Big Green Look to Bounce Back at Home Saturday vs. Columbia

Game 7 - Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 12 p.m.
No. 8 Dartmouth Big Green (5-1, 1-0 Ivy) vs.
Columbia Lions (1-5, 0-3 Ivy)
Location: Hanover, N.H. - Scully-Fahey Field
All-Time Series: 14-0
First Meeting: May 3, 1998 - W, 19-4 (Home)
Last Meeting: March 26, 2011 - W, 15-7 (Away)
Streak: Dartmouth, 14-0
Last Dartmouth Win: Last Meeting

Dartmouth Game Notes - Live Stats - Live Video - Columbia Preview - Ticket Information

HANOVER, N.H. - The expression about getting right back on the horse definitely would apply to the Dartmouth women's lacrosse team leading up to Saturday's game.

After No. 4 Florida defeated the 10th-ranked Big Green, 20-4, Tuesday night in Gainesville, a quick turnaround for Saturday's noon meeting with Columbia is just what the team needs.

The loss was the first of the season for Dartmouth, which came into the game sporting a 5-0 overall record. Now 5-1, the Big Green will turn their focus back to an Ivy League opponent with the Lions slated to make the trip to Scully-Fahey Field just four days after.

One of the best home teams in the country, Dartmouth has won 12 of its last 13 games played on its own turf dating back to last season, including all four in 2012.

TICKET INFORMATION: Saturday is one of two women's games this season where tickets will be needed for admission to Scully-Fahey Field. Individual tickets for adults are just $7 and $4 for youths (3 to 14). As always, students with valid Dartmouth IDs will be admitted for free. (More information at the bottom)

GAME NOTES

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth's unbeaten streak to start the season was snapped Tuesday night in Gainesville by the No. 4 Gators, 20-4. The Big Green fell behind at the half for the first time all season, but responded with a spirited second period that saw them control play despite not being able to add to their goal total.

SCOUTING COLUMBIA
The Lions come to Hanover with a 1-5 record overall and an 0-3 mark in league play. No other team in the conference has played more league games than Columbia's three this season. Losses to Brown (14-10), Princeton (18-6) and at Cornell (19-7) accompany defeats at the hands of American (14-7) and Vermont (14-11) as well. The lone win of the season came against Mount St. Mary's (14-5) back on Feb. 29. The Lions' scoring has mostly come from three players with Kacie Johnson leading the way with 17 goals and 12 assists for 29 points. Paige Cuscovitch has 16 goals and 17points, while Taylor Gattinella has added 11 goals and 13 points with no other player registering more than four points in 2012. In goal, Skylar Dabbar has played every minute and has a 14.00 goals-against average and a save percentage of .354.

DRAW SOMETHING
Senior Sarah Plumb collected five draw controls Tuesday night at Florida to push her over 100 for her career. Coming into the game, Plumb had 98 to rank fourth all-time at Dartmouth. But five against the Gators pushed her into third, passing Kristen Barry '08 who finished her career with exactly 100 draws. The game in Gainesville also marked the 50th in Plumb's collegiate career.

UNSUNG HERO
Senior Hilary Smith (Bronxville, N.Y.) has done all the little things for the Big Green recently. Against Florida, Smith collected the 50th ground ball of her career just three days after recording five draw controls against No. 3 Duke, many of which proved pivotal in the final outcome. Those five draws against the Blue Devils matched her entire output from last season.

DEBUTS
Against the Gators, several members of the Big Green made their debuts. Freshmen Sarah Byrne (West Hartford, Conn.) and Jessica Frieder (Princeton, N.J.) made their college debuts that night, while sophomore Kara Lehman (Lexington, Mass.) and junior Ellie Clayton (Hingham, Mass.) got their first action of 2012.

IN GOAL
For the first time since coming to Hanover, sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello (Old Brookville, N.Y.) did not play every minute in a game for Dartmouth as Frieder played the final 4:48 of the first half. Giovanniello returned for the second, making four saves and limiting the high-powered Florida offense to just three goals in the final frame. She finished the game with 11 stops, her third game of double-digit saves this season. Frieder had two in her time in the circle.

TWOFER
Junior Hana Bowers (Old Greenwich, Conn.) scored twice for the Big Green in Gainesville at Dizney Stadium. Her first of the night snapped a 5-0 run by the home team to open the game, while adding a second just 12 minutes later.

FIRST POINT
An assist on senior Erin Massimi's (Westwood, Mass.) fourth of the season 16:30 into the first half marked the first point in junior Casey Griffin's (Hingham, Mass.) career.

HISTORY WITH THE LIONS
Dartmouth went to Manhattan last season and beat Columbia, 15-7. Not only have the Lions never beaten the Big Green, they have failed to reach double-digit goals in any of the previous 14 all-time meetings. In 2009, Columbia scored nine times against the Big Green, but came up short in a 12-9 loss.

COLUMBIA CONNECTION
Currently in her second year as an assistant coach with Dartmouth, Allison Evans spent the 2010 season as an assistant on the Lions' sideline before making the move to Hanover.

NOTEWORTHY
Plumb's 29 draw controls through six games are just two-shy of her career-best 31 for a season set last spring. She had 28 as a sophomore in 2010. Both those previous figures came in 16 games played in each season, 10 more than Plumb's total in 2012.

TICKET INFORMATION	Individual	*Groups of 10-19	*Groups of 20+
Adult	$7.00	$5.00	$4.00
Youth (ages 3 to 14)	$4.00	$3.00	$2.00

*Group tickets must be purchased by 4:30 pm the Friday before the game.

Schedules