Big Green Head to Terrapin Invite Against American and Maryland

2012 TERRAPIN INVITATIONAL
Game 3: Dartmouth (1-1) vs. American (0-4)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012 - 1 p.m.
Location: College Park, Md. - Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex
Last Time vs. American: First Meeting
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats

Game 4: Dartmouth (1-1) at Maryland (3-1)
Date: Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012 - 2 p.m.
Location: College Park, Md. - Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex
Last Time vs. Maryland: First Meeting
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Live Stats - Live Video ($) - Live Audio - Live Updates

HANOVER, N.H. - The first week of the 2012 Dartmouth field hockey season had its ups and its downs, all in a matter of just three days. The highs from a 3-1 season-opening victory were dashed just over 48 hours later as the Big Green fell to Northeastern, 4-1, in the team's home opener.

But it's a new weekend for the Green and White, one that sees the team travel to College Park, Md., to take part in the 2012 Terrapin Invitational. Joining the Big Green in the two-day slate of games are the hosts from Maryland as well as American and UMass.

Dartmouth will take on American in its first game Saturday afternoon before a challenging game against the Terps, the 2010 and 2011 national champions, on Sunday.

THIS WEEKEND
The Big Green head to just outside our nation's capital for the Terrapin Invitational for two games on back-to-back days. Contests with both Maryland and American will mark the first time against either opponent in program history for Dartmouth. The fourth team in the tournament, UMass, will not face off with the Green and White this weekend after playing host to Dartmouth last Friday night in Amherst.

SCOUTING AMERICAN
The Eagles head to College Park with an 0-4 record thus far in 2012. Though winless, it hasn't been for lack of effort as the team has two one-goal defeats and a two-goal loss against some of the nation's toughest teams in Old Dominion (2-1), Ohio State (2-0) and James Madison (2-1, OT). Gina Hoffman's one goal and one assist are good for the team lead in scoring with three points, while Ashley Dalisera has played all 294:22 in goal, posting a 2.38 goals-against average and a .697 save percentage.

SCOUTING MARYLAND
The two-time defending national champion Terrapins play host to the weekend festivities as the No. 3 team in the nation according to the most recent NFHCA Division I Rankings. A two-game road swing through California produced one-goal victories over Cal-Berkeley (2-1) and Stanford (3-2, OT) before returning home to drop a 2-1 game to No. 5 Old Dominion. Most recently, the Terps took down No. 18 Ohio State, 5-0, on Sept. 2 in College Park. Katie Gerzabek has a team-leading four goals and nine points so far, while three players are tied with two assists. Natalie Hunter has seen a majority of the time in goal this season, boasting a 1.31 goals-against average and a save percentage mark of .750 in 266:51 of action.

CHASE OPENER
The Big Green took to the field for the first time at Chase Field in 2012 on Sunday, Sept. 2 against Northeastern. The Huskies used three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game to build a lead they would never relinquish, holding on for the 4-1 win. Senior Liz Blanken (Short Hills, N.J.) scored the lone Dartmouth goal of the day, coming on a corner play early in the second half.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Senior co-captain Lisa Masini (Ann Arbor, Mich.) was tabbed as the DartmouthSports.com Woodlands Credit Union Female Athlete of the Week for her play over the course of the team's first two games. Masini, who scored twice at UMass, picked up her first assist of the season on Sunday against Northeastern as she started the corner play that resulted in the tally.

MULTIMEDIA
Dartmouth fans not making the trip to Maryland this weekend can follow all the action with live stats and video ($) as well as live in-game tweets during the Sunday meeting with the Terrapins. Audio of Sunday's game will also be offered that is not available for Saturday's match. Please click on the appropriate links above to access all of the multimedia options available at game time.

OFF THE CORNER
Dartmouth has scored four goals in its first two games this season with three coming from the corner. The lone goal not to result from the corner came from Masini of all people, a player that led the Ivy League in assists last season thanks in large part to her role as the pushout. Junior Olivia Quaglia (Los Altos, Calif.) started that play with a nice aerial pass just over a minute and a half into the season that Masini fired home for the first marker of the year.

STILL SPLITTING
Through 140 minutes of total play this season, the Big Green goalkeeping duo of senior Jenna Stearns (Thornton, N.H.) and sophomore Ellen Meyer (Prospect, Ky.) have split the time down the middle. In both games, Stearns has started and played the entire first half before Meyer has come in for the second 35-minute period. Meyer holds the edge in GAA (2.00 to 3.00) and save percentage (.778 to .667).

A SORT OF HOMECOMING
This weekend will also serve as a homecoming of sorts for senior co-captain Maya Herm (Bethesda, Md.). Herm's hometown of Bethesda, Md., is just a short 25-minute drive to the Maryland campus where the weekend's games will take place.

Schedules