Men's Lacrosse Hosts No. 10 Colgate in Season Opener

Game 1
No. 10 Colgate Raiders (2-0, 0-0 Patriot League) at
Dartmouth Big Green (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
Saturday, Feb. 23 - 1 p.m.
Hanover, N.H. - Scully-Fahey Field (1,600)

Home Opener
The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team opens the season at home for the second time in three years. The Big Green were 3-3 at home in 2012, while ending the season on two-game winning streak. At home the Green and White outscored their opponents 56-54. On the road it was a different story as coach Andy Towers' squad was 2-6 away from Hanover, while getting outscored 94-67. Dartmouth has lost three straight home openers, with its last win coming against Hartford (10-6) on Feb. 23, 2008.

Deja Vu
For the fourth straight season, Dartmouth starts the year against Colgate. In the previous three games the road team has won. Dartmouth holds a 2-1 series advantage during Towers' tenure. In last year's match up, the Big Green scored four goals in the final quarter to net a 9-6 victory. Senior Nikki Dysenchuk and junior Mike Olentine each scored two goals to lead the Green and White past the Raiders.

Oh Captain My Captain
Leading the way for the team from the Upper Valley this season will be their four captains. Seniors Chris Costabile, Nikki Dysenchuk and Pat Flynn are joined by junior Patrick Resch as the team's selected leaders. Flynn enters his second season as a captain for Dartmouth leading the team defensively.

Forcing the Issue
Dartmouth ranked seventh in the country and second in the Ivy League last season causing 9.00 turnovers per game. Flynn led the Big Green with 16 caused turnovers, while Austin Cohen was third on the team with 14. The Raiders ranked fifth nationally averaging 9.17 a game.

Youth on the Roster
Dartmouth has 13 freshmen on the roster to begin its 2013 campaign. The newcomers make up nearly 31% of the squad. The youth movement is a trend for the Big Green as they also have 10 sophomores on the team. The underclassmen outnumber the upperclassmen 23-19, and total 57.1% of their lineup.

Rank and File
Against ranked opponents last season Dartmouth was 1-4. The lone win came against No. 19 Colgate on Feb. 25. After the win in Hamilton, the Green and White lost four straight to ranked opponents, while being outscored, 61-30. Dartmouth was also 0-2 against teams that received votes in the week leading up to their game.

Scouting the Raiders
Colgate enters the weekend riding a two-game win streak. The Raiders opened the season with a 14-13 overtime victory at Bryant and followed that with a 13-7 win at Vermont. Jimmy Ryan and Brendon McCann lead the offensive attack with six goals apiece, while Matt Clarkson and Peter Baum each have five goals. In net, Gordon Santry has made 22 saves. Santry has a goals-against average of 9.85 and a save percentage of .524.

The Help
The class of 2016 aren't the only fresh faces on the sidelines for Dartmouth, as Towers added two new assistants in the offseason. Tim McIntee joins the staff after coaching at Manhattan for the past 15 years. McIntee is a 1989 graduate of LIU, where he received national recognition as a three-time All-American. Michael Bocklet will serve as the team's offensive coordinator. Bocklet comes to Hanover after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach at SUNY Cortland. Bocklet is a 2007 graduate of Fairfield and he earned All-New England honors twice at attack.

Preseason Honors
After a quality junior campaign, Nikki Dysenchuk was named to the 2013 All New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) preseason team as a midfielder. The Darien, Conn., native was the lone Dartmouth player on the team and one of six midfielders selected.

Between the Pipes
With the loss of Fergus Campbell in goal due to graduation, Dartmouth will turn to four relatively untested goalkeepers. Freshman Blair Friedensohn and Ham Sonnenfeld will be competing against sophomore Colin Heffernan and senior Bernie Susskind for playing time. Susskind is the only netminder on the roster who's seen collegiate action, appearing in two games last season and making seven saves.

Returning Firepower
Three of the team's top four goal scorer's from last season return for the Big Green in 2013. Costabile led the team with 20 goals, while Brendan Rotanz added 18 and Dysenchuk tallied 14. The trio accounted for 52 of the Dartmouth's 123 (42.28%) goals a year ago.

What's on Tap
Following the season opener with the Raiders, the Big Green welcome NEILA foe and regional rival Vermont on Tuesday (Feb.26). Game time with the Catamounts is set for 3:00 p.m.

Schedules