Big Green Set For Border Battle With Catamounts

Game 2
Vermont Catamounts (0-2, 0-0 America East) at
Dartmouth Big Green (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Tuesday, Feb. 26 - 3 p.m.
Hanover, N.H. - Scully-Fahey Field (1,600)

Home Opener
The Dartmouth men's lacrosse team opened the season at home for the second time in three years on Saturday against No. 10 Colgate. The road team won for the fourth straight match up between the teams as the Raiders topped the Big Green, 13-10. The loss snapped a two-game home winning streak for the Big Green, who were 3-3 at home in 2012. Dartmouth has now lost four straight home openers, with its last win coming against Hartford (10-6) on Feb. 23, 2008.

Recent Success
The Green and White are in search of their fourth straight win against the Catamounts. The last time Vermont defeated Dartmouth was March 3, 2009 in Burlington. In Hanover, the team from the Upper Valley is 12-0 all-time against Vermont. The first victory came on April 11, 1988 and the most recent came on April 19, 2011.

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. In the opener, the Big Green forced eight turnovers. Phil Hession caused a team-high three and Flynn caused two.

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.

Quality Debuts
The class of 2016 had a big impact in the first game of the year combining to score four goals and add three assists. Cam Lee scored a pair of goals, while Billy Heidt and KC Beard each scored once. Beard also had a team-high two assists.

Scouting the Catamounts
Vermont enters the game on a two-game losing streak to begin the season. The Catamounts opened the season with a 13-7 loss at home against Cogate and followed that with a 13-5 defeat at Providence. Offensively, Graham Horvath and Drew Philie have scored 10 of the team's 12 goals this season, while A.J. Masson leads the team with four assists. In net, Dan DiStefano has made 22 saves. DiStefano has a goals-against average of 13.25 and a save percentage of .458.

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
Senior Bernie Susskind played well in his first start of the year making 12 saves. 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 scorers 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 game with the Catamounts, the Big Green travel to Dallas, Texas to compete in the 2013 Patriot Cup. Dartmouth will take on Georgetown inside SMU Stadium.

Schedules