLOSING IN ON THE MARK
After a four-point outing against Princeton, junior Sarah Parks is even closer to becoming Dartmouth's third active 100-point player as she currently has 98 for her career. Classmate Sarah Plumb is 14 points shy of 100 as well.

GO AHEAD, PUT US ON THE LINE
Dartmouth does not draw an overwhelming number of free position attempts — a total of 59 or 4.9 per game — but the Big Green has converted to score on 54 percent of those attempts. The Big Green has been perfect on free-positions in three of the last four games including going 4-for-4 against Princeton last time out, 3-for-3 against Cornell and 4-for-4 versus Syracuse.

HEARTBREAK VERSUS PENN ... AGAIN
With its win over Dartmouth on April 16, Penn moved its Ivy League winning streak to 34 games, though the Quakers saw it snapped in their next game against Princeton. During the streak, Dartmouth gave Penn it's share of scares, with three of the last four games being decided by a single goal including the last two. Penn took a 7-6 overtime win in 2009, a 9-8 win in the Ivy Tournament in 2010 and the 10-9 win earlier this season.

HALFTIME LEAD HIGHJACKED
Dartmouth held a 6-5 halftime lead against Penn, courtesy of a Sarah Parks goal with just four seconds to play. The Big Green let the advantage slip away, however, marking the first time this season that Dartmouth has lost after leading at the break. Dartmouth is now 7-1 when winning at halftime and has one comeback win this season, beating Syracuse 10-7 after trailing 5-3 at the break.

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